Early season frustrations
Our early season frustrations continue then, with another frustrating draw. First things first, I think we really have to question the lineup. Harvey and Carvalho are far too lightweight to be playing together as our two 8’s. I questioned before the game if they’d deal with the physicality and ultimately proved the case that they’re not ready to play that role together yet and to be honest, that seemed pretty obvious. Elliott did ok but Carvalho was completely anonymous, with the exception of being shrugged off the ball a couple of times, before limping off at halftime. Bizarre decision not to start Milner in there.
It wasn’t just that though, our entire left hand side had pretty much never played together, with a CF up front they’ve also pretty much never played with. Too many players unfamiliar with each other on at the same time and it showed as we struggled for any kind of structure or fluidity to our game.
Nunez showed flashes of what he’s all about. Got on the end of a couple of headers first half and forced Pickford into a wonder save with a Torres-esque volley. Another way in which he reminds me of Torres is his propensity to hit the target with his shots more often than not. I noticed it when we played Benfica and again today. When he shoots, more often than not it’s on target. The goals will flow for him soon enough, he just needs to get on the same wavelength as the team as they all get used to each other. I did find myself wishing he’d stay a little more central at times, he was often drifting out to the left and even found himself in the LB position a couple of times which is great from a work rate perspective but meant he was nowhere to be seen with the subsequent counter attack. Better temperament shown today though so that’s another positive.
A bigger concern is the form of Trent and Salah. Trent hasn’t really got going yet this season and Salah has been MIA since AFCON. We really need those two to start firing soon if we have any kind of title ambitions this season.
It wasn’t all doom and gloom, there were some positive notes. Alisson (McMOTM) showing he’s still got it, even if his team mates look off the pace. Bobby and Robbo both looked lively when they came on, Bobby forcing Pickford into a number of saves and Robbo’s corners alone were making a difference. It was great to see Jota and Matip back on the pitch too.
My biggest concern at the moment is that we’re struggling to create clear chances and I’ll be interested to see the XG stats for this game if Soop has the time. Sure Diaz and Nunez hit the woodwork but it would’ve been a moment of brilliance from both of them, not exactly what you’d call sitters. We look devoid of ideas in the final third, Salah’s dribbling ability seems to have escaped him and we’re just not getting those trademark crosses from our fullbacks that we’re used to. Our first half performances in particular, we’ve now failed to score an opening goal in a game in 9 out of our last 10 games and conceding first in 8 out of 9. This simply isn’t sustainable.
A draw was a fair result in my opinion. We could have won the game and Pickford was outstanding but we could just as easily have lost it and we needed our own goalie to save us on more than one occasion.
No time to dwell on it then, with an incredibly tough away game at Napoli on Wednesday night. Thiago will he back in training on Monday Klopp said and that will be a huge boost. He’s so important to the way we build our play and Melo also likes to link play so with those two coming into the fold, I hope to see us starting to take more control of games. Whether Wednesday will come too soon for the pair, we’ll need to see.
Lastly, I don’t know why we have to be so rigid with the 4-3-3. The players we currently have available are more suited to the 4-2-3-1 in my opinion and making defences contend with a proper CF playing with a proper number 10 behind him, might make us a little less predictable in attack. Playing with two 6’s might actually shore up that right flank a bit too.
Anyway I could rant on but you’ll be pleased to hear I won’t. Let’s get our Champions league campaign off to a winning start and boost the confidence a bit. Until then, walk on!!
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