LIVERPOOL 2 – 2 NOTTINGHAM FOREST
Liverpool: Isak 60’, Muñoz 82’
Nottingham Forest: Ndoye 24’, Gibbs-White 70’ (pen)
Pre-Match
After all the discussion about vulnerabilities created through a very attacking midfield approach against Newcastle, I don’t think any of us expected fewer midfielders with defensive toolkits in this one — but here we are. Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister are Liverpool’s two bodies in front of the defense, as Andoni Iraola seems to be looking at a 4-2-3-1 with new signing Víctor Muñoz joining the attack in place
of Rio Ngumoha. Though the midfield was always likely to be bypassed in this one, the lack of Ryan Gravenberch in the starting lineup makes me a bit nervous.
All the midfield chat almost had me miss the attacking swap: we have Cody Gakpo playing on the right rather than his preferred inverted left wing role (or cut-in-right, if you prefer). Though playing Rio Ngumoha out of position in a home game is quite a bit different, I am interested to see how the more senior player does in this role.
First Half
The opening period feels worryingly like more of the same, with a lot of unsettled play and very little threat. Liverpool could use calming things down, and a period of head tennis symbolizes the early minutes. It is worth saying, though, that the awareness of potential weaknesses seems improved: when Alexander Isak played a poor ball in transition early on and turned over possession, Szoboszlai was alert to the danger and was found covering the left defensive flank for Miloš Kerkez, who was progressing forward to receive a pass, rather than sprinting forward in attack.
Florian Wirtz, too, feels more involved in all aspects of play, with a level of physicality there to disrupt their play even in cases where he is unable to win the ball outright. On the ball his decision-making is precise and clinical, and could make the difference. Later in the half he’s perhaps unlucky to see an on-target header touched onto the bar. He feels a luxury player in the traditional sense: when Liverpool are playing poorly he’s unlikely to be a game-changer, but when the Reds are doing alright he can shine. Hopefully we’ll be able to see Liverpool play with true dominance at some point so we can see what a player like Wirtz is really made of.
These positives are slight, however, and it feels very strongly like it’s all a bit out of control. Liverpool are at home against Forest and the only reason they’re not losing early is that Forest have put their chances off target. At 20 minutes, possession is at 50-50 and Forest have had four chances. Ugly stuff.
That can’t last forever and doesn’t. Liverpool are slow to get out and are undone by a simple long ball. As a team that seems to struggle of late to form dangerous attacks, the bare minimum has as a team has to be making themselves difficult to play against in defense, but Liverpool remain very, very accommodating for their opposition. For those keeping score from home, that’s another Morgan Gibbs-White goal involvement at Anfield, though it felt more like lax Liverpool defending on the edge of the box more than anything.
Liverpool look better after conceding, but they’d have to. Unfortunate for the Reds that Jeremie Frimpong was offside in the build-up for a Wirtz goal that might have felt like a turning point, but the pressure did feel like it was building as we neared the half-time break.
Despite improvement, though, Liverpool are down one rather than two because of a truly excellent Alisson save. Very much not sublime viewing from the Reds.
Second Half
The second half starts better, as it would have to really. The break through feels like it’s coming and then it is: Gakpo uses his physicality to play in a smart cross for Isak, who does exactly what a number 9 should and puts it in the back of the net. It’s a different approach for Liverpool, but it’s a traditional number 9 seeming completely out of the game before good service allows him to do what he’s there for: score comfortably. Now it’s up to the Reds to make better decisions upon achieving parity…last weekend’s quick second goal conceded so soon after scoring was a particular low point.
This time it’s more complicated. Because it’s Liverpool, Alisson concedes a penalty from a quick throw when the throw would be delayed for a sub — except the board isn’t working so substitutions aren’t allowed on multiple successive dead balls. The team should be more alert, but there are a lot of variables there: potential foul throw, expectation of a substitution, the ball played by Neco Williams seemed like a shot (and thus the penalty after the shot feels a bit like the double jeopardy in these situations that you never really see given as a penalty). And yet, a penalty. All really frustrating, but once it’s called it’s not going to be overturned. I won’t be as harsh on the Reds for this one; feels very much like everything going against them.
Muñoz, who seemingly cannot be fouled in a very Mohamed Salah-type way, proves once again that he can make a difference when the game is not going well for the Reds. A confident goal from the new Spaniard, who has for some time looked as though he wants to make a difference on the scoreline.
The Reds pushed on late, but could not find a winning goal in a match that trickled out into nothing much by the end.
Final Thoughts
Liverpool were not the sole authors of their misfortune this time around, but it’s simply not good enough. Though the World Cup made pre-season more challenging, Liverpool could and should be a far more settled as a squad by this time. The opening goal wasn’t quite a carbon copy of last weekend, but a simple counter-attacking goal with defenders back should not undo a side with Liverpool’s ambitions.
It must be said that the Reds grew into the game and the attack began to show some promise, even against a low block. There’s a lot of “what could have been” about this one (including Frimpong being narrowly offside in the first half), but Iraola’s side feels just not quite good enough even if we can all see what we’re trying to do. There are asterisks around the second goal, but this feels like another Liverpool side that struggles to put their opponents to the sword when on top, and seems ready and able to show a soft underbelly. Before Forest won their penalty, we had a long phase where another Liverpool goal seemed inevitable. If the Reds are going to play high-risk football, the very expensive attack needs to be able to turn control and pressure into goals. A period of control is worth approximately nothing if one long ball, one bad bounce, will see the side concede.
There are rumors that Bradley Barcola was in the building for this one as the club seeks his signing. One begins to wonder whether the value of new signings for the club might have been worth paying a few extra millions to have all the bodies in the door before the momentum left the building with two opening draws to start Iraola’s Liverpool career.
