While Liverpool might boast 10 senior midfielders this season, and have admittedly never had all of them fit and available for action at the same time, there is perhaps an ‘agreed’ first-choice trio - Jordan Henderson, Fabinho, and Thiago Alcantara.
The fact that Jurgen Klopp fielded such an engine room in last year’s Champions League final, rushing the latter two back from injury in the process, would support this. But while on paper it is seemingly the Reds’ strongest midfield, recent evidence would suggest otherwise.
In amongst the injuries suffered over the past two and a half seasons, the trio have started just 17 games together in midfield. There have been memorable wins in such a number, including last season’s 4-1 victory away at Everton and 4-0 victory at home to Manchester United, with them boasting 10 victories together.
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Yet this season, they have lined up together just five times. Liverpool are admittedly unbeaten from those five games, but the Boxing Day win over Aston Villa was their first victory since defeating Man City in July’s Community Shield. The other three games have been shambolic, high-scoring draws, to Fulham, Brighton, and now Wolves, where the Reds have lost the midfield battle.
When the trio weren’t good enough in Paris against Real Madrid, understandable excuses were made. After all, Liverpool had competed in the most intense of campaigns, chasing down an unprecedented quadruple, and two of its members were carrying injuries.
That night, Carlo Ancelotti claimed the Reds were predictable to play against. But it's one thing when it's happening against Toni Kroos, Luka Modric and Casemiro, another thing entirely when it's against a struggling Wolves side.
Not good enough then, the same trio aren’t good enough together now. And ironically, with Ancelotti bringing in Eduardo Camavinga, Aurelien Tchouameni, and potentially Jude Bellingham as long-term replacements for his own elite players, he has again highlighted Liverpool failings, but this time in a different way as the Reds have been caught standing still.
Liverpool’s midfield woes are well-documented this season. They lack legs and find themselves chasing shadows, unable to win their challenges or cut open opposition defences when they do actually get on the ball.
This was abundantly clear in the Reds’ dismal showing in Saturday night’s 2-2 draw with Wolves, with Klopp himself bemoaning their failings and part in both the West Midlands outfit’s goals.
“There were a lot of situations where we thought we win the challenge but all of a sudden we are completely open,” he said to reporters after the final whistle. “How is that possible? Two or three players in the challenge, moving to the ball side when you are there. If we don’t do that and can’t get out, it looks like where are they?
“That meant they constantly stayed in the game. Anyway, we go 2-1 up. It was not an open game. Nothing didn’t really happen a lot but we still kept not winning these challenges around the second goal.
“We’re in possession, have the ball, but I don’t know why, we give the ball away. Then they go in our box without a real challenge. That’s difficult. The ball comes in and it’s difficult. It’s unlucky, Ibou is there but it hits Hwang and the ball rolls over the line. Unlucky, 2-2. That’s the result.
“We watch the game and you see the things that happen. It doesn’t matter how you play, you have to win challenges. There is no alternative. It’s something I mentioned already in the dressing room and I will mention it again.
“The next team we face is Brighton. Famous for playing proper football. If we don’t defend properly there, why should we go there? I can understand it looks open in moments but it’s just open because we think we win the challenges but don’t win it. That’s then really tricky to deal with in the end.
“It’s not that they had chance after chance. It causes us a lot of effort to put it right in the end. If you are already there, you can win it where you are then you don’t have to run back and try and solve the problems there.”
Of course such criticism isn’t purely aimed at the midfield, but it has been something that has repeatedly let Liverpool down this season. How different it could have been had they been successful in their efforts to persuade Tchouameni to choose a move to Anfield over Real Madrid last summer. How different it could still be if they manage to sign long-standing target Bellingham.
Yet such interest shows that Reds chiefs are well aware of their own side’s weaknesses. While the rarely-spotted Henderson x Fabinho x Thiago triumvirate might be the strongest on paper as things stand, it won’t be once they actually move in the transfer window and initiate this long-awaited midfield overhaul.
Whether such a revamp can begin this month with the January transfer window open remains to be seen. Admittedly, it’s easier said than done considering Liverpool’s first-choice targets appear to be currently unobtainable, with the Reds favouring waiting for the right player as opposed to just filling the void by signing a player right now.
However, Klopp has admitted that the £37m signing of Cody Gakpo could impact any future Liverpool business in January and that he doesn’t expect to “splash the cash” in this month’s transfer window as a result. And by waiting, off the back of last year’s quadruple push, club bosses have been found falling asleep at the wheel.
So what are the Reds left with? If this first-choice trio isn’t actually the strongest, with ageing legs seemingly spent, then what is the answer? The best they have to turn to wasn’t good enough against a poor Wolves side, so where do they possibly turn to next?
In the past when Liverpool have been stuck in such difficult moments, Klopp has turned to his trusted experienced players, like your Hendersons or James Milners, but the required standards collectively currently seem beyond them.
Meanwhile, the Reds’ plight is too ugly and high-pressured to drop such weights on the raw shoulders of a young Harvey Elliott or Curtis Jones. They have often been unable to provide the desired legs when turned to anyway.
As a result, it seems that Naby Keita is the only possible solution left. The Guinean has admittedly impressed in cameo outings for Liverpool since the restart from the World Cup break and is actually a rare commodity at Anfield - a midfielder at his peak age.
Yet the 27-year-old’s injury record is well-documented. Meanwhile, he remains out of contract in the summer with no signs of him agreeing an extension as yet. While he could have to be the man Klopp has to turn to, such underlying factors behind any selection ensure it remains a gamble.
Even then, there is nothing to suggest it would be one that pays off. When such a player is your last throw of the dice, and you’re using it in January, midway through the season, it shows just how the Reds’ situation is far from ideal.
It’s ironic that in a game where Liverpool’s latest midfield failings were there for all to see, reported target Matheus Nunes very nearly created a late winner for Wolves when enjoying his first taste of Anfield. Brought on as substitute, the Portuguese was adjudged offside when crossing it back in before Toti’s flicked finish. With VAR not boasting the correct angle to make their own ruling, the goal was chalked off and the visitors were left livid.
Having already played for Sporting Lisbon this season prior to joining Wolves, Nunes cannot be Liverpool’s answer until the summer at least. In the meantime, with Kopites themselves livid at this midfield plight and lack of responsive action, Reds bosses are quickly running out of places to look to salvage their season.
Liverpool need midfield reinforcements. They need the legs in their engine room to rediscover their identity and intensity now. When Klopp admitted he’d like FSG to take more risks in the transfer window earlier in the season, standing still with a bust engine was not what he had in mind. Now it's getting to the point where it's just irresponsible.
Fingers in ears and hands over eyes will not stop what is happening out on the pitch. What Ancelotti saw in May, now everyone sees with it obvious what Klopp's side are lacking and what is costing them games.
Never mind identity or intensity, insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Each match, the Reds are making the same mistakes again and again as opposing sides make a mockery of them and tear away at their midfield.
A return to Henderson x Fabinho x Thiago did not solve their problems against Wolves, the same as it didn't earlier in the season against Brighton after a dismal start to the campaign. It may not fare any better next week either. Once champions of England, Europe, and the World, such players have been great at Anfield but, on this evidence, their race is run. There is no tomorrow.
Liverpool cannot move forward performing this way and are at increasing risk of missing out on the Champions League as a result. Sure, there are plenty of reasonable excuses behind these business decisions, but nothing that will compensate them if they miss out on the top four.
If FSG wait until the summer to strengthen this Liverpool midfield, their apparent belief that Klopp’s presence is enough to get the Reds out of this hole and still qualify for the Champions League will be their downfall.
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