Despite being best known a Liverpool for his incredible stamina, James Milner has been working tirelessly to ensure Liverpool’s attackers have as many goalscoring opportunities as possible with his 1.8 chances created per 90 minutes leaving him well ahead of the better Premier League forward minded midfielders such as Dele Alli (0.81), Juan Mata (1.23), and Jorginho (0.88). To put this impressive stat further into context: Keita, Henderson, and Wijnaldum combined only create 1.37 chances per 90 minutes.Arguably Liverpool’s biggest revelation so far this season, alongside Joe Gomez, has been Gini Wijnaldum and he has established himself as Liverpool’s starting defensive midfielder, despite spending the most part of his career before Liverpool as an attacking midfielder or out on the wing. Wijnaldum’s technical ability, when paired with his impressive athleticism and footballing intelligence, allows the Dutchman to cover ground quickly and release the ball quickly and effectively once in possession – similar in a way to Manchester City’s Fernandinho last season. Even when Fabinho or Henderson have been deployed as Liverpool’s deepest midfielder and Wijnaldum has been played a little further forward, he has used those same skills to help the attack whenever we have the ball and we look like a worse side without him in it – not a bad compliment for someone who had a tendency for going missing in games during the early days of his Anfield career.
Klopp’s wealth of defensive options in midfieldMuch was made on Twitter of Emre Can’s free transfer to Juventus at the back end of last season, Liverpool were losing a young midfielder for nothing when you’d expect a player of his quality to sell for anywhere from £30m to £40m in this market. Although Can could be slow whilst in possession, he did have that grit that our midfield often missed and nobody could question his passion for the club – but he just wasn’t a Jurgen Klopp midfielder. Our squad would be better with him in it, but he wouldn’t be starting – especially now that we’ve added Fabinho – and a player like him deserves to be playing on a regular basis.
Jurgen Klopp currently has three midfielders who are more than capable of playing as the team’s defensive midfielder: Jordan Henderson, Gini Wijnaldum, and Fabinho – each of those three offers something different with each being suited to different kinds of games.- Jordan Henderson is reliable, he works hard for the team and can cover a huge amount of ground. His ability to press and lead the team from midfield has made him a favourite under Jurgen Klopp and its clear to see why the German still has the Englishman as his captain – he commands respect from his teammates and his professionalism is something to be admired. Henderson seems the safest bet, he has spent his entire career inside the English football system so knows what is expected of him and he is well adjusted to English football.
- Gini Wijnaldum is not an orthodox defensive midfielder, as mentioned previously, but somehow it just works. The mixture of Wijnaldum’s athleticism and technical prowess make him a real handful and he ticks all the boxes. Wijnaldum is an elite box to box midfielder and his versatility is arguably his biggest strength.
- Fabinho is somewhat a mystery package because we just don’t know how good he can be, we know how good he’d been for Monaco but many fans feel that Klopp can take him to the next level. Fabinho seems to be the best, and most natural, defensive midfielder we have and although he isn’t yet up to speed with English football, he will likely be Klopp’s go to player once he has settled into life at Liverpool.
The loss of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain at the end of last season was a real blow, Klopp had developed a player who never seemed to be good enough in any position at Arsenal and turned him into a midfielder capable of running at defences with pace and turning the opposition’s game plan on its head. This is something we’ve lacked this season too, though Shaqiri is doing well to add that attacking spark to our attack even though it feels as if Shaqiri is more of an attacker than a midfielder. In a way Keita could have been that player, during his time at RB Leipzig Keita would often pick the ball up from deep and drive forward, instigating the attack. We will cope with AOC, though once he’s back and fully fit we will have another dangerous option in our squad who’s capable of offering something that we haven’t seen since his injury.
A player seemingly left behind in our quest to push both domestically and on the continent is Adam Lallana, though it’s hard to blame him for falling down the pecking order when he’s had awful luck with injuries. It’s sad to say that now he’s back he just doesn’t seem the same player, he looks sluggish and tired whenever he’s on the pitch – it’s a real shame because he epitomises Klopp’s style of football perfectly and when we was fully fit a couple of years ago he looked like one hell of a player.How are Liverpool able to change their approach to games?Klopp’s reliance on his tried and tested tactics have soften this season and his approach to games has somewhat shifted as he has moulded Liverpool into one of the league’s best defensive sides. The 433 formation that Klopp has used for much of his time at Liverpool requires the midfield to fulfil both defensive and offensive duties to the highest of standards with even the deepest lying midfielder expected to contribute when the team moves forward.Despite what you’ll read on Twitter, Jordan Henderson isn’t a bad defensive midfielder, but he doesn’t seem to have the technical ability to thrive in Klopp’s quick-to-transition system. This is where Fabinho’s addition makes the most sense, the Brazilian has spent much of his career deployed at right-back and therefore has a superior passing range – Trent Alexander-Arnold is the perfect example of a full-back who can launch counter attacks with one pass. This passing range allows Liverpool to be deadly when looking to score whilst also having a monster of a midfielder ready to help win back possession when under attack from the opposition.
Klopp’s use of this system is a stark contrast to trusted 4231 formation that he was married to during his days at Borussia Dortmund. When out of possession Klopp’s side would be able to quickly press immediately after losing the ball before reverting to a 451 formation should the press fail. The summer additions of Keita and Fabinho, players who are tremendously effective in both defensive and attacking scenarios, indicated that Klopp may be ready to transition to the 4231 formation that made his Dortmund side one of Europe’s most feared. Exciting wins against the likes of Red Star (at home of course) and more recently Watford show Klopp’s willingness to revert to his favoured formation and it’s clear to see that this will yield results. Klopp’s use of Shaqiri in front of the two deeper midfielders has resulted in Liverpool being a more attractive team to watch with the counter attack being more fluid and the teams press seeming to be more effective.Only time will tell how Klopp chooses to set out his midfield, no doubt it will somewhat be dictated by injuries etc, but his Liverpool midfield for the foreseeable future will likely contain his new summer additions and I certainly would not be surprised if we were to see this Liverpool side become increasingly similar to Klopp’s 11/12 Dortmund side.Article by James McHale @jamesmchale2607 16+ PODCASTS P/MONTH
12+ SHOWS P/MONTH
DAILY ARTICLES INC ‘SPECIAL GUEST WRITERS’
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEWS – INC JURGEN KLOPP!
Pre and Post Match Shows FREE month trial:https://buff.ly/2GNsNTv
