Daniel’s Debrief: Liverpool 2-0 Union SG

I think what we see tonight is the difference between the Champions League and the Europa League.

In every facet. Jurgen Klopp picks a team that has the feel of a Champions League team to parts of it, with heavy rotation in others. He selects Wataru Endo, Ryan Gravenberch and Harvey Elliott for the third midweek in a row - he definitely sees that as his cup midfield.

Despite this, the likes of Mohamed Salah, Darwin Nunez, Ibrahima Konate, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Alisson Becker are also picked to start.

It’s a respectful lineup but with a clear plan to change it through the game, which becomes apparent.

Remember that for eight years under Jurgen Klopp, these players have been used to playing midweek football in the Champions League. It’s good for rhythm and fitness to keep them getting minutes, albeit reduced minutes, in midweek.

We live in this world where we are so terrified of players getting injured that we don’t want them to train hard, we don’t want them to play in what we call ‘unnecessary’ games, that we forget three things:

1 - We forget that footballers don’t get injured far more often than they do. The chances of a player getting injured in a game are quite low.

2 - We forget that footballers need minutes and games for rhythm and understanding. I can guarantee you that that 45 minutes last night will have done Salah and Nunez no harm at all ahead of the weekend.

3 - We forget that footballers’ primary purpose is to play football games, not to be rested. 

It’s not just Klopp who is caught somewhere in between the Champions League and the Europa League, as Liverpool’s players have a general lull around them, an air of passiveness which seems to infect and pervade the whole team.

Salah has a chance very early on where he could’ve lifted it over the keeper rather than trying to slot it - not sure why we don’t see him doing that these days. Nunez misses an absolute sitter after good work from Elliott and Salah and it’s the same story at the back, with Alisson shanking balls into touch like there’s no tomorrow.

Despite all this though, the Reds still look comfortable enough and Union SG offer little in the way of threat. Again, difference between a Champions League and Europa League game. On a Tuesday or a Wednesday, the Reds’ sloppiness is punished.

Their few counter attacks are mopped up by the impressive Konate and Jarell Quansah, who is going higher and higher in people’s estimations every week.

I think Konate is a world-class centre-back. He’s found himself starting the last three midweeks as well - both the Europas and the League Cup - which is interesting given how I consider him to be a top-level option, but it’s also testament to how well Joel Matip has done that he seems to be getting the bigger games at the minute. That’ll be an interesting one for the weekend.

Konate’s reading of the game and timing of his actions is tremendous. There’s one later on in the second half where he times his tackle to perfection, knowing if he gets it wrong, it’s a penalty.

Quansah is developing into a fine centre-back. He also reads the game well and has attributes that can’t really be taught - a solid turn of pace and constant calmness and composure. I’m not saying Liverpool were right not to buy a centre-back, but they might have had a bit of a happy accident here.

Moving on. An attack with Salah and Nunez in and they are the two most dangerous players in the first half, while Alexander-Arnold tries to get involved too. Tsimikas likewise on the other side, but I feel our left side is so heavily built upon actions for Andy Robertson and Luis Diaz that it’s hard for that to be replicated by stand-ins.

If it’s a Champions League game, Liverpool are 1-0 up at half-time. At least. They had enough chances to be. But just a lack of focus or mindset stops them, in my opinion. That’s different to saying they don’t care or they weren’t concentrating.

Football is built upon success, peril, reward and jeopardy. At no point do Liverpool look in peril. They always appear in relative control of the match and Nunez knowing that he doesn’t need to score that chance like he would in a Champions League game, because more chances will come, means that the focus isn’t quite the same.

This seems to happen every time we play someone we are considerably better than under Klopp. Midtjylland is a real struggle in 2020. Championship Leeds and League One Derby in the League Cup in 2016 and then 2022. Even Leicester last week.

So much of Klopp’s football is built-upon work, energy and desire and it needs to be understood that we might not see that in droves when the Reds are playing a game that most would consider to be the least important of the week.

And Klopp certainly thinks that way, taking off Endo, Salah and Nunez at half-time. It’s easy to think then that Endo starts at the weekend as the six with Alexis Mac Allister as an eight, and I think that’s probably the intention before the game.

But that may have changed now because Gravenberch is very good out there. He couldn’t score an easier goal if he tried but having those late runners following up shots is essential and something we’ve not had in recent seasons - and with the likes of Alexander-Arnold, Diaz and Dominik Szoboszlai, who love to shoot from distance, late runners following those shots up is key.

He plays as a bit of an all-action midfielder, operating in different areas on the pitch and contributing in all thirds. I don’t think he does anything exceptionally but I think he does everything well and that’s what a Klopp midfield was built upon at Borussia Dortmund with the likes of Ilkay Gundogan, Shinji Kagawa and Mario Gotze.

So, Klopp’s big decision for the weekend then is Endo or Gravenberch (Elliott to consider too) with Szoboszlai and Mac Allister. Looking at the opposition, Brighton love to play through the thirds with pace and transition fast - that’s De Zerbi ball’s main principles and I wonder if he’ll go for the safety-first approach of Endo. 

Having said that, with no Diogo Jota or Cody Gakpo, through suspension and injury, the trio of Salah, Nunez and Diaz are likely to be asked to play the whole game, or at least two of them are.

Brighton come from 2-0 down to draw in Marseille. They’re finding the Europa tougher than I think people would’ve expected and De Zerbi names pretty much a full side. No Pervis Estupinan at the weekend either.

The Jota thing. PGMOL now admits he shouldn’t have been sent off and that one of his two yellow cards shouldn’t have been given. 

They claim the second one isn’t a yellow. And while they can tell us that one of them isn’t a yellow, but one of them is, they can’t tell us why. 

And while they admit it was incorrect, because it was two yellows, it can’t be rescinded.

Well done boys, good process.

Quickly on the replay stuff. Won’t happen, don’t particularly want it to happen. But some of the discourse around it is weird, I think. 

People throwing open suggestions of awful goals or disallowed goals or other decisions and saying they should be replayed too. Here’s the difference though:

There have been countless dreadful refereeing decisions but the thing here is that the decision that was intended and the decision that was given are two different things. Yes, Norwich’s goal against Tottenham should’ve stood in 2019. Yes, Everton should’ve had a penalty against City in 2022. And dare I say it, maybe Liverpool shouldn’t have done in the 2019 Champions League final.

But, it doesn’t matter. Those, rightly or wrongly, were the decisions decided and agreed upon by the officials.

The only, and I mean only, comparable is Sheffield United’s goal against Aston Villa not being given because goal-line technology was turned off in June 2020.

Jota is a great footballer. The word I always use for him is effective. You might feel like he’s on the periphery at times and that’s because he is, particularly out on the left - I’d pay good money to never see him wasted out there again in my life, but he’s always good value for a goal.

Big goals too. His numbers for Liverpool are exceptional comparative to his minutes and in the last three home games, he’s scored late on to seal the victory.

His shot power reminds me of Ruud Van Nistelrooy as I’ve said before but it was another Dutchman I was thinking of last night, and a Liverpool one - Dirk Kuyt.

Efficiency, hard work, scrappiness perhaps but by goodness do they do their job. 

Effective.

And that’s what Liverpool are. It was a pretty boring game, don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t easy on the eye but this group stage is about getting through it with the minimum of fuss and using your first teamers to keep them fresh, without having to stretch themselves. 

To that effect, Liverpool tick every box. We can’t be playing our normal stuff in these games because it’s not right based on the lineups we’re putting out and the challenges that are coming at weekends.

Two Europa wins now and they’ve not had to work massively hard for either. Beat Toulouse in a few weeks at home and we’re probably a point away from topping the group.

Well done boys, good process.

Daniel