On the surface, Manchester City’s 4-0 win over Liverpool looked as impressive as ever. But the frustration felt by Liverpool supporters is that it is the details that are damaging for them. Arne Slot brings some of that misfortune. It’s more than that.
The Liverpool manager turned to the familiar complaint of his side being punished for every mistake and failing to take chances at the other end. And if you look at the expected score data for this FA Cup quarterfinal, it is also true that the match was 2.44 to 1.46.
Ownership was shared. Each team had 11 shots. But that’s not luck. What continues to undermine Liverpool’s efforts is their lack of attention to detail. The fear is that this could now be seen as part of a wider trend of falling standards at Anfield this season.
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Slot answers tough questions after Liverpool’s 4-0 loss to Manchester City.
“I think we were still in the game after they made it 1-0, but we had a throw-in,” Slott explained at a press conference afterwards. “We conceded twice on throw-ins and they move so quickly that you have to defend more sharply in those moments.”
I was sitting in the press room listening to Slott’s candid conversation with football editor and journalist Ian Ladyman. daily mailIt is surprising that the Dutchman was able to analyze exactly what had happened, but could not say how to fix it.
This is particularly difficult to understand regarding certain points of the throw-in. Liverpool were one of the first clubs to fully recognize their importance in the Premier League. Jurgen Klopp has appointed Thomas Gronnemark as his first professional throw-in coach.
In an interview with Gronnemark earlier this season, he seemed genuinely perplexed by the situation he is currently seeing at Liverpool. He analyzed the Wembley loss to Crystal Palace in August and revealed that he saw a team unrecognizable with the ball in their hands.
“Liverpool had a 33.3% throw-in percentage under pressure, which is a really low figure,” he said. “Some people would say it’s just a throw-in. No, it’s like any other football activity on the pitch. When you have the ball, you maintain possession, control it and score a goal.”
He added: “If you lose the ball, the opponent takes control and can score against you.” That’s exactly what happened against Manchester City. Indeed, it would be difficult to find a clearer example than Antoine Semenyo’s goals.
Joe Gomez perfectly threw the ball at Marc Guehi’s feet without any pressure at all. A City defender cushioned a pass to Nico O’Reilly, who quickly passed to Rayan Cherki. Suddenly City’s most creative player had the ball 35 yards from Liverpool’s goal.
In space and with runners he found Semenyo for the finish. Klopp famously said that no playmaker is as effective as Gegenpressing, but the outstanding Cherki, helped by Liverpool’s poor defensive throw-ins, could be a close second in the competition.
It’s not luck, it’s detail. “They don’t understand how to create space,” Gronnemark said. “If they try to make a run and it doesn’t work, they don’t know what to do. They don’t know where to throw, they don’t know how to create space again.”
Thomas Gronnemark speaks to players during a Liverpool training session in 2019.
The takers have changed since Gronnemark was around. Perhaps the lessons learned – Liverpool went from 18th to 1st in throw-ins under pressure when they came in – were allowed to slip. Last October, he considered it a failure for the entire competition.
“To be honest, I was completely shocked, because I expected the teams to really start getting better since I came to Liverpool, but if you ask me, things have been almost worse because they are not working together or working in the wrong way.”
Since then, Gronnemark has been recruited by Premier League teams. It is common to say that the reason Arsenal, not Liverpool, has achieved good results this season is because of their focus on details rather than the qualitative superiority of their squad.
This is why Liverpool have not performed well this year. There are a lot of mitigating circumstances with Slot that are out of his control. Shocking off-field issues, major overhauls of players, declining legends and injury problems were all he had to manage.
Where compassion is lacking is micro, not macro. The little things he can control. A throw-in may seem like nothing. However, it contributed to the biggest defeat of his time at Liverpool. And it may suddenly feel like a symbol of something much more.
