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Why Liverpool win proved that midfield selection is the last great puzzle Jurgen Klopp has left to solve

Klopp is adamant that he does not have a ‘favourite midfied’. With the rest of his team so settled, striking the right blend in the centre of the pitch is his last challenge in totally transforming this team

Tony Evans
Monday 19 August 2019 08:36 BST
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Premier League round-up: Liverpool go top as Man City draw

James Milner stood out. His bandaged head was always going to draw attention in Liverpool’s 2-1 victory over Southampton at St Mary’s on Saturday but it was the 33-year-old’s relentless running and deft touches that caught the eye. On an afternoon where Jurgen Klopp’s team were pushed to the limit by the south coast side, Milner’s indefatigable approach was the essence of leadership by example.

The midfielder gashed open his eyebrow in an aerial challenge with James Ward-Prowse during a first-half when Liverpool were battered and bruised by Ralph Hasenhüttl’s team. Southampton had done their homework and set out to neutralise the strengths of the European champions. It worked until stoppage time before the break. Milner, buzzing around the left flank, found Sadio Mane in the area and the striker broke the deadlock with a marvellous, curling shot that left the home team bewildered. It was not what Southampton deserved.

Hasenhüttl’s plan was clever. The Austrian knows – like everybody else – that Liverpool’s front three pick themselves. Likewise the defence. The midfield is a different matter. There is a strong sense that Klopp has not quite found the right blend in the middle of the park. It has not been too much of a problem because the full backs are the source of so much creativity but, when Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson are pinned back, Liverpool are much less dangerous.

On Saturday, Klopp had little choice in the midfield department. Naby Keita has been unavailable with muscle issues since May and Fabinho and Jordan Henderson ran themselves into the ground in the extra-time and penalties Super Cup victory over Chelsea in Istanbul last week. The German’s options were severely limited.

“I don’t have a favourite midfield,” he said. “I like them all. If they are all in good shape I have decisions to make. If only a couple of them are in good shape my decisions are easier but I like to have difficult decisions to make. This was easier because Fabio and Hendo were killed after the [Super Cup] game.”

Milner was joined by Georginio Wijnaldum and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. For the first 45 minutes the trio were overrun by Southampton.

Oriol Romeu was the dominant force in the midfield before the break. The Spaniard was quick and brutal in the tackle – he left his studs on Mane early on – and keen to get the ball forward when in possession. Romeu was not afraid to go long, setting Nathan Redmond and Che Adams running at the defence. Chances piled up and Virgil van Dijk was at his most visibly agitated since he signed at Anfield. Adrian saved superbly from Maya Yoshida, Adams should have scored from a free header and loose balls were scrambled away from the Liverpool box far too often for comfort.

This was where Klopp’s midfield needed to impose themselves but they struggled in the face of Southampton’s industry. Oxlade-Chamberlain started promisingly with a probing run down the middle but the game was bypassing the 26-year-old. He was tidy enough in his distribution but, in the second half when Liverpool began to get on top, he sat deep while Milner ranged forward. Before Oxlade-Chamberlain suffered a cruciate ligament injury against Roma last year he seemed to be the threatening presence from deep that would give the team an extra dimension. He has not yet recovered that form.

Klopp seemed to acknowledge that after the game, moving on quickly questions about the former Arsenal man’s performance. “[Oxlade-Chamberlain] is a good player, he gives you something special, but there are other players,” he said. “Hendo, when he plays that position, is pure power, so it’s all good.”

It is likely that Klopp will plump for this power against Arsenal on Saturday. Henderson and Fabinho – who the manager said had “full-body cramp” after the Super Cup – seemed strongly in the German’s thoughts. They could well be back to face the Gunners, who have also recorded a pair of wins in their opening two Premier League games.

Wijnaldum worked his usual shift and, once the away team got on top in the second half, Southampton lost their grip on the midfield. The home side allowed Alexander-Arnold and Robertson to surge forward. When Liverpool get into their comfort zone it makes life hell for the opposition and a sputtering midfield becomes less of an issue. Mane was the pick of the team, shading Milner with his performance. The Senegalese created the second goal for Roberto Firmino by winning the ball back from a Southampton throw and supplying the Brazilian, who danced across the area before firing a low drive into the net.

It should have been all over but Adrian misplaced a clearance to Danny Ings and the former Liverpool forward pulled a goal back to set up a nervy ending. By then Milner was gone, replaced by Fabinho, who entered a game that appeared to be dawdling to its finish but things turned frantic after the gift to Ings. “I saw a few faces dropping,” Klopp said. “[Poor] body language, then we were a bit lucky.”

Liverpool create their own good fortune and Milner’s effort and Mane’s class ensured that chances would come. What Klopp really needs is a platoon of fit and firing midfielders. When the manager gets the blend right in this area, the team will be truly formidable.

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