You can quite easily make a case for almost every area of a team being the most important to their success.
If a goalkeeper has a nightmare performance, post-match chatter focuses on the difference a world class shot stopper makes. When a centre-back makes a mistake, all you hear about is how a defence is what wins you titles. If an attack is misfiring, talk hones in on missed chances being missed points.
Rarely, though, will there be a huge autopsy on the functionality of the midfield. In reality, the middle third can, quite literally, make or break a team.
As Liverpool are, once again, finding out. But it isn’t a new problem.
It plagued the Reds during Jurgen Klopp’s penultimate season. It was also one of the many talking points from last season’s fifth-placed finish. And now, just four games into the new Premier League season, Andoni Iraola’s men have one win to their name.
Yes, Liverpool are unbeaten. But the solitary win over Ipswich Town have been combined with draws against Newcastle United, Nottingham Forest and Fulham. And the latter two were played at Anfield. It isn’t what was expected when Iraola was announced as Arne Slot’s successor.
While there have been a lot of talking points following each of the matches this season, there’s been a recurring theme in the autopsies.
The double pivot. Against Fulham on Saturday, Liverpool’s midfield two of Ryan Gravenberch and Dominik Szoboszlai struggled. It isn’t the first time and it won’t be the last.
In this article, we’ll cover:
Double pivot woes for Liverpool
It isn’t controversial to say Szoboszlai and Gravenberch are being shoehorned into a double pivot. Neither are well-suited to it. Neither platform the other. Both get drawn to the ball, albeit in different ways. Szoboszlai will vacate his role to hunt whoever is in possession. Gravenberch watches idly and then looks to react to a situation after the fact.
The midfield duo aren’t proficient in their passing and neither are what you would describe as progressive. Both need a partner to carry a lot of the burden out of possession. Where to be, when to actively defend and when to stand off.
At Bournemouth, Iraola had a formidable duo in Tyler Adams and Alex Scott. You could describe the pair as box-to-box as they did everything in between the boxes, and to a high level.
They won the ball, retained possession when necessary and progressed play when the time was right. They covered a lot of ground as a duo and platformed the front four to do damage. Right now, the middle third for Liverpool is a black hole for everything.
Fulham disasterclass
Alvaro Arbeloa’s men arrived at Anfield without a single point in the Premier League. They’d performed ok in most games but not been able to see anything over the line.
Liverpool, meanwhile, had overturned a deficit against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League to claim a 2-1 win. They’d beaten Ipswich 2-0 in the league game prior and had momentum on their side.
Iraola made a couple of changes to the lineup, including Gravenberch replacing Alexis Mac Allister, the match-winner against Atletico. The difference was noticeable from the off.
In the end, the double pivot of Szoboszlai and Gravenberch won just three of their 14 ground duels as the Reds struggled to impose themselves on their guests at Anfield.
Between them, they committed five fouls and had a pass success rate of 80%. The Dutchman created one chance while the Hungarian finished with a match-high four. However, the big chances he carved out arrived via set pieces. In open play, neither did much to contribute offensively or defensively.
House of cards
A lot of people have been disappointed with the Liverpool attack this season. They’ve struggled to create despite having Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz in the XI. Even new signing Bradley Barcola has looked a little blunt in his first few cameos.
The defence has looked a little ragged at times too despite having three centre-backs in the back four now with Ronald Araujo coming in for Jeremie Frimpong at right-back. Liverpool’s midfield is responsible for all of this.
The supply line to the forward line is compromised in many ways due to the slow, indecisive passing of the double pivot. They’re not taking risks and allowing the opposition to get back into a settled and organised shape, ready to repel most things.
Things are that bad in the buildup that Florian Wirtz is having to continuously drop to receive the ball. And it’s no doubt one of the reasons he’s covered the most ground in four of the team’s five opening matches across all competitions.
Defensively, the duo of Gravenberch and Szoboszlai leave a lot of gaps and it forces the centre-backs to defend larger spaces, as well as more dangerous transitions.
Liverpool can keep signing £100m attackers. They can keep adding wonderkid defenders too. But if they don’t sort their midfield, it’ll count for very little.