After Hundreds Of Millions Spent On Players, What Was Liverpool’s Plan?

What was it expected to look like? Amid each nan talk astir Liverpool and their disappointing shape astatine nan commencement of this season, that is possibly nan hardest mobility of each to answer. What were they trying to do? If it had worked, really would this squad person played?

The champions spent £424m (about $550m) connected caller signings successful nan summer, but if each had gone well, they would person spent an further £40m ($53m) to onshore Crystal Palace centre-back Marc Guéhi. The England world would, astatine nan very least, person fixed an other action astatine nan backmost (the wounded to Giovanni Leoni has diminished their protect options further), allowing Arne Slot to remainder Ibrahima Konaté, whose mediocre shape continued successful the 3-0 conclusion to Manchester City connected Sunday. An early City punishment was a nonstop consequence of Konaté getting successful Conor Bradley’s measurement arsenic Jérémy Doku trim successful from nan left.

But Konaté’s business pinch Virgil van Dijk is proven. In past seasons, it has been acold amended than this. While neither cardinal defender is playing well, Liverpool’s baffling openness this play has been little astir individual shape than building – and that’s despite, successful caller weeks, returning to past season’s midfield.

Against Aston Villa past weekend, Slot selected an XI consisting of 10 players who were astatine nan nine past season, positive Hugo Ekitike. On Tuesday, against Real Madrid, location was 1 further alteration pinch Florian Wirtz replacing Cody Gakpo. Liverpool won some of those games, but neither Villa nor Madrid tested their evident vulnerability to nonstop balls played down nan full-backs. Going backmost to basics, trying to make nan modulation to thing caller and much incremental, whitethorn not rather person been an admittance of hundreds of millions wasted successful nan summer, but it astir apt was an acknowledgment that location had been an effort to alteration excessively overmuch excessively quickly.

Soccer teams are delicate organisms. Even connected a purely tactical level, without considering nan infinite complexities of psychology, changing 1 constituent of a lineup has an effect not simply connected nan different 10 elements, but connected nan coalitions betwixt them. Take retired Trent Alexander-Arnold, for instance, and Liverpool nary longer person a subordinate astatine right-back who people inverts to go an auxiliary holding midfielder alongside Ryan Gravenberch, shielding nan centre of defense while liberating cardinal midfielders Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai, while besides being tin some of sweeping agelong passes to move play and meticulous speedy balls guardant to merchandise Mohamed Salah.

Slot had go convinced by nan extremity of past play that opponents had worked Liverpool out, to an grade a consequence of nan club’s constricted transportation activity past summer. There was, anyway, ever going to beryllium a infinitesimal erstwhile this became discernibly his broadside alternatively than Jürgen Klopp’s. To that extent, important alteration was inevitable and necessary. But what was nan intention? If each had gone well, really should this broadside person looked?

Liverpool signed 2 centre-forwards for a mixed interest of £210m ($276m). Perhaps nan scheme was ever to play only 1 of Alexander Isak and Ekitiké, to support them fresh, to person 1 ever fresh to travel disconnected nan bench, overmuch arsenic West Brom erstwhile did pinch Romelu Lukaku and Shane Long. But fixed their cost, that’s an extraordinarily privileged position to beryllium in, moreover if either could theoretically run wide successful extremis and truthful supply further squad depth.

But wherever was Wirtz, who costs £100m ($131m) positive add-ons, expected to fit? He was seemingly promised he would play centrally, which helped seduce him to move from Bayer Leverkusen to Anfield alternatively than to Bayern. At nan commencement of nan season, Slot’s penchant appeared to beryllium for Wirtz arsenic a cardinal creator successful a 4-2-3-1. But that, it turned out, near Liverpool hopelessly unfastened astatine nan backmost – thing evident moreover arsenic they won their first 5 games of nan season.

Wirtz whitethorn accommodate but, for now, he is struggling pinch nan physicality of nan Premier League. It’s very difficult to spot really he and Salah, for whose deficiency of earthy protect capacity Liverpool person ever had to compensate, tin play successful nan aforesaid broadside without risking nan midfield being overwhelmed – astatine slightest not successful nan Premier League; Madrid simply did not supply nan aforesaid beingness challenge.

In fact, it whitethorn beryllium that nary much than 2 of Isak, Ekitiké, Wirtz, and Salah tin play together. Even if nan summertime were portion of nan modulation to a post-Salah future, it’s very difficult to understand what nan scheme was, unless Liverpool ever had successful mind immoderate benignant of 4-3-1-2, pinch Wirtz to play down Alexander Isak and Ekitiké, pinch width provided from full-back, which would astatine slightest thief to explicate why they signed Milos Kerkez and Frimpong. In a world of nonstop play and agelong throws, possibly a beforehand 2 is nan adjacent portion of English soccer’s 1980s revival.

But for now, Liverpool guidelines arsenic a cautionary communicative of really you tin return a very bully team, propulsion money astatine it, and make everything overmuch worse.

• This is an extract from Soccer pinch Jonathan Wilson, a play look from nan Guardian US astatine nan crippled successful Europe and beyond. Subscribe for free here. Have a mobility for Jonathan? Email soccerwithjw@theguardian.com, and he’ll reply nan champion successful a early edition.