Micah Richards believes that Liverpool are ‘stuck between systems’ as they continue to endure a difficult season and has accused Jurgen Klopp of being ‘too loyal to some’ players at Anfield.
The Reds fell to their ninth Premier League defeat of the campaign, and their third in a row in all competitions, on Saturday as Manchester City eased to a 4-1 win at the Etihad Stadium, despite Mo Salah’s 17th-minute opener.
Such was the gulf in class between the two teams that even the German criticised most of his players in public over their performances at the weekend (as per Daily Mail), something he’s very rarely done during his time at the club.
Richards feels that the intense pressing with which Klopp’s Liverpool were previously synonymous is now ‘non-existent’, with continual mid-game switches in formation affecting the team’s cohesion.
He wrote in his latest Daily Mail column: “What is going on with Liverpool? You will have to go a long way to find someone who has more respect for Jurgen Klopp than me, but I’m really puzzled by what I’m seeing from his team.
“Had they maintained last season’s momentum and consistency, to be in and around the title race, we would have been talking about them as one of the Premier League’s greatest ever sides.
“The levels they had shown were off the scale, which makes what is happening now so baffling. Liverpool are stuck between systems – they kept switching between 4-3-3 and 4-2-3-1 at Manchester City – and that ferocious press of theirs is now non-existent because one man will charge on his own and there is no cohesion.
“All season I have thought, ‘Liverpool will turn up today’, but I can’t say that now. Your senses tell you when you turn up to watch them that you will see a quality side, but then the game starts and you can’t quite work out what is going on.
“Klopp has been too loyal to some of the men who have been with him throughout and a little too slow in refreshing.”
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Interestingly, statistics from Soccerment show that Liverpool lead the way in this season’s Premier League for gegenpressing intensity with 58.81%, with that metric showing how often a team immediately tries to regain possession after losing the ball in attacking areas.
However, the naked eye can detect that Klopp’s side aren’t pressuring opponents with the same energy as they had during the peak years of his Anfield reign, with their current woes encapsulated by how Trent Alexander-Arnold didn’t track back for Jack Grealish’s fourth goal on Saturday.
It’s difficult to pin down exactly what the Reds’ biggest problem is right now, with several facets of their performances this term open to scrutiny, although Richards’ observation about the formation changes affecting their pressing game is an interesting one.
The simple reality could be that this team has gone to the well so many times under the current manager, especially during their relentless pursuit on four fronts in 2021/22, and that a summer rejuvenation of the squad could spark a renewed vigour in Liverpool next season.