What’s the plan?

AN ARTICLE BY MATTY

The end of the season is nearly among us, a disappointment for many. From a Champions League final to failing to qualify. From challenging for the league to getting pumped by Brighton twice. We’ve lost our sporting director for the second year in a row, we’ve lost our head scout. Our owners seem ambivalent at best about the prospect of owning our club, having already searched for potential buyers back in November. And yet the main factor for our success is still here, Jurgen Klopp. The only current day manager who could possibly succeed under the conditions set for him. And as long as he’s here, there is always a shred of hope.

There are many different directions Klopp could go in when it comes to the future of the team. We’ve cleared significant wages off the books and a lot of the players left seem tactically flexible. Whatever plan Klopp has in mind, we can likely execute it with the right investments. The current system, the 3-2-5 that Arsenal and especially City have found success with this season, has glaring weaknesses for us (namely the complete lack of defensive awareness from Trent). However, we’ve found some brilliant form with it and it likely has saved at least three Liverpool careers. Those careers being Fabinho, Jones, and Trent. All three have found strong form in this system when I personally would’ve written them off, their form this season was just that awful before the system change.

If we plan to continue with this system long-term, there are a few things that we will need. I think the rumors connecting us to Alexis MacAllister would be good, as he could easily play through the middle with Gakpo and create a lot for Salah, Diaz and hopefully Nunez. And yes, if we continue with this system, I do think it means that Nunez has a chance at nailing a starting job. The beauty of the attacking portion of this system is that you can fit Gakpo and Nunez into the same starting eleven. Gakpo and possibly MacAllister, currently Hendo or Jones, would tuck in as the two advanced midfielders behind the true striker Nunez. City have done the same with Gundogan, De Bruyne and Haaland, with De Bruyne acting as a second striker at times. That role is what I envision Gakpo doing in this system.

Oy vey, this article is going to be a read and a half. I’m now devoting three paragraphs to the 3-2-5 and I’ve got two more possible systems to break down and address needs in. For this system to properly work, I do think we’d need to bring in two midfielders, one that’s more of a physical presence to replace Fabinho and one that’s a bit more advanced and could play the role of Hendo or Jones. Regardless of whether or not Trent is a midfielder or defender, we need healthy options and youth in the midfield area. If Trent is a midfielder moving forward, then one or two defenders would be necessary as well, likely only one is needed if Matip stays. This defender would hopefully be pacy enough to spell Konate and would likely be a RB if we played with a back four. Someone who plays like Manuel Akanji from City. Obviously a bit of a niche role, but there are a lot of those in this system.

The system we briefly tried in the Champions League group stages and then abandoned for some reason was the 4-2-3-1. Obviously this is the system that would fit Nunez best, and I think a front four of Gakpo, Diaz, Salah and Nunez would be brilliant. The problem is the midfield and defense behind them. Trent playing as a modern-day Pirlo next to a destroyer in the Mascherano mold would work, the problem is finding that type of midfielder that can run and cover for two players at once. I think this system would be the most clean fit for a lot of the players we have. You could maybe buy another midfielder for depth but between Fabinho, Hendo, Thiago, Bajcetic and Jones, you’d have reasonable depth for two spots if you buy a strong starting option. The big thing you’d need if Klopp was to use this long-term would be a new RB, because after this season I am convinced Trent should never play at RB again. He just isn’t defensively aware enough, and this system would help cover up some of his weaknesses. But I don’t really think we’d see it unless we’re certain to bring in a top class RB that could move Trent to midfield permanently. I really don’t think we’ll see any system with a back four unless we’re certain to bring in a new RB.

The last system I want to cover is the 4-3-3, which has been widely panned as a formation of the past for us this season. We just don’t have the legs in the midfield to use this system, and Trent at RB is again a massive weakness. Like many systems, Klopp’s 4-3-3 needs everybody playing at peak levels for it to work, and when a few players drop off in form, it typically leads to problems. The 4-3-3 also is the only system I’m bringing up that likely cannot incorporate Nunez cleanly. Since Klopp prefers Gakpo to him up top, the only way you’d get Nunez on the field is if a true striker is an absolute necessity or Gakpo can be played elsewhere in the lineup so you don’t lose that false nine skill set. Both the 3-2-5 and 4-2-3-1 do this. The 4-3-3 does not. Another problem we’d face with a 4-at-the-back system in general is our weakness at CB. Gomez could be given a new lease on life in the Konate role in the 3-2-5, but in a back four he’s useless unless played at RB. Konate is the only CB with considerable pace as Virgil is aging and Matip never had brilliant pace to begin with. Pace from your CBs is a necessity at the heart of a modern-day back four.

If we persist with the 4-3-3, the transfers required would be more significant than the other systems I mentioned. We’d need at minimum 2 new midfielders, if not 3. We’d need a new holding midfielder as Fabinho has proven he can no longer be the single CDM at the base of this formation, and we’d need at least one new box-to-box type. A CB would likely be needed, as well as a RB. Matip would probably leave in this scenario. We could probably make it work with a 4-3-3 again, we’d just need more money to spend to bring in the players necessary to make it work again. Considering who our owners are, I imagine one objective is to fix the team without having to spend on more than 2-3 additions.

Something that went under the radar is that Liverpool did hire a new sporting director, Jorg Schmadtke. I must admit I don’t know a ton about him, other than that he used to hold the same position with Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga. Like many other recent additions to the club, his Bundesliga experience suggests Klopp was the driving force behind the move, symbolic of the manager’s growing power behind the scenes. This summer will be a big deal in determining the future direction of the club. I imagine behind the scenes Klopp has already decided what he wants to do moving forward and has options to fix what is needed.

As you may have noticed, regardless of what happens I believe we need two new starters, a new midfielder and in the case of the latter two formations, a new RB. Fabinho can make a case for a starting job but he needs a strong young backup ready to replace him if his form drops again. I’d argue the same needs to be said for Hendo. I’m not considering Thiago as anything more than a spot starter and impact substitute with his injury record. As for Trent, I believe he needs to be a midfielder moving forward, meaning a new starting RB is necessary. As we’ve seen this season, more often than not the problem lies with our leaky defense instead of our attack. If we replace two of the weakest links in that defense and the midfield in front of it, it should improve the record of the team next season. I also think a new CB could be useful. As much as I love Matip, I do think we need to account for Gomez’s issues in a back four and Konate’s injury record and with only a year left on Matip’s deal, he might be the one to leave. Those issues are somewhat mitigated in the 3-2-5 but they could still provide a problem.

Regardless of what system Klopp wants to play next season, he needs to start training his players for it now and stick to it next season. He should make sure that the players that arrive are good fits for whatever system he chooses to use. The plan needs to be in place now and must be acted upon quickly once the transfer window opens. With the right moves, we’ll be right back into the mix for all the major trophies. We just have to find a system that works best for the players we already have and bring in the right pieces to make it stick.