Liverpool 1-1 Everton: Post-Match Analysis

Despite playing some of their worst football of the season, Liverpool nonetheless dominated an Everton side who had come to Anfield with no attacking intent whatsoever. The visitors are entitled to do this, of course, but it also wasn’t a particularly accomplished defensive display; Liverpool let them off the hook by lobbing cross after cross into the box instead of attempting to pick apart the holes in the back line, and were ultimately punished for only managing to score once. Calvert-Lewin dived for a late penalty after Lovren had got too tight to him, meaning Everton came away with a point from one of the poorest-quality derbies in living memory.

Jurgen Klopp raised some eyebrows by continuing his policy of mass rotation. The variation of personnel is not in itself a problem – it helps to prevent injuries building up over a busy period, and Klopp has some good squad players at his disposal. However, the changes for this game made it near-inevitable that the style of play would also alter. So it was: Milner and Henderson continually shifted the ball out wide, where Robertson and Gomez were on hand to swing hopeful crosses in towards Dominic Solanke. This is not a criticism of any of them – indeed, Joe Gomez put in yet another exceptional performance – but it must be asked what Klopp expected to happen when fielding all of these players together. He did Everton’s job for them: the quality was dragged right down, and Allardyce’s tactic of shoving everyone behind the ball and just launching it clear when they won it back was made at least partially effective when it should have been ripped to shreds.

This was exemplified by the manner in which Liverpool did make a breakthrough – it was a moment of pure quality, not a high ball into the penalty area. Mo Salah provided it: he swivelled past his man, jinked inside another and whipped the ball sumptuously into the top corner. It was a piece of individual genius, further cementing Salah’s status as signing of the summer and instant fan favourite. However, he was often the only one trying these things. Milner and Henderson are hardly notorious for driving at defenders; Solanke is pretty good with his feet, but his stock in trade is holding the ball up then passing it back to someone else. Again, the fault lies on the team selection – the sheer exploitability of Everton’s back line, as exemplified by Salah’s humiliation of Cuco Martina, was left largely untapped because of the type of players sent out by Klopp. To make such a call in the derby is criminal if you fail to deliver the result.

Of course, not all the fault lies with the manager. Sadio Mane must also take a significant proportion of the blame. Just after Salah had netted the opener, the Senegalese winger found himself through on the keeper with men over to his right – instead of teeing up the tap-in he went for goal himself, skewing it wide and wasting a golden opportunity. Had the team gone in at two up, it would surely have been game over, particularly given Everton’s ineptitude going forward. As it was, the margin remained at one goal – Allardyce’s side still weren’t really threatening for most of the second half, but nor did Liverpool look like adding a second. It was more of the same in terms of style, and to be frank it didn’t feel like watching Liverpool: the monotony of ‘shift wide, cross, repeat’ was extremely frustrating, and there was always a nagging doubt that the failure to actually get at the defence and add a second would end up costing us if something went wrong at the back. So it was: Dejan Lovren got far too tight to Calvert-Lewin, who chucked himself to the ground upon feeling contact and won himself a penalty. It was a clever dive, but a dive nonetheless – the referee can thus join Klopp, Mane and Lovren on the list of reasons why the team somehow failed to take all three points. To add insult to injury, it was Wayne Rooney of all people who smashed the penalty home: it left fans asking how their team could have possibly let this happen.

On another day, the referee wouldn’t have pointed to the spot and the questions about team selection would be subject to much less scrutiny. However, the result doesn’t change the fact that the team that was put out produced some pretty unpleasant and ineffective football for much of the 90 minutes – the domination stemmed from Everton’s determination to contribute nothing going forward, not from any inherent quality in the hosts’ play. It is not something that many fans can be eager to see repeated: Liverpool play some of the best attacking football in Europe, so to decide to shelve that for a week and instead punt balls at a target man is inexplicable. In a derby match, it is nigh-on unforgivable. Again, it is not the rotation that is the issue – it is the change in style to which it led. Fortunately, the next game is just around the corner; it would surely have made more sense to rest the players in this West Brom clash rather than the derby, but it does at least give Klopp and the team a chance to immediately bounce back.

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Liverpool 1-0 Crystal Palace: Good Win, But Depth is Lacking

Liverpool set up against Crystal Palace with the crucial midweek clash against Hoffenheim in mind. A significantly weakened starting eleven was fielded: Lovren, Moreno, Alexander-Arnold, Salah and Can were all notable absentees. By and large, the deputies put in a decent shift – Joe Gomez and Andrew Robertson were particularly impressive at full-back, and Ragnar Klavan looked assured aside from one dreadful moment against Loftus-Cheek. However, the introduction of Salah was needed to make the attack look genuinely potent: not until he and Solanke came on did Liverpool finally get the breakthrough. From there, they remained comfortably on top and recorded a narrow but deserved win.

Nobody could criticise Klopp’s desire to rest key players ahead of Wednesday: the second leg of the Champions League playoff is the most important game for the club since the Europa League final against Sevilla, so it made sense to keep as many players as possible fresh. However, the lack of additions so far this window was thrown into stark relief by the situation that this left the team in: removing just a few starters left a side littered with players who have no business lining up for a team with title ambitions. Milner in midfield was just about the only way to field a central three with less creativity than at Watford, Klavan can do a job when called upon but is prone to getting bullied, and Gomez is still very young and was played out of his natural position. The only two players to come in who represent very strong squad options were Sturridge and Robertson – Sturridge would be a luxury for any side to be able to bring in, and Robertson will most likely make himself the first-choice left-back in the near future. This kind of depth is required across the pitch if the squad are to genuinely challenge on multiple fronts this season, and Klopp must therefore look at making more signings before the September 1^st deadline.

Fortunately, even the weakened team had enough about them to get past Palace. Sadio Mane was one of the first-teamers to retain his place, and he was vital: he constantly looked likely to make things happen, and indeed was the one to eventually beat Wayne Hennessey. When on the left, he linked up very well with debutant Andrew Robertson – the new signing from Hull was equally impressive. Particularly in the first half, which was bereft of invention for the most part, he was the only one creating chances; his deliveries were consistently excellent, and only a dreadful miss from Matip denied him an assist. On the other flank, Gomez was also quietly impressive. There were far fewer marauding runs – understandable given that Gomez is naturally a central defender – but it was encouraging to see him look at home in the Premier League. The promising youngster had an injury-plagued campaign last time out, but thankfully appears to have picked up where he left off. His intervention early in the second half was vital, as he did just enough to put Benteke off in front of goal. This was only required because Klavan had been comprehensively beaten by Loftus-Cheek moments before, but in fairness to the Estonian this was the only blip in an otherwise strong performance. It would be madness to suggest that he is good enough for a regular spot in the first team, but it was telling that the back line was generally much calmer without the presence of Lovren. An elite partner for Matip (ideally, of course, Virgil Van Dijk) may well finally give Liverpool the competent defence they have needed for years.

It was also encouraging to see effective substitutions from Klopp. He has been much criticised for leaving it too late to make changes, but acted in good time this time out to ensure that the team got the win. Of course, this is easier to do when half of the usual starters are available off the bench: Salah will not regularly be deployed as an impact sub, a role he played to good effect. His pace and skill added a new dimension to the attack, and he was unlucky not to get himself a goal. However, the other important change saw Solanke introduced – he was not one of the regular starters to be dropped for Palace’s visit, and ‘super-sub’ is likely to be a part he is asked to play quite regularly. As such, it was excellent to see that he had a big hand in the goal. Having replaced the frustratingly poor Wijnaldum, it was a matter of minutes before he made the difference; he used his physicality to contest for the ball on the edge of the box, and it broke for Mane to finish composedly. Based on what he has shown so far, Solanke is one of those rare breeds of target man that can also function effectively in Liverpool’s system – he therefore provides a ‘Plan B’ that doesn’t make the side look horribly dysfunctional, and this could be invaluable over the course of the campaign. Origi was introduced at Watford, and was anonymous: his squad position is undoubtedly under threat from the man who is looking more and more like a steal with each passing day.  

In short, the game largely confirmed what everyone already knew about Liverpool: the first team are very strong going forward, and the defence is a signing away from at least passing as competent, but beyond the regular eleven there is a worrying lack of depth. The problem has been highlighted by the joint absence of Lallana and Coutinho, which has left a midfield in dire need of a creative influence. Nonetheless, the overall result was a positive one: multiple young players continued to show that they can step up when called upon, and ultimately the three points vindicated Klopp’s decision to rest players for Hoffenheim’s visit.

- Follow me on Twitter @JamesMartin013