As Jose Mourinho can testify, it can be unfair to judge a manager by his eventual formation at Anfield. It is 12 years since one of the great tacticians in football history ended up using the centre-back Robert Huth as a makeshift striker with the decidedly unsophisticated aim of lumping the ball at the giant German. It didn’t work.
On Sunday, Jurgen Klopp eventually had a back three including two midfielders, Lucas Leiva and Emre Can. It was an indication plans had to be ripped up and others hastily concocted. It didn’t work either. Crystal Palace won at Anfield, illustrating Liverpool’s propensity to be tripped up by their supposed inferiors.
Familiar themes — difficulties breaking down a team who defended deep and narrow, a capacity to be counter-attacked, especially on the flanks, and an inability to mark at set-pieces — reared their head again.
Klopp’s rethink came late. Jamie Carragher, that most perceptive observer of Anfield life, noted that the German has changed too few games with his substitutions. He has not had the tools.
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On Sunday, his replacements included four teenagers and a 21-year-old. Chasing the game, he brought on an untried midfielder, Marko Grujic, an untried right-back, Trent Alexander-Arnold, and a tried-but-failed left-back, Alberto Moreno. Relegation-threatened Palace seemed to have the stronger bench.
That lack of strength in depth threatens to deny Liverpool Uefa Champions League football. On a day when Mourinho fielded a glorified second-string Manchester United side, they still cost more than £300 million (Dh1.41 billion) and still won. Liverpool’s back-ups have altogether less pedigree. They did not break the bank.
Klopp believes Liverpool could have been challenging for the title but for injuries. Chelsea are set to become champions with, in effect, 13 players. Leicester lifted the trophy with a similarly small core last season.
Philippe Coutinho opened the scoring from a free-kick. Geoff Caddick / AFP
Liverpool were blistering at their best. Had they been blessed with similar continuity, chemistry and momentum, it may have been very different.
Instead, the temptation is to deem Klopp culpable for his old-fashioned belief in balancing the books and working with the footballers at his disposal with uncomplaining enthusiasm. The German objects to managerial policies of retail therapy. He does not spend every penny available or stockpile unused players.
All of which seemed an advantage in autumn. It feels less of one now. Liverpool are discovering that injuries are rarely distributed equally around a squad.
While the sidelined captain Jordan Henderson has been a major miss in midfield, the way Klopp’s attacking options have been decimated has been more costly. He is shorn of Sadio Mane, Adam Lallana, Daniel Sturridge and Danny Ings, explaining why there were few potential scorers in reserve against Palace.
Christian Benteke then equalised for Crystal Palace. Geoff Caddick / AFP
As it was, Philippe Coutinho provided a superb goal. Roberto Firmino has also been in fine, goalscoring form of late but the burden on the two Brazilians has been too big nonetheless.
Divock Origi’s stop-start season highlights how too many outside Klopp’s strongest side have not kicked on this season. The narrowness of Liverpool’s attack, especially when Mane is missing, has suited some of the sides who have stopped them. A winger ought to have topped the January shopping list, even if Klopp will not countenance paying for the wrong player.
Christian Benteke after scoring the winner for Crystal Palace. Geoff Caddick / AFP
Another common denominator in setbacks has been the shortcomings of centre-backs, whether the stand-in Lucas or the understudy Ragnar Klavan. The first-choice Dejan Lovren was found wanting by Palace.
That Sam Allardyce borrowed Mamadou Sakho from Liverpool and the Frenchman, seen celebrating undiplomatically as his parent club lost, has been one of the signings of the season should only add to irritation at Anfield. Liverpool have had a soft underbelly at times.
That those times have come against their supposed inferiors while Liverpool have gone unbeaten against the best increases the sense an opportunity could be squandered. But if Plan A has been compelling, entertaining and, when everyone has been available, successful for Liverpool, finding a suitable Plan B with lesser players has presented problems.
As Klopp is discovering, there is no substitute for high-class deputies.
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