Many will bemoan the loss of Coutinho as the reason for the team performance we seen last night. Yes, had he been playing there's a good chance we would not have lost that match as we were in desperate need of a traditional no.10, someone capable not only of exploiting the limited space between the lines but also of testing the keeper from range, something we struggled with last night and what is essential when teams defend deep like Swansea did. However, I can't understand why Klopp chose not to start Lallana in the middle alongside Can and either the OX or Wijnaldum, he's the only player we have who plays in a similar way to Coutinho; seamlessly comfortable in shifting the ball to either left or right foot and always looking to penetrate in behind, be it with a clever pass or incisive run. He would have had much more of an impact on the match had he started.
I also think Emre Can is a centre-back who can play at centre mid, not a centre mid who can play centre-back, at this level anyway playing week in and week out in the Prem. I'd like to see him on the right of a back 3, with Robertson and Arnold in the wing-back positions. Sometimes it's not necessarily about playing your best players, but playing the system best suited to the opposition, and last night was a classic example of this. Alongside a no.10 type player who has the ability to pass the ball between an organised, deep lying team, we needed width last night and only Robertson was providing that. Gomez tried but again, his limitations at full back are beginning to appear playing regularly in that position. Personally, I don't think we should be that arsed about his mistakes just yet as what Klopp is doing with Gomez is very much reminding me of what Rafa did with Gerrard at right mid/right wing in his early days here, he's trying to improve Gomez's all round game, especially one on one situations. But with Mane & Salah predominately drifting inside, especially when they're played on the left and right respectively, it seems as a team we lack width and are still learning how best to move 'a parked bus'. We're definitely improving in this area, especially at home this season, but we're still a long way from perfection.
