Liverpool: Man United draw showed Jurgen Klopp lacks a Plan B
Liverpool failed to beat Manchester United with the game ending in a 0-0 draw. The dour affair showed that Jurgen Klopp needs to find a Plan B for his Reds outfit.
Liverpool vs. Manchester United was hyped like no other ahead of the pair’s meeting on Monday. The game didn’t live up to the hype. That’s not unusual. But what the game showed was that Jurgen Klopp’s team lacks a Plan B.
Jose Mourinho sent his team to Anfield to defend and not lose under any circumstances. They did it. The Red Devils stifled what was, until this point, a potent Liverpool attack. No real cutting edge. No goals. Not even many real chances.
Where Liverpool have been effective since Klopp arrived was by pressing opposition teams high up the pitch and winning the ball back near the opponent’s goal. So, instead, Mourinho decided not to play out from the back.
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United played long balls and went over the top of the Liverpool press. Then, if they lost possession, they just dropped back into a deep defensive position and made Klopp’s men work for every chance they got. They didn’t get many.
This is nothing new. Teams have tried this tactic before against Liverpool. But the effectiveness of United in blunting the Liverpool attack was startling. Startling compared to the ruthless attack that has rampaged the Premier League in the early stages of this season.
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Liverpool still struggle to break teams down when they have to really work for their chances. It doesn’t help, either, when Klopp has important players missing through injury. Georginio Wijnaldum and Adam Lallana were both unable to take their usual place in the Liverpool starting XI.
That meant Emre Can had to come into the midfield, alongside with Philippe Coutinho and Jordan Henderson, and Daniel Sturridge took his place in attack. Sturridge, who does not suit a Klopp-led Liverpool, proved exactly why once again.
Sturridge playing also meant Roberto Firmino had to move into a wide position where he was much less effective. Whilst the midfield lacked the energy and creativity that it usually has with two starters missing.
What the game showed was that Liverpool have a very particular way of playing. But once a few of the cogs come out of the machine, then the machine malfunctions. Can cannot replace what Lallana or Wijnaldum bring to the table because he is a completely different player to both.
Sturridge cannot do what Firmino does for the same reason. The attack was more laboured with the England striker leading the line. Just two players missing meant Klopp’s team no longer looked like the Liverpool team everybody had grown accustomed to.
This was supposed to be Plan B, but really, there was no Plan B. It was just Plan A gone wrong. Malfunctioned. Klopp cannot play the way Liverpool usually plays once he has to go to his bench players. That electric, dynamite press is only possible with his first-choice XI.
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A lazier Sturridge and a plodding Can put an end to it. So do players like Lucas Leiva. Klopp has taught his Liverpool team one way of playing, but he needs to find an alternative. An alternative for when teams sit deep and defend.
And an alternative for when he has first-choice players out through injury or suspension. Klopp lacks a Plan B when things veer away from the norm. The United game showed it.