by There were three main priorities as Liverpool sought to repair the damage of a season in which they finished eight points behind Sunday’s opponents Manchester United; midfield, midfield and midfield.
The trend after a period of transition, especially one with positive results so far, is to welcome the careful planning ahead and the sparse negotiations as fresh faces replace old legends. getting old.
Jurgen Klopp has offered a more honest assessment of how his central booking has been overhauled over the summer.
“God, we were lucky,” he told the first visitors to the new Anfield Road stand, the ears of Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia probably burning.
“During the summer there were a few strange things happening in the transfer market,” Klopp joked to 10,000 fans who attended the stadium’s test event ahead of Sunday’s partial opening.
“We didn’t know at that moment. It didn’t feel like that moment. But I am very glad that it is so. We had Macca [Alexis Mac Allister] and Me [Szoboszlai]. Then we realized we had a chance for Ryan [Gravenberch]. And then some defensive midfielders said they didn’t want to join Liverpool…”
Vigor is back in Liverpool’s midfield
Klopp’s candor is a useful reminder that every now and then some good old-fashioned fortune helps with all the science of transfer.
In another universe, Liverpool might have been wasting medical fees on Lavia and Mason Mount over the last four months, or considering whether the £115 million for Caicedo was a sensible buy or a terrible panic buy.
Instead, despite some quiet games of late, Szoboszlai is one of the best signings of 2023, Ryan Gravenberch’s potential has been uncapped, and Mac Allister – absent with injury this weekend – will certainly be there. as a key feature of Liverpool’s midfield. for the next five years, at least. Each contributed to the energy and vigor that was so lacking 12 months ago. According to Premier League statistics, as a duo Szoboszlai and Mac Allister are getting far more rebounds and duel successes per game than the Jordan Henderson / Fabinho partnership of 2022/23.
Liverpool knew a midfield overhaul was imminent 18 months ago. In retrospect, it was admittedly too few at Anfield to predict how soon Henderson and Fabinho would tank.
Klopp realized he had made a mistake not to reinforce his midfield as early as September 7, 2022 when a Champions League victory in Napoli led to his first public announcement that he needed a “new Liverpool”. His senior midfielders could not afford to press high and cover counter-attacks. Coupled with the diminished influence of Roberto Firmino and the sale of Sadio Mane, who defended attackers from the front, Klopp’s blueprint lacked the personnel to execute it.
Despite Klopp’s obvious concerns, there was no prospect of an entire midfield change in mid-season.
Rather than signing a midfielder last January, Klopp recruited Cody Gakpo and turned him into a false back nine for the final four months of last season, a short-term fix for what the midfielders couldn’t do. which they have experience to do anymore.
At the top of the organisation, Fenway Sports Group was as aware as Klopp that the trusted trio of Henderson, Fabinho and beloved James Milner could no longer deliver at the highest level and would at least three new midfielders. be signed. Those who envisioned Jude Bellingham in Steven Gerrard’s old No 8 jersey are of great concern, ruling out a £115 million and £300k-a-week deal for the England superstar.
When that decision was made, MacAllister was set to be the first move of the summer and discussions turned to another attacking midfielder. The prospect of lengthy negotiations with Chelsea (and some fantastic wage demands) led Liverpool to move away from Mount and towards Szoboszlai and his £60 million exit clause at RB Leipzig, which would be triggered the following June.
Even then, Liverpool had to work out what to do with Henderson and Fabinho as they would no longer be first picks in 2023-24 and there was no guarantee they would leave the club due to their contract status .
Milner also hoped to extend the final months of his deal, and he had powerful allies in his pursuit. Klopp would love his vice-captain to have another year. The club did not say at a point when they still believed Henderson and Fabinho would be on the payroll.
The wealth of Arabia helped
Then the Saudi Pro League and their clubs’ penchant for Liverpool veterans provided a useful solution.
Henderson went through the same experience as his predecessor as captain, Gerrard, when he left for LA Galaxy in 2015. He hoped that when he informed the club of an extraordinary deal from abroad, it would lead to his rest assured that his services were still needed at Anfield. .
Instead, temperament gave way to cold professionalism. Henderson was effectively congratulated for receiving such dire terms, leaving him in no doubt that the door was open for an exit.
Fabinho had no such desire to stay when the Saudis offered him a lucrative pay rise. Liverpool plunked down £40 million for someone who could easily have been a high-earning reserve if they wanted to see out his contract.
Additional transfer funds and significant salary losses were not expected and he was involved in the surprising and somewhat chaotic attempts to lure Caicedo from Brighton and Lavia from Southampton before Klopp turned to Wataru Endo just before the August transfer deadline. The contrast between the well-oiled transfer machine in the last years of former Sporting Director Michael Edwards was stark, but Liverpool felt the attitude reflected the turmoil in rapidly changing circumstances due to the Saudi moves. Had Henderson and Fabinho been expected to leave a combined £52 million, deals could have been in place sooner and Milner would have received the farewell the club legends enjoyed last May.
The fondness with which Klopp speaks of Milner and Henderson shows how much their influence is missed, and their successors have a long way to go to repeat their feat. It is also worth noting that Henderson and Fabinho formed two-thirds of the midfield that United lost 7-0 last March. There may be just three changes in Klopp’s XI on Sunday and one of those is because Andy Robertson is injured.
While four new midfielders are helping to shape Anfield’s resurgence, Virgil Van Dijk’s early return to form, Mohamed Salah’s enduring masterclasses, Trent Alexander-Arnold’s reinvented role, have all paid off. and more capable people from the bench of representatives.
All of which means that Liverpool’s pace of improvement is as surprising as the rush of last season’s decline, with some at Anfield describing the previous campaign as ‘unfortunate’.
The question of how sustainable their current position at the top of the Premier League is, however, remains to be answered. In terms of results, the work in progress could not have gone much better.
