Liverpool fans sang “We’re happy Jurgen is part of the Red Brigade” for Jurgen Klopp during the end of the match at Molineux on Saturday.
After the joy of getting the 4th win in the new season, there are still many questions being asked to the German strategist about organizing the squad and how to pace the match. During the first half of the match against Wolves, Liverpool played too slowly and superficially. That is also the reason why they lost against the home team and conceded an early goal.
Mac Allister, the midfielder who usually plays very neat and tidy since moving from Brighton, that day appeared to be irritable because of his performance. The Argentine midfielder lost the ball in very dangerous positions and Klopp also had to admit that Mac Allister seemed exhausted after spending time with the national team. And being replaced by Klopp in the second half also partly helped Mac Allister relieve pressure and have time to rest before returning to top form.
Mac Allister should not have been chosen to start from the start due to physical reasons. But fortunately, Liverpool has Jurgen Klopp who recognized the error very quickly and made adjustments to make a difference in the second half of the match.
With a patchwork defense where important players were absent for many different reasons, Liverpool could not have a solid enough backline. Liverpool needed stars in the backline so they could distribute the ball up front, but everything remained deadlocked throughout the first half and turning the situation around only took place in the remaining 45 minutes of the match.
The decision to bring in Luis Diaz to replace Mac Allister was the right decision by Klopp. The Colombian player is also a newcomer from the national team camp, but Diaz’s physical strength is clearly much better than Mac Allister’s. Diaz’s speedy moves make Wolves face many difficulties in defense.
Klopp’s tactical impression did not stop there, moving Dominik Szoboszlai to play in a deep-lying midfield position helped Liverpool’s playing style improve a lot in the second half.
Liverpool made a total of 49 passes into the final third of the field in the second half (30 in the first half). Klopp’s team also made more successful passes in the second half with 339 times (first half: 229 times). And Szoboszlai himself is at the center of that change. The Hungarian player had more touches of the ball than any other player on the field that day (118 times). Covering the midfield helped Szoboszlai relieve some of the pressure on Joe Gomez when he had to switch to play as a midfielder during the first half.
Szoboszlai’s touches in the first half
Szoboszlai’s touches in the second half
Szoboszlai is also currently the player who has made the most passes into the final third of the field for Liverpool after the first 5 matches of the season.
“Szoboszlai has the biggest influence on our match” – Jurgen Klopp shared about the Hungarian player. “Even though the first half was not as expected, he was still determined to play and that is Szoboszlai’s biggest strength. He is really a very smart player.”
If it is said that Szoboszlai’s calm and standard playing style is one of the deciding factors in the match, then Darwin Nunez’s relentless effort is a very different aspect of Liverpool.
Entering the field in the 56th minute, Nunez helped Liverpool’s аttаck play much more freely. Although he did not directly put his nаme on the scoreboard, thanks to Nunez’s relentless running, many of his teammates had the space and time to exploit the opponent’s weaknesses. If he hadn’t returned to join the national team, Nunez would probably have been given the starting role from the start. Regardless of whether he starts from the start or comes on the bench, Nunez always proves that he is ready to change the outcome of the match when he is on the field.
But to summarize the above factors, we still have to talk about Jurgen Klopp’s ability to rotate the squad and the flexibility in his playing style applied to his students.
Szoboszlai and Curtis Jones play deep, allowing the fullbacks space to advance. This is what causes Wolves a lot of headaches when facing fast names like Diaz or Robertson.
In Liverpool’s second goal, Andy Robertson’s position was also very reasonable. The Scottish left-back dropped deep after Jose Sa’s flick.
But instead of moving the ball to the left of the field, Robertson decided to go straight into the middle and then pass the ball to Mohamed Salah who was moving on the right wing.
As soon as Salah received the ball, Robertson moved right into the penalty area to overcome Wolves’ defense, then received a smooth pass from Salah and neatly finished past Jose Sa at the near corner.
Sharing about this situation, Klopp said: “Obviously Robertson will not play in that position in the first half but in the second half we became a lot more flexible. And that is the difference that makes win today”.
Robertson’s performance is a typical example of the essence of Liverpool’s playing style. On the day Robertson wore the captain’s armband in his 200th match for Liverpool, young teammates like Jarell Quansah and Harvey Elliott were given a lot of motivation. The 29-year-old player’s continuous support and organization of Liverpool’s back line helped this team’s back line gain great momentum when playing in the second half.
Liverpool had 32 touches of the ball in the Wolves penalty area in the second half, this number is significantly more than the parameter of 10 touches of the ball in the first half. Liverpool’s star quality is always shown at the right time, that’s why. In the last 3 matches, despite facing many difficulties, they still rose strongly to find the final victory.
Sharing tactics after the match, Klopp seemed quite calm when he said that overcoming difficulties to find victory is important, but they will need to find a plan to knock out their opponents before having to consider figҺting. Come back like in recent matches.
But can such a turnaround of the situation last forever? Liverpool have conceded early goals in three of their last four matches but they still maintain their unbeaten record. It is true that Liverpool have never let their opponents create a gap so large that they cannot close it, but conceding so many early goals is clearly a problem with the defense. This still happens when The Kop’s players are on the field, not just in difficult times like now.
With the latest ιnjury that Quansah suffered, Jurgen Klopp will have even more headaches because in the middle of this week they will have to march to Austria to play their first match in the Europa League against LASK. However, Klopp is still relatively optimistic to face the situation the team is facing.
Until now, Klopp’s ability to find solutions and make changes right in the match is still helping Liverpool win important victories. Four wins and a draw in the first 5 matches of the season show that Klopp’s Liverpool is making a comeback this season despite the difficulties still piling up ahead.