There’s a nagging sense Liverpool are trying to build two different teams at once. On one hand, we’ve looked tighter when we cram bodies into midfield and ask the wide lads to play narrower. On the other, the second we leave that area light, opponents seem to find a direct route through the centre. It’s the sort of problem that doesn’t show up every week, until it suddenly really does.
That’s why the bigger question is about alignment. Recruitment, tactics, formation, the roles in the XI… it all has to point in the same direction. Otherwise you end up with good footballers who don’t quite add up as a unit, and a manager trying to solve issues with shape changes that only paper over the cracks.
When the middle isn’t protected, we look easy to play through
Most Premier League sides will forgive you having a spare man out wide if it means they can pass through your midfield line in two touches. Once teams clock there’s space either side of the deepest midfielder, or that the second balls are landing uncontested, they keep going back to it. And if you’re relying on your centre-backs stepping in every time, you’re basically inviting chaos.
You can see why the “more numbers inside” approach has appealed. It slows counters down, it gives you more passing options, and it keeps the game where you want it. But there’s a cost. If you drop your wingers to help out, you can blunt your own threat, and you end up playing like you’re trying not to lose rather than trying to impose yourself.
Too many similar midfielders can become a problem
The worry here is profile, not talent. If your midfield options are all comfortable on the ball, all want to receive it to feet, and all see the game in similar areas, you can end up with a lot of neat football and not much bite. That’s where the complaints about “defensive instincts”, tackling, and aerial presence come from. It’s not that every midfielder has to be a destroyer. It’s that somebody, somewhere, has to enjoy the ugly bits.
It also affects how brave you can be with your full-backs and your press. If the midfield isn’t set up to win duels and protect transitions, you either stop committing numbers forward or you keep doing it and accept you’ll be open. Neither is ideal.
Wirtz, role clarity, and what the team is built around
If you’re bringing in a player like Wirtz, you’re not doing it to turn him into an extra body in a scrap. You’re doing it because he can make things happen in tight spaces and in the final third. But to get the best out of that, he needs the platform: energy around him, runners ahead of him, and enough security behind him that he can take risks.
Truth is, this isn’t about picking on individuals. It’s about building a balanced side. If the club and Arne Slot are on the same page about the shape and the roles, the squad planning becomes obvious. If they aren’t, you get what it feels like right now: signings and tactics that don’t quite match.
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