I’m not buying the idea that opposition sides only figured Liverpool out after one particular game. If anything, the pattern has been there for a while: teams sit in, slow the tempo, break up rhythm, and we end up looking like we’re trying to solve a puzzle with half the pieces missing.

This didn’t start last week

Low blocks aren’t some brand-new Premier League invention, and they aren’t something we’ve only just encountered. The frustration is that it can feel like we’ve leaned into a solution that doesn’t actually suit us. When you set up primarily to pick locks, you can accidentally take away the things that used to scare teams in the first place.

Because here’s the truth: Liverpool at our best aren’t just a “pass you to death” side. We can play, of course we can. But the threat has traditionally come from intensity, second balls, pinning teams back, and making the match chaotic in the right areas. When that edge goes, the deep block doesn’t even have to be perfect. It just has to be organised and patient.

Midfield balance and the missing bite

The biggest complaint is what the setup does to the midfield. If you shift roles around with the idea of getting more craft between the lines, you still need security behind it. Without that, you’re basically inviting teams to play straight through you the moment possession turns over.

In this view, Ryan Gravenberch is the symbol of it. He’s talked about like a top-level No.6 one minute, then he’s pushed further forward the next, and suddenly it feels like we’re trying to play without a proper defensive midfielder at all. Instead, the “conservative” job lands on the left-sided midfielder. Curtis Jones doing that during an unbeaten run makes sense in one way, because he’s tidy and disciplined, but it also hints at a bigger compromise: you’re asking someone to hold position rather than drive the game.

We’re not City, and that’s fine

There’s also a bit of an identity issue in all this. We don’t need to cosplay prime Barcelona to be a top side. Liverpool can be technical without losing physicality. We can be controlled without becoming soft. When we’re at our most effective, we’ve got both.

And that’s the nagging feeling here: not that Arne Slot shouldn’t try to improve how we break teams down, but that the attempt has come with a cost. If you remove too much physicality, too much running power, too much “edge”, you might end up worse against the exact opponents you were trying to solve.

Maybe I’m wrong. Slot’s the coach, and he’ll have his reasons. But from the stands and the sofa, it can look like we’ve made ourselves easier to play against, not harder. And against a deep block, that’s the last thing you want.

Written by DAN-ISH: 10 January 2026

Tags: efl tactics