I feel like all of my opening paragraphs for these over the last month and a half have generally been the same: Liverpool need to win in order to maintain their hopes at finishing in the Champions League spots (which has only been made easier given that 5th place in the Premier League table not gains entry into Europe’s top club competition) and that the full three points would also serve to provide a moment of stability in a rather rickety campaign. And, unfortunately, the club has more often than
not failed to meet that rather straightforward – if still challenging – prompt. Today, I am incredibly happy to report that the lads did in fact get this one over the line, serving up a complete performance over Marco Silva’s Fulham. More importantly, on a day when the fans voiced their displeasure of plans to raise ticket prices and on the back of away fans putting pressure on Arne Slot by chanting the name of beloved Red and hoped for coach, Xabi Alonso, things couldn’t have gone more perfectly for the folks in charge. Liverpool won and now the pitchforks can, for the time being, be put back down in the bales of hay.
While we do that, let’s also take a look at how it all went down at Anfield.
Winners
Rio Ngumoha: The young winger played a pretty perfect 60-ish minutes, looking every bit the dynamic attacking prodigy that Liverpool fans have been obsessing over. For the opener, Rio used his speed and trickery to keep two Fulham defenders off-balance and, using them as a screen, put in a gorgeous curler into the side-netting. And, honestly, that would have been good enough for a kid who is still shy of turning 18, but then he continued to put pressure on the Fulham defense by pressing their defenders back. On more than one occasion, the young attacker showed poise in carrying the ball into the center of the park before drawing attention and then finding an open player to distribute the ball to. Which is how he participated in creating the chance for the second goal, where he essentially provided the hockey assist for Mo Salah’s inch-perfect strike. Lots to be excited about with the development of Rio, much of it hopefully being that we might see the quality of attacking play on the left that has been a bit uneven since the departure of Sadio Mane.
Jeremie Frimpong: I can’t quite put a finger on just why this is true, but the attacking fullback has quickly become one of my favorites. It’s not that he does anything exceptionally well per se – he’s not specialist. And it’s not that he’s some lock-down defender either. I think what Frimpong gives is the kind of vertical threat and confident spark on the right that we’ve been missing much of this season. I love the way his presence seems to make the offense tick just that little bit smoother. Which makes me wonder: have we just been so over-reliant on the physicality – among other things – of Mo? Like, I know he’s impossible to replace, but it’s not just the goals, it’s not just the playmaking, it’s not just the way in which opposing defenses had to account for him, it’s also that he provided much of the vertical pace for the team. Slot’s re-configuration of the Salah’s role deserved a lot of praise last year. But not being able to figure out how to use him while still stretching defenses in this season has been among the most frustrating issues for the club. And, if I’m being honest, I think a lot of that comes down to the fact that Frimpong simply hasn’t been available for Slot to select as often as the gaffer would have liked.
Talking Tactics
When I saw the Starting XI, I had thoughts. I wouldn’t say this was necessarily a statement by Slot, but even allowing for the fact that the head coach was trying his hand at rotation in order to prioritize putting up some sort of a comeback in the Champions League mid-week (though, unlike Jim Beglin, I’m not sure I’d wager any money on Rio Ngumoha starting simply because he came off before the 70th minute), it felt like a choice to go with Curtis Jones over either Alexis Mac Allister or Ryan Gravenberch, even with the latter two clearly not being up to par. It was also a choice to start Cody Gakpo at striker over Hugo Ekitike.
Credit to Slot, though, as all of those choices added up to a structure that Fulham generally failed to breakthrough. More, that foundation helped the team build a pretty solid attacking effort over the course of the match. In fact, I’d say that was the most comprehensive performance I’d seen in some time. It wasn’t perfect, which is also saying something given how effusive I feel at the moment, but it was very, very good and stands in stark relief to what the experience of watching Liverpool has been of late.
Dissecting the Narrative
It’s tough to dismiss the air of change around the club, with two stalwarts and legends in Salah and Andy Robertson announcing their impending departures from the club mere weeks apart. When you add to that the noise swirling around Slot’s position given the way this season has gone, it really all feels a bit up in the air and it’s peppered into so much of the discourse surrounding the club.
But the narrative I want to pick at today is just what Liverpool’s best attacking formation looks like. And, if I’m being honest, the evidence we got today is that, at least on the left, Liverpool’s most dynamic and direct attacking threat right now is Rio Ngumoha. It’s a lot to put on the shoulders of a teenager and, maybe, is a bit dismissive of the contributions of Cody Gakpo, but that was one of the most consistent attacking performances on the left we’ve seen in some time. It also allowed us to see Slot do what many of us had been hoping for: a moving of Cody Gakpo into the center of the pitch to make room for the young attacker.
I can’t say that this is what we’ll see immediately moving forward – development of youth is rarely linear and we’d need to see this quality of performance by more consistent and, eventually, remain at this standard even when defenses are drawn up to focus on him specifically. But, for now, Rio made a big step in his development as a footballer. We can’t wait to see what is yet to come from this gifted player.
What Comes Next
Liverpool return to Champions League action as the Reds host PSG at Anfield with hopes to erase their 2-nil deficit and progress in the competition. While I don’t like to speculate about the future too much, I do feel the LFC brain trust has generally wanted to give Slot every opportunity to maintain his position. And, if we’re being honest, I think he’s only still at the helm because Liverpool are still alive in the Champions League.
I don’t know that he’ll be sacked immediately if the club crash out – either here or in the next round. But barring making the Final, I can’t see him on the sidelines next season; and, maybe even then, that may not be enough to keep Xabi Alonso from waltzing into the locker room in what feels the most inevitable of appointments. Here’s hoping the club can make a bit of magic, then. If not for Slot’s job, but for a group that deserves more out of this season.
