Liverpool's crippling weakness remains and it's been there since day one under Arne Slot.
Liverpool feel to a 3-2 defeat at Manchester United on Sunday. It was another terrible performance from the Reds and their 18th defeat of this season.
Only three times since 1962 have Liverpool lost more than that in a season. There are three remaining fixtures, of course.
Now, there are a million reasons why Sunday was frustrating but perhaps the most irritating was how Manchester United were consistently able to get in at Liverpool across the first half. The hosts attacked the pocket between and behind the Reds’ midfield pairing again and again and again – to great success.
Here's it happening very early on:
© LFC
© LFC
Absolutely no one near Bruno in this one. United's best player, their creative force, and United have a clear pass to him from a defensive position as Liverpool's midfielders are elsewhere.
Kobbie Mainoo does indeed find his captain, who lays a short pass off before turning and running. Of course, that means he's got a good few yards on Liverpool's midfielders:
© LFC
So here we are five seconds later, with Bruno having taken advantage of his position to attack Liverpool's defence. Bryan Mbeumo will play the ball in behind for him, which is where United's second goal comes from.
It was a constant problem in that first half. Liverpool were completely oblivious to the fact that United wanted to attack that pocket of space with no midfielders tracking him with any consistency.
Here's another example on 21 minutes as United, pinned back towards their own box, are gifted their dream outlet pass to Bruno behind Liverpool’s midfield:
© LFC
And how about another! Just from the first half, and a demonstration of how it wasn't simply a way to counter Liverpool's pressing.
Here we've got a situation in the Reds' half, where Ibrahima Konate has covered the right-back, forcing Ryan Gravenberch to drop into the back line. Alexis Mac Allister, as Liverpool's only other sitting midfielder, is forced to move across the challenge the ball and the result is Bruno, once again, in an acre of space directly in front of the defence:
© LFC
This was particularly awful against United because it involved their best player and, really, only creative force receiving the ball in his preferred position with next to no trouble. But it's been happening all season where Liverpool struggle badly to cover the space there and allow passes in behind the midfield.
That's the issue with having two midfielders, both of whom prefer attacking. Go back to Jurgen Klopp's time and Liverpool played with three and still went with defence-minded players. This is essentially the polar opposite – short on numbers and with no specialists.
This has been an issue all season long. And it would have been longer than that, too, as Liverpool have had that glaring weakness since Arne Slot took over.
The difference was that early on, teams weren't ready to attack a space that no other elite team ever leaves open. But you can see it there from the get.
Here's an example early on in Slot's first home fixture in charge of Liverpool:
© LFC
