Former Everton and Scotland striker Andy Gray made the observation that the Reds have been significantly less aggressive in their pressing this season, which has allowed opposition midfielders to exploit the high-line and halt their march.
Gray believes the key to Liverpool’s early-season problems is an ageing squad unable to press effectively. Jrgen Klopp’s Reds team have endured a painfully slow start to the current Premier League campaign, clearly struggling with only two wins from their opening seven matches, leaving them 13 points way behind defending champions Manchester City who are currently second in the table.
A host of problems arising across the pitch have been nagging causes for concern, particularly in midfield, where a notceably severe drop in pressing has allowed discerning rival playmakers the time and spaces to exploit Liverpool’s high-line. Such pertinent, persistent problems have called into question the reluctance of the club to act accordingly in the summer window to address the issues, as the likes of skipper Jordan Henderson, Thiago Alcantara and James Milner are all on the wrong side of 30, while Fabinho turns 29 later this month. And former Scotland striker Gray believes that this primary ageing nucleus that is primarily responsible for the inevitable drop in physicality is proving highly detrimental to Klopp’s aggressive pressing system.
“The side that played Brighton last week, I looked at that this morning, eight of the players were 30 or over. Eight,” Gray told beIN Sports. “I compared that with the Arsenal team that played last time out against Tottenham, eight were 25 and under.
“The reason that age is important, as far as Liverpool are concerned… Liverpool have been brilliant because they have blown us away with that high octane football, on the front foot press, press, press, Playing a high tempo all the time. That takes a lot and it takes a young team.
“If you’ve got eight in your team who are 30 or over, you cannot play like that. You certainly can sporadically, but you cannot over a 38-game Premier League season.
“They’ve got younger players, you think [Diogo] Jota who has not played enough games, they’ve introduced [Fabio] Carvalho to us in the last two or three weeks, another young player. They’ve dropped in younger players – [Darwin] Nunez is of a decent age so he’s okay but has hardly played, so it’s important he gets a good run of games.
“But the important areas of the pitch, I looked at that midfield: Jordan Henderson, Fabinho, Thiago, I think the youngest is 31 (sic), that’s a big area of the football pitch where energy is so key. So is talent, but you need the legs to get around that midfield area, particularly if you play for Jurgen Klopp.”