Arne Slot was forced to adjust his midfield against Frankfurt and the performances of Dominik Szoboszlai and Curtis Jones in their 5-1 win showed that this should remain the case.
Slot’s decision to start all four Hugo Ekitike, Florian Wirtz, Alexander Isak and Cody Gakpo while not selecting a natural right winger raised eyebrows ahead of the match.
Liverpool deployed a sort of 4-2-4 from kick-off, with Wirtz as the nominal right winger, and the head coach’s pre-match comments highlighted the need for stability in his two-man midfield.
“They can play together, they showed that against United,” he said of the dual-nines Ekitike and Isak. “But it does mean that our midfield must be organized slightly differently.
“So where we normally play with maybe one number six, we now need Curtis and Dom to be a bit more defensive than either of them usually is.”
The strength that Liverpool found with that restructured midfield was so great that Slot may have found his new blueprint.
Jones and Szoboszlai brought stability
Per FotMobJones (139) and Szoboszlai (121) had by far the most touches of any player in Wednesday’s 5-1 win at Deutsche Bank Park.
In each of the previous four games – all losses, of course, against Crystal Palace, Galatasaray, Chelsea and Man United – Virgil van Dijk had led the team in touches on the ball.
That change marks a welcome shift in balance, not just in the way Liverpool have constructed play, but also in how effective those two midfielders have been.
Jones set a new Champions League record for the Reds when he completed 122 of his 127 passes, while Szoboszlai achieved the second highest, with 105 of his 110 reaching the intended target: 96 and 95 percent respectively.
The same two players led the game with passes into the final third – Jones with 18, Szoboszlai with 17 – and Liverpool’s number 8 also created the joint-most chances of any player with four (equal with Wirtz and Gakpo).
No Liverpool player made more recoveries – in other words, regaining possession for his team – than Szoboszlai (seven).
Context is needed as Frankfurt produced perhaps the worst team performance Slot’s side have seen so far this season, but the victory was built on a suffocating two-man move in the Reds’ midfield.
No more “basketball games”?
“I’ve been saying it for a few weeks, our games feel like they’re basketball games, it’s often end-to-end,” Jones told LFCTV after the game.
“I joined the team and the thing in my mind is that I want to get the ball. I want the team to play through me.”
“I can dominate a match if I have the ball a lot, and I have Dom next to me, who is also comfortable on the ball. I think our goal was to get on the ball and play.”
Despite fielding two strikers, a left winger and a number 10, and Federico Chiesa coming on for Isak at half-time to stick to his 4-2-4, there was less chaos surrounding Slot’s lineup in Frankfurt.
Liverpool had 65 percent of the ball – similar to that against Palace (72%), Galatasaray (67%) and United (64%) – but instructing Jones and Szoboszlai to “be a little bit more defensive” led to fewer turnovers and therefore fewer chances for the opposition.
Frankfurt managed just four shots on target and just one on target, which is a significant improvement on Liverpool’s 16 shots from Palace, nine from Galatasaray, 12 from Chelsea and 12 from United.
One of the main criticisms of Slot during the worst series of defeats in almost eleven years is the decision to adapt Ryan Gravenberch’s role this season.
Gravenberch is now given more space to move forward, rather than remaining in his starting role as number 6, and that has almost certainly led to a decline in stability in Liverpool’s midfield.
His absence on Wednesday night forced the change, but that doesn’t mean he should drop out now, even if he is fit.
What’s more, Liverpool’s dominance in Frankfurt, and the importance of a more disciplined, possession-hungry midfield to that end, should prompt a shift in Slot’s own approach.
Even if the 4-2-4 gives way to the usual 4-2-3-1 again, it is clear that a return to control and composure in the engine room is essential.
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