There were three main priorities as Liverpool attempted to repair the damage from a season in which they finished eight points behind Sunday’s opponents Manchester United; midfield, midfield and midfield.
The trend after a transition period, especially one that has yielded positive results so far, is to applaud the meticulous planning and smart negotiations as new faces take the place of outdated legends.
Jurgen Klopp has given a more candid assessment of the way his central reservation was refurbished this summer.
“My God, we were lucky,” he exclaimed to the first visitors to the new stand on Anfield Road, while the ears of Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia were probably burning.
“Some strange things happened in the transfer market in the summer,” Klopp chuckled to the 10,000 fans who attended the stadium test event ahead of Sunday’s partial opening.
“We didn’t know that at the time. It didn’t feel that way at the time. But I’m very happy that it happened this way. We had Macca [Alexis Mac Allister] and Dom [Szoboszlai]. That’s when we realized we had an opportunity for Ryan [Gravenberch]. And then a few defensive midfielders said they didn’t want to go to Liverpool…’
Strength has returned to Liverpool’s midfield
Klopp’s candor is a useful reminder that for all the science surrounding transfers, a little good old-fashioned luck helps every now and then.
In an alternate universe, Liverpool would have wasted the last four months on medical expenses on Lavia and Mason Mount, or be left wondering whether the £115m for Caicedo was a sensible buy or a disastrous panic buy.
Instead, despite some quiet games of late, Szoboszlai is one of the best signings of 2023. There is no ceiling placed on Ryan Gravenberch’s potential, while Mac Allister – absent this weekend with an injury – will certainly be a mainstay are in Liverpool’s midfield. at least for the next five years. They have all added the energy and vigor that was so lacking 12 months ago. According to Premier League statistics, Szoboszlai and Mac Allister as a duo average significantly more recoveries and duel successes per match than the 2022/2023 partnership between Jordan Henderson and Fabinho.
Liverpool knew eighteen months ago that a midfield renovation was coming. In retrospect, it is recognized that too few players at Anfield anticipated how quickly Henderson and Fabinho would tank.
Klopp realized he had made a mistake by not strengthening his midfield as early as September 7, 2022, when a Champions League defeat to Napoli prompted his first public announcement that he needed a ‘new Liverpool’. His senior midfielders no longer had the ability to press high and cover counter-attacks. Linked to the declining influence of Roberto Firmino and the sale of Sadio Mane, attackers defending from the front, the Klopp blueprint lacked the personnel to implement it.
Despite Klopp’s obvious concerns, there was no prospect of replacing an entire midfield mid-season.
Instead of signing a midfielder last January, Klopp recruited Cody Gakpo and made him a counter-pressing false nine for the final four months of last season, a short-term correction to what the experienced midfielders could no longer do.
At the top of the organisation, Fenway Sports Group was as aware as Klopp that the proven trio of Henderson, Fabinho and James Milner, as loved as they were, could no longer perform at the highest level and that at least three new central midfielders would come. have been signed. To the dismay of those who dreamed of Jude Bellingham in Steven Gerrard’s old number 8 jersey, that ruled out the possibility of a £115 million, £300,000-a-week contract for the England superstar.
Once that decision was made, Mac Allister was lined up as the first summer deal and discussions turned to another attacking midfielder. The prospect of lengthy negotiations with Chelsea (and some eye-watering wage demands) led Liverpool away from Mount and towards Szoboszlai and his £60m release clause at RB Leipzig, which would come into effect the following June.
Even then, Liverpool had to figure out what to do with Henderson and Fabinho as they would no longer be first-team selection come the 2023/2024 season and there was no guarantee they would leave the club given their contract status.
Milner was also hoping for an extension ahead of the final months of his deal, and had powerful allies in his pursuit of it. Klopp would have liked his vice-captain to have been given another year. The club said no at a time when they still believed Henderson and Fabinho would be on the payroll.
Saudi wealth helped
Then the Saudi Pro League and their clubs’ penchant for collecting Liverpool veterans offered a useful solution.
Henderson went through the same experience as his predecessor as captain, Gerrard, when he left for LA Galaxy in 2015. He hoped that informing the club of an extraordinary deal from abroad would lead to reassurance that his services were still needed at Anfield. .
Instead, the sentiment gave way to cold professionalism. Henderson was effectively congratulated on receiving such lavish terms, leaving no doubt that the door was open for an exit.
Fabinho didn’t want to stick around anymore when the Saudis offered him a lucrative pay rise. Liverpool forked over £40m for someone who could easily have been a high-earning reserve had he wanted to see out his contract.
Additional transfer fees and the waiver of significant salaries were unexpected and played a role in the surprising and somewhat chaotic attempts to lure Caicedo from Brighton and Lavia from Southampton before Klopp turned to Wataru Endo just before the August transfer deadline. The contrast between the well-oiled transfer machine in the final years of ex-sporting director Michael Edwards was stark, but Liverpool felt the perception of turbulence reflected rapidly changing circumstances given the Saudi moves. Had there been an expectation that Henderson and Fabinho would leave for a combined £52 million, the deals could have been done sooner and the club legends would have been given the same grand farewell as Milner did last May.
The affection with which Klopp speaks of Milner and Henderson shows how much their influence is missed, and their successors still have a long way to go to repeat their success. It’s also worth noting that Henderson and Fabinho made up two-thirds of the midfield that United defeated 7-0 last March. There may only be three changes to Klopp’s XI on Sunday and one of them is because Andy Robertson is injured.
Although four new midfielders are helping shape an Anfield revival, early success is still largely down to Virgil Van Dijk’s return to form, Mohamed Salah’s continued masterclasses, Trent Alexander-Arnold’s reinvented role and more capable influencers of the substitutes.
It all means that Liverpool’s speed of improvement is as surprising as the haste of decline last season, with some at Anfield describing the previous campaign as ‘a blur’.
However, the question of how sustainable their current position at the top of the Premier League remains to be answered. In terms of results, the work in progress could not have gone much better.