Liverpool have fallen from Premier League champions last season to facing a real fight just to earn a place in the Champions League next season – and Paul Scholes has pinpointed their problem
Paul Scholes has analysed Liverpool’s problems this season(Image: YouTube/The Good, the Bad and the Football podcast)
Liverpool’s possession-based playing style under Arne Slot this season has made Anfield an easier place to come for away sides, according to Paul Scholes. Liverpool drew 1-1 with crisis-hit Tottenham on Sunday and are facing a real fight to earn a place in next season’s Champions League.
Dominik Szoboszlai’s free-kick appeared to be earning the Reds a narrow home win until some poor defending gave Richarlison a simple finish in the 90th minute. Tottenham had lost their previous five league games in succession yet managed to create several good chances and left Anfield with a deserved point.
It means Slot’s side have now drawn four and lost three at home in the Premier League this season. Jamie Carragher was on co-commentary for Sky Sports during the Spurs game and spoke about the lack of the pressing and energy that defined the team under Jurgen Klopp.
And Scholes pointed to the signing of £116million signing of Florian Wirtz in the summer as an example of the change in style under Slot. “Anfield was always the toughest place to go,” he said on The Good, The Bad & The Football podcast.
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“Jamie Carragher mentioned it loads of times, you had the fans on top of you and the players on top of you. They’ve lost that determination to stop the other team. It’s just not there any more. They’ve become almost a possession-based team. Florian Wirtz is a brilliant, brilliant footballer but I think he’s made them more into a possession team.
“I think under Klopp and probably under past managers as well at Liverpool, the last thing they’re thinking about at home is playing football. They’re just thinking about kicking the s*** out of you and steamrolling you and stopping you from playing. Now this last year and a half it’s become probably one of the easiest places to play and you’d never say that about Anfield.”
Wirtz arrived at Liverpool alongside Alexander Isak, Milos Kerkez, Hugo Ekitike and Jeremie Frimpong as Liverpool attempted to evolve their title-winning squad. There has been a lack of consistency in performances this season and Scholes thinks the issue comes when they don’t have the ball.
Florian Wirtz is emblematic of Liverpool’s changed style this season(Image: Lewis Storey, Getty Images)
“They won the league, brilliant, they won it quite early last year,” he said. “Naturally, you are going to drop off a bit but the signs were there towards the end of last year they’ve lost the determination to stop the opposition. They’re still good, they still want to be a nice pretty football team – but you’ve got to stop the other team.”
He added: “When we talk about philosophies of managers and football clubs – how many times did we speak about Ruben Amorim coming to United with his own philosophy playing the way he wanted? Man United had their own philosophy, I think it’s almost a similar way for Liverpool.
“Liverpool aren’t a possession team, they’re just not – they’re all over you like a Jurgen Klopp team. Now he’s (Slot) trying to do it a little bit different and I just don’t think it suits Liverpool.”
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