At Wolves last weekend, Liverpool scored a rare goal, but this record reveals that he has the potential to score more frequently.
That covert tactic needs to be employed more by Jürgen Klopp.
In today’s game of football, there are hardly any secrets.
In the Europa League group stage, Liverpool will play three teams it has only ever met twice before—Toulouse in 2007—but Jürgen Klopp and his team will be well-informed about how the teams operate, who their key players are, and anything else they may be interested in knowing.
But it’s not impossible to pull a surprise given the abundance of data and easily accessible video footage.
In an effort to mislead Fabio Capello in 2005, former Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez started Liverpool in their standard 4-2-3-1 formation before switching to a 3-5-1-1 formation after a few minutes of play against Juventus in Turin.
Such innovations don’t need to be as dramatic or well-thought-out. A player may receive general instructions that they may put into practice when the opportunity arises and the opposition is least expecting it.
There is evidence to suggest that Klopp should be doing this to unleash a player who may be his team’s best finisher.
The impact that a midfielder entering the opposition penalty area late can have has been discussed by the Liverpool manager in the past.
However, his Reds side has never consistently exhibited this.
For example, in eight seasons of playing for Klopp, Jordan Henderson only managed to score eight league goals from inside the box.
You may remember a Liverpool goal against Southampton in the 2019 league title race that fits this description, but such performances were uncommon from the midfielder Klopp has used the most.
The concept has occasionally been applied incorrectly in the past.
James Milner’s forays into the Manchester United box during the Reds’ 2-1 loss at Old Trafford early last season led to him finishing with a higher average position than center forward Roberto Firmino.
Prior to an unsurprising injury of some kind, Klopp had intended to use Naby Keta in that capacity; however, it is unlikely that the strategy would have been any more successful had the Guinean been available.
Maybe Liverpool’s midfielders should emulate Andy Robertson’s leadership style.
He imitated Joel Matip’s goal against Leeds in 2021/22 at Molineux last weekend by charging upfield, passing to Mohamed Salah while moving forward, and then scoring.
This came as a surprise to some onlookers.
With nine goals to his name and close to 300 club appearances, Robertson is not a prolific goal scorer.
The sight of him taking a shot from his side of the box or from the half-space outside of it and missing the target is much more frequent.
The statistics, however, indicate that the Scotland captain transforms into a phenomenal dead-eye shooter when positioned centrally and within about 10 yards of goal.
