Is it time to look at the way we set up our midfield and try to get more goal contributions from that area of the pitch? It's always been a functional midfield under Klopp and the goals from the front three and creativity from the fullbacks has justified that approach. But when the chances start to dry up for the forwards and we just end up spamming cross after cross with nothing to show for it, we should really be looking to the midfield to provide more of a goal threat, if only to mix things up a little.
- Gini is more than capable, he's excellent at breaking into the box (as he's shown for Holland) but he's got a real safety-first approach in our midfield, working hard, covering advancing fullbacks and not being particularly expansive with his passing.
- Henderson is similar to Gini and is a more direct passer with a decent cross on him and can also burst forward, but he's also busy covering the fullbacks. Not the best finisher either.
- Thiago will provide more creativity but he's not going to be making runs past the forwards, he sits deep.
- Ox, Minamino and Shaq all offer more going forward but they're clearly not part of Klopp's ideal midfield, probably due to their lack of defensive diligence in comparison to Henderson and Wijnaldum. And even when they do play, they have the same instruction to drop in behind the fullback when Trent or Robbo push on.
- Jones looks like he fits the bill, offering the tactical understanding of his defensive duties and with more game time, his offensive contributions will really grow.
- Keita is always injured.
We never really play through midfield. Tonight we had two midfielders at centre back, Thiago, Gini and Ox in the middle, all players who are comfortable in possession, but we just couldn't play through the middle against a rigid 442 and get Bobby on the ball in that 10 position. We just don't move the ball through the middle at all, always goes wide.
We've got the players who can do it and I'd just like to see some runs through midfield to move the opposition around and give them something else to think about. City are a different team to us, I know, but they're really good at this and one of the reasons they always score those cut-back goals is because they all have licence to pop up in different positions by making those runs in behind. Their central midfielders drift into way more advanced positions that ours do and their movement is much more fluid. Leeds have players who bomb on all over the pitch and it really messed up West Brom's ultra defensive tactics. Slowly working it wide for crosses into packed boxes is the last thing we should be doing against teams who sit deep and compact.
The defensive midfield and creative fullback tactic has worked so well for us but it just feels like with games like today, it'd be good to have another option. A more fluid and attacking midfield is less stable defensively, sure, but it'd be good to have another string to our bow.