Liverpool v Nottingham Forest
The first bump in the road for Arne Slot to overcome since arriving at Liverpool and it is a big one. Not big in terms of who Liverpool lost to or how they loat, but because expectations had risen on the back of three wins, with three clean sheets. It is not a big thing to lose to Forest because they have come on in leaps and bounds, particularly this summer, with a real rise in quality throughout their squad since promotion. Not big because of how they lost either, because the team were losing this same way under Klopp at times as well. In fact, it was eerily reminiscent of the way the team would often underperform after an international break, added to the struggles to break down a low block side under Klopp. The big thing was that people were getting carried away, thinking that Slot had come in and fixed all the issues from the previous regime and would sweep all before him.
The big worry is that this was so similar to the way things were under Klopp. There was a real lack of quality in the final third, with the team playing like a bunch of strangers, which should never happen with players who have been playing together at least one full season. There was not one new player in that team, which should mean that the inability to work together should not be happening, but it was constant. Balls were being played to a player who should have been making a run already, but instead they were waiting and only ran after the ball was played, so that it ran out of play. But the biggest issue for me was the attitude, which was exemplified by Mac Allister. He completely blew the midfield battle by bottling it, choosing to play act, dive and throw tantrums rather than standing up and taking Forest on. Mac Allister came back with the same attitude of the entire Argentina team in their final game of the international break, when they were all busy throwing tantrums and so lost the game. That is something Slot will have to deal with quickly.
At least Slot tried to change things up in game, something Klopp would rarely do. It might not have worked this time, but I am sure he will have learnt a lot from this game. For starters, I am sure Slot will realise that there are a few players that rarely come back from international football in good form, Salah being the standout example. The pressure he is under to carry his nation in every match they play must weigh on him mentally and take a lot out of him. In future, I hope Slot will consider changing things up in that regard. For Salah, starting on the bench could have given him something to take his mind off that mental strain he had suffered and instead left him fired up to come off the bench if needed and change the game. The one thing I will say is, in my opinion Slot has to accept that he needs to use Endo for games like these. Endo playing in Mac Allister’s place would have been a completely different game, as he would not have allowed himself to be bullied, he would not have reacted, play acted, dived or anything but continued to give his all. Slot has to learn that you need a fighter in there at times, as you have to win the battle to earn the right to play football.
I do think that Slot really needs to be more pragmatic in games like this, though I can understand his reluctance to change a winning side. In fact, I fully understand that as I am usually in the camp of ‘if it’s not broke don’t fix it’, but there is a whole history of similar Liverpool performances and Premier League games to look back on and see that there is a need to change things up for games like this. Not to put out a weaker side to save legs for Milan on Tuesday, but to mix things up for a game like this. Similar to how Forest set out to play a certain way for the first 60 minutes, Liverpool needed to play to counter that and then, when they came out of their shell for the last half hour, then you can put a ball-playing midfield in there to control the play. There is no way the same XI are going to be able to play every game over the next few weeks anyway, so changes were going to be needed at some point, it just would have made sense to make that change for this one and then revert to his chosen team for Milan. It worries me that Slot, after watching the first ten minutes was not thinking that this was a match to bring in Endo and make that substitution at the earliest possible opportunity.
For me, that is what worried me, the possibility that Slot might be too wed to his style of play to consider that sometimes you have to mix it up. Their full-backs had completely shut Liverpool’s widemen out of the game, but he made no attempt to change things to deal with that. I would have liked to see him narrow off the wingers, to pull the full-backs inside, and free up the full-backs to overlap and provide more of an attacking focus there. Instead, neither full-back really tried to make a run outside their winger, making it much easier for the Forest defence as they were not being asked different questions. I do wonder why Liverpool do not make more use of that anyway, all three starting forwards and Nunez are strong in the air. I know it can mean turning over possession, but you have to score to win games and that requires creating chances, not just keeping the ball for 90 minutes. When the passing in the final third is so poor, surely it would make sense to just keep it simple and get it wide to players with good delivery and then put bodies in the box to attack those crosses? At least there is a chance doing that, whereas what was happening was simply giving the ball away trying clever passes.
Forest, unlike Liverpool, were excellent. They came with a game plan, keep it tight for 60 minutes and then look to catch LFC on the break in the final 30 minutes, and worked it extremely well. They asked Liverpool the question of whether they were good enough to break Forest down or not, then played their hearts out to ensure that Liverpool would need to be at their best to get anything from the game. Without a doubt, in my opinion Yates was man of the match. He may not be the best player in terms of skill or technique, but he has heart, desire, drive and will run himself into the ground for the team. He bullied Mac Allister and completely cut him out of the game. To be fair though, all of their players turned up to be counted and gave a good account of themselves, including the subs. They did not allow the match to become free flowing and open, taking Liverpool out of their stride at every opportunity and slowing things down when the ball was dead. Every time they had a throw in and goal kick they took as long as they could, to the point they picked up some bookings for time wasting over it, frustrating Liverpool and killing any momentum before it could build.
There has been a bit of complaining about the tactics, but they are not there to make it easy, they are there to make it as difficult as possible for their opponents. They did that really well. Yes, it did make it an extremely painful watch for those of us who support Liverpool, but you have to give them credit where it is due – they played their part in the game and cannot be faulted. Nuno had taken a bit of a gamble on being able to hold Liverpool without anyone on to stretch the play for 60 minutes, it paid off handsomely for him. His substitutions changed the game and won it for Forest. It was not just that he made the right subs either, it was also the timing of them, they came just as LFC were running out of ideas and were there to be picked off. Though his heart must have been in his mouth when Sels tried his best to fluff his lines by dropping a simple ball right by the goal line! That is how small the margins are in this sport – one silly error could have turned it on its head. It would have been especially galling for Sels, if that had gone in, as he had been having a nice easy day up until then.
Overall though, Forest got three points and fully deserved it, maintaining their unbeaten start to the Premier League season. They are a much better side than they were last season, in terms of players, and should comfortably avoid relegation this time around.
Quick notes on the players:
Alisson – he had absolutely no chance with the goal, which was cleverly bent around Konate to keep it hidden from his view until the last second. As usual, Alisson was good, though he had little to do.
Alexander-Arnold – was completely off his game after two man of the match performances for England. There were a few moments where his usual passing accuracy let him down on the final ball. It was a strange choice to shift him into midfield when his passing was so off. You move him in there to pick out those passes, so it did not really make sense to do so in this game, much as I am happy with the idea of him moving into midfield in the long term, so that Bradley can be in the team as well.
Konate – I think he was unlucky to be the one sacrificed to change up the team to chase the result. Of all the defenders to take off when switching to a back three, it seemed odd to take off the one who actually has plenty of experience in that system. Even if that experience did come from prior to his move to Liverpool. Also, he was not having a bad game, though maybe he could have come out sooner to help out Bradley and close the space on the goal.
van Dijk – not his best game, but also he was not particularly bad. I was just disappointed in him for joining in the moans at the referee over nothing, when he should have been telling Mac Allister to get up and stop embarrassing the team with his play acting. Sometimes you have to be unpopular with your team mates as a captain, there are times they need a kick up the backside, this game was one of those times.
Robertson – had a poor game. I think the word to use is indecisive. He was making runs but then stopping them just at the point that a ball was played for him. When he did get forward, he did not provide the quality that he can do. This was very like his performances last season, where he never seemed sure of his role.
Gravenberch – he was pretty much playing against Forest’s midfield on his own. A decent performance, but he was also guilty of loose passes in the final third.
Mac Allister – I know people are going to think I am picking on him here, but he was utterly abysmal. An embarrassing petulant performance from a player who has shown he is so much better than this. He was lucky to last until half-time, let alone 60 minutes. His constant pretence of being hurt was pathetic, he was handing the initiative to Forest each time he did that. Every time he went down crying, I just kept thinking how lucky he was that he did not have my mother, as she would have run on to ‘give him something to cry about’. He let the team down badly. I was going to say fans as well, but they let themselves down with the terrible atmosphere, which was on a similar level to Mac Allister’s performance.
Szoboszlai – the best I can say of his performance is anonymous. Lucky not to get taken off as he offered nothing in this match, other than mindless running around. He looks in need of a rest to me, but maybe is just suffering from an international hangover as, like Salah, he has the hopes of his entire nation on his shoulders as captain and talisman of the team.
Diaz – normally he is full of running and skills but not against Forest. He looked sluggish and not at the races at all. Struggled to make any positive impact on the game.
Jota – the last couple of games have seen him struggle to get involved, but that would have been an improvement on this performance. Another one who was poor. You have to wonder if it would not have been better to start with Nunez to tire out the backline before bringing on Jota. He is better as a sub than Nunez is, usually. Against a team that was always going to sit in deep, Nunez’s willingness to run, harrass and harry would have been more useful I feel. Jota just did nothing to stretch the defence and did not work hard enough at putting pressure on them.
Salah – he has been so sharp this season, but not in this game. He looked slow, tired and struggled to cause Moreno any trouble at all, except for one moment when he cut outside on his right but hit the shot from a difficult angle.
Gakpo – came on in the 61st minute for Diaz. He is not at his best as a substitute and this was not really the right game for him to come in to. There was no space for him to run into, no quality play through midfield to get him the ball in dangerous areas and he ended up spending most of his time chasing after the ball, rather than getting on it.
Nunez – brought on in place of Jota in the 61st minute. Was unable to affect the game at all. I do not think he really suits coming on a substitute, he really struggles to get into the game most of the time, when coming off the bench.
Bradley – also arrived in the 61st minute, when he replaced Mac Allister. His first poor performance. He was badly at fault on the goal, allowing Hudson-Odoi to cut inside far too easily, never getting tight enough to even give the winger a problem. It is a performance he needs to learn from, but that is not bad for a young lad in just his second season of top flight first-team football, to have just one poor performance.
Tsimikas – replaced Robertson in the 75th minute. I am not sure he understood what he was meant to be doing. The tactical switch just did not work.
Curtis Jones – also came on in the 75th minute as Slot changed the shape of the team to try and recover from the goal. Jones replaced Konate, as Slot converted to a back three of sorts. He was also very poor. At times he actually hindered attacks, rather than being a creative influence on the team.
Written by Tris Burke September 17 2024 02:32:10
