Liverpool have started this season extremely brightly. There are lots of contributing factors, chief amongst which is the high level of flexibility in the attack. This flexibility comes in the form of interchangeable positions and interchangeable personnel.
Jurgen Klopp has been starting games with a front three – nominally, this is a centre forward and two wingers. In reality, however, all three of them drift. Everyone is tasked with looking for space: the primary objective is to get into positions that offer an option to the man in possession.
For example, Sadio Mane might have cut inside from the right in order to run into a gap – Roberto Firmino, the ‘centre-forward’ in this scenario, might then run over to become a de facto right winger and offer Mane a wide outlet. This is a nightmare for the opposition defence: any attempt at man-marking results in their back line getting drawn horribly out of shape.
Even if they don’t look to assign defenders to specific players, the constant off-the-ball movement wreaks havoc – runs have to be tracked, and this leaves gaps for other runners (potentially from the midfield). This was exemplified in the Leicester game: Daniel Sturridge made an excellent darting run from a central position towards the left, which drew both centre-backs. Philippe Coutinho was then able to slot a ball through the gap into Firmino, who slotted home. It could almost be called the Barcelona approach – whilst there is obviously a difference in quality, the basic principle of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez all switching fluidly is essentially akin to what Jurgen Klopp is getting the Liverpool front line to do.
This leads on to the next form of flexibility: the ability to interchange the personnel involved in the front three. The ‘standard’ front line seems to generally be Coutinho, Firmino and Mane, but as the last example demonstrates Sturridge is equally able to contribute. Indeed, as a striker who spent much of his early years deployed on the wing, there is a case to be made that he is ideally suited to the system. On top of this, Klopp has Divock Origi at his disposal – as a strong and powerful player he is often thought of as an out-and-out central striker, but his pace and trickery means that he, too, is able to play across the front line.
Every one of these five options offers something a little different: Firmino is probably the best at the pressing that is so integral to Liverpool’s game, Coutinho has immense dribbling talent and is always capable of pulling out a goal from range, Mane is direct and rapid, Origi causes problems with his strength and Sturridge is arguably the best natural finisher in the league. Thus, Klopp can tweak the front line based on the opposition and the in-game situation: in other words, Liverpool have found a ‘Plan B’ which does not involve attempting to entirely abandon the usual style and instead swing crosses into a big man.
Of course it is still very much early days, but Liverpool have already played some tough opponents – it is clear that any team in the league is going to have problems dealing with our front line. There are of course still question marks over the defence, who at the are still yet to keep a clean sheet in the league this season, but if the forwards can continue to terrorise defences, then there is no reason why Liverpool cannot mount a serious title challenge.
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