Liverpool got the better of both Carlo Ancelotti, Pep Guardiola and two former transfer targets in a week where their own midfield revamp paid off once and for all
Sport
Updated 16:08, 03 Dec 2024
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Pep Guardiola, Manager of Manchester City, looks on prior to the Premier League match between Liverpool FC and Manchester City FC at Anfield
Pep Guardiola, Manager of Manchester City, looks on prior to the Premier League match between Liverpool FC and Manchester City FC at Anfield
(Image: Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images)
As Liverpool dismantled Manchester City with ease at Anfield on Sunday, the recent plight of their former title-rivals will not have been lost on Kopites. Pep Guardiola’s current ranks are a poor imitation of the team that pipped the Reds to the Premier League title by a single point on two separate occasions.
City have inevitably been stung by a decimating injury to Rodri, while they boast an ageing squad that looks to be on the decline.
But Liverpool have found themselves navigating the same scenarios in recent years. They saw their own Premier League title defence collapse in 2020/21 after losing Virgil van Dijk and the rest of their centre-backs to season-ending injuries, before their midfield ran out of legs in 2022/23.
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The Reds have revamped their squad since then, and are now reaping the benefits. Through a mixture of promotion from the club’s academy and investment in midfield and attack, they are well-placed to continue their impeccable campaign so far.
But facing a City side that looked lost on Sunday, they were offered a reminder of how far they have come and how quickly fortunes can change.
In 2022/23, it was obvious that Liverpool needed an engine-room revamp. Jordan Henderson and Fabinho struggled to rediscover previous heights, while Thiago Alcantara was plagued by injury that would eventually prompt his retirement.
Supporters were desperate to see new midfielders signed to compliment the Reds’ ageing lieutenants. Yet it was only when Henderson suffered an injury at the end of the summer that Liverpool were forced to act and brought in Arthur Melo on loan. The less said about that emergency transfer the better.
Come January with the Reds’ campaign already unravelling at a rate of knots, such calls were repeated from onlookers. Yet they again went unanswered, with Liverpool waiting until the summer of 2023 to belatedly strengthen their hand - in line with selling both Henderson and Fabinho to Saudi Arabia for a combined £52m.
They had tried and failed in the previous 12 months, of course, as Aurelien Tchouameni instead opted for a move to Real Madrid in the summer of 2022. Despite long-standing interest in Jude Bellingham, Reds bosses would concede defeat in any efforts to sign the England international when the extent of their required midfield revamp became clear, as he too later moved to the Bernabeu in an initial £88m switch.
Meanwhile, in January, supporters started to pine after Wolverhampton Wanderers midfielder Matheus Nunes after it was reported that Liverpool were interested in the Portugal international, such was their growing desperation for reinforcements. However, having already moved from Sporting Lisbon the previous summer, FIFA transfer rules prevented him from joining another club mid-season regardless.
His name remained one linked with the Reds in the forthcoming months prior to his £53m move to Man City, along with the likes of Mason Mount, Conor Gallagher, Khephren Thuram, Manu Kone and Gabri Veiga. Meanwhile, Liverpool would fail with concrete efforts to sign Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia.
The summer of 2023 was perhaps a somewhat frustrating one for transfer enthusiasts of a Reds persuasion, given the plethora of midfielders Liverpool were linked with and ultimately did not sign.
But 16 months on from that transfer window closing, and the business they completed when revamping their engine-room has certainly paid off. And it has also ensured there have been no tears regarding their latest transfer disappointment in Martin Zubimendi last summer.
Parting with just short of £150m, Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai, Wataru Endo and Ryan Gravenberch were all brought in the summer of 2023. Enjoying contrasting first seasons on Merseyside, under Slot's watch Liverpool’s new-look midfield has now truly arrived.
Gravenberch has reinvented himself as a number six and been one of the players of the season to date, having initially taken his time to find his feet following his £40m arrival from Bayern Munich.
A standout performer in the engine-room against Man City, reminding Guardiola of what he is missing in the absence of the injured Rodri, the Netherlands international earned the Spaniard’s praise after the final whistle.
“To fight against Gravenberch. Gravenberch is a No.10, his first control is amazing enough to attack,” Guardiola said. “And then the next line of Mac Allister - an experienced player - of Szoboszlai, Curtis Jones, and all of the players they have. We made an incredible effort.”
It was a similar story against Real Madrid, with Gravenberch finding himself linked with a move to the Spanish giants in the aftermath of Liverpool’s 2-0 victory.
But it’s not all about the Dutchman. Mac Allister, Szoboszlai and Curtis Jones have all been superb too.
It was Mac Allister who opened the scoring against Real Madrid, while Jones excelled against Carlo Ancelotti’s side to the extent that eyebrows were raised when he was benched against Man City. The recalled Szoboszlai responded with arguably the best performance of his Liverpool career to date.
While four into three does not fit and one will always need to be benched, Slot is managing the situation marvellously. Regularly rotating between Gravenberch’s midfield partners, it has contributed to the Reds winning 18 of their 20 games so far this season.
And the success of Liverpool’s long-awaited midfield revamp has perhaps become even clearer over the past week as they recorded 2-0 victories over both Real Madrid and Man City in the space of five days.
In both games, they ran the show and schooled both Bellingham and Nunes - the two names that had started the public search for a new Reds midfield in the first place.
Bellingham was left chasing shadows last midweek, while an ineffectual Nunes, fielded on the left-flank, was mercifully withdrawn by Guardiola after just 57 minutes on Sunday.
The England international would play 33 successful passes from 38 (87% passing accuracy) against Liverpool and completed no dribbles successfully.
Such totals were nowhere near Gravenberch, Mac Allister and Jones’ own passing returns of 60 from 65 (92%), 54 from 59 (92%) and 55 from 59 (92%), while the latter would also complete four successful dribbles.
Bellingham would also lose possession three times, and boasted 59 touches. Gravenberch, Mac Allister and Jones recorded 75, 74 and 79 touches respectively in a controlled and dominant display.
Winning the battle in the engine-room time and time again this season, the Reds boast a devastating £135m international midfield in Gravenberch, Mac Allister and Szoboszlai. Include academy graduate Jones instead, as they did against Bellingham and Real Madrid, and it remains just as menacing.
Rather than ponder what could have been, the club are more than happy with their own hand as their revamped midfield continues to go from strength-to-strength.
In the past week, when getting the better of both former transfer targets and their fiercest rivals of the Jurgen Klopp era, their new-look engine-room has come of age and enjoyed its finest hour - at least so far.
Withdrawing interest in Bellingham in particular stung at the time as Liverpool found themselves stuck at a disheartening low. But now currently the cream of both England and Europe, having dominated both reigning champions, Guardiola’s admiration tells its own story.
He will now be looking on enviously, well-aware that his side is in need of its own rebuild, and left hoping he will be able to replicate the Reds' transfer success.
Liverpool's patience and decision to prioritise recruiting quality quantity rather than one elite star has more than paid off, despite the outside frustration that have had to contend with along the way.
And with the Reds clear at both the top of the Premier League and Champions League tables, with its midfield’s peak years still firmly in front of them, Slot is rightly confident that the best is still to come.