Daniel’s Debrief: Liverpool 2-0 Brentford

It’s the second week in a row that the 60-minute mark is the signalling of a clear and present upping of Liverpool’s tempo, performance and intensity.

That’s not to say the first hour was bad, just that it was a case of Liverpool being in second gear for much of it. After going in front so early on, it was reasonable to expect a deluge of attacks on the Brentford goal but that doesn’t really manifest into reality until early into the second half.

Brentford come back into it but similarly to last week, Liverpool keep them at arms’ length. I’m reading Ian Graham’s book at the minute and a point that he stresses is that you will never have a game of football where your opponents won’t get a single chance. You can’t stop them getting chances but you can stop them getting high-value chances.

And, for the second game running, you’d be pleased as a data analyst to note the nature of Brentford’s opportunities. Low in both quantity and quality.

Liverpool have shown something in this opening to the season which they desperately lacked for large parts of last season: control.

Whilst we don’t play great from the goal until half-time, we have the sense of a team that has everything under control and isn’t fighting against the tide.

Again, they step it up hugely in the second half. Mohamed Salah is spell-binding from 45 onwards and the early signs are very, very positive from him. It looks like he’s put the back end of last season behind him and he looks to have rediscovered his form.

Even in the first half of last season, there were games where Salah was scoring but not really impressing otherwise. Yes, he’s scored in both games so far this season but perhaps more importantly, he’s produced two really good all-round performances.

The goal is so delicate in its result and Salah being able to apply the deftest of touches is not only aesthetically pleasing but a sign of how he has managed to retain his ability over the years. We’ll probably never see him score the City and Watford goals from 2021 again but he can do different stuff now - his playmaking today is unbelievable.

I think people underrate Salah. I’ve said this for years and no-one listens to me. I truly believe that it’s him and Steven Gerrard that are this club’s two greatest ever players. He’s fifteen behind Billy Liddell. Gordon Hodgson is in third, twenty-eight ahead of Salah. Liddell is no longer the target. If Salah signs an extension, he’ll move ahead of Hodgson too.

And, no disrespect intended, but these guys were playing their football between the 1930s and the 1950s, when the sport was an entirely different game. It’s also worth mentioning that Liddell made 534 appearances for Liverpool. Salah is on 351. His numbers are alien and the thing that always gets forgotten is that he’s a winger, not a striker.

On the other side today, there was Bryan Mbeumo, a really good Premier League winger. If we signed Mbeumo, it would rightly be seen as a good signing. But the difference between Salah and the ‘really good’ players is colossal. He’s a few rungs above ‘really good’.

It’s Luis Diaz who sets him up for the goal and he has a great day too. Diaz’s best strengths are his energy, relentlessness and his close control. Some of his footwork today is delicious. 

It’s a good, raspy finish for the goal of his own in the first half. Most notably was the fact that it was with his left foot. I pondered last week about who could take Salah’s place on the right wing were he to be injured or rotated this season. Harvey Elliott comes on there late in the game but Arne Slot’s football relies on wide players with pace and I think Diaz’s two-footedness is underappreciated, and he would be a good option to play on the right, if needed.

Of course, you’d then have to fill the left wing spot and this is why Liverpool must go into the transfer market this week.

Defensively, we are really good again today. Ibrahima Konate puts in a monstrous shift and reminds us all why he should be starting every week for Liverpool. He’s allowed his levels to drop recently but today he is imperious and does not miss a beat throughout. His duel win ratio on both the ground and in the air is immaculate.

In front of him, all three of the midfielders can go home pleased with their work. Dominik Szoboszlai covers more ground than any player on the pitch, Alexis Mac Allister is much more involved than last week and Ryan Gravenberch makes the most dribbles and tackles of any Liverpool player.

Of course, Gravenberch is relatively new to the six role but what impresses me today is his work without the ball, perhaps more than with it. 

Szoboszlai has had a brilliant start to the season and it would be extremely surprising to see anything other than an unchanged lineup next weekend.

Old Trafford has been a graveyard ground for Liverpool for all of my lifetime and I’ve seen us lose to great, good, average and bad United teams there. I’ve seen us collapse in the first minute and in the last.

In a way though, the six points from the first two games means that a draw would be a respectable result. I think we’re a considerably better team than United but clearing up the points against the bottom half means that draws away from home against the top half aren’t bad.

What I’m keen to see is whether Liverpool do enter the market this week, as they need to. A left-sided defender is needed, a bespoke number six, and an attacker. I think the squad we’ve got now will comfortably finish in the top 4 but it won’t win the league or the Champions League. It’s three high-quality additions away from that.

I’m loving the football we’re playing. It’s controlled and it’s focused on precision and practicality.

Slot has demanded an excellence in technical ability and you can see from the first two games that there is a real demand for quick and accurate passing.

A niche prediction for Liverpool this season is that they will score the goal of the season.

The intricacies of our ball movement today are splendid to watch at times.

There’s some glorious football that leads to a Diogo Jota chance being blocked by Nathan Collins and Salah later plays three consecutive one-twos before the same player makes a valuable block.

We use the ball in those two moves in a prime Arsene Wenger-esque way.

Slot’s demands for precision are clear to see in some of the stats, too. In the first two games of the season, we’ve only been caught offside once (guess who). 

Today, as a team we record our highest pass accuracy in the league since the 2003/04 season.

The manager’s philosophy is becoming visible in the play and it is that philosophy and identity which is helping us to control and dominate games.

The 3-2-5 shape we use in build-up before switching to a 4-2-3-1 out of possession is complex but there’s positive signs that the starters are getting to grips with it.

I always felt that a Jurgen Klopp team needed ten players to play well for it to work. Usually, they did. But Slot’s football appears more like Benitez’s, where you could win a game with six or seven players playing well.

Because it’s the tactics, identity and philosophy that are the key.

We have registered the highest xG so far in the league and have the lowest xG conceded.

We have a manager whose tactics and ideas are translating into performances, and we have a squad that is responding well. The early signs are good.

How much this team can achieve will depend on what happens in the next week.

We’re about to find out how serious Liverpool are taking this.

Daniel