The Midweek Maxi #26: Cognitive Dissonance in Europe, Mo’s New Role & More Wasteful Shooting

Our new Liverpool FC weekly compendium. News. Stats. Views. Debate. Links. Data. Insights. Delights.

To read about why we’ve replaced Free Friday with The Midweek Maxi, see the intro to the first edition.

So far the bumper weekly roundup is going down extremely well with paying subscribers:

This week:

• Excerpts and links to the different pieces we've published across the TTT Substack network, prior to the paywall kicking in;

• Then, some of the best comments from the site this past week;

• Next, Daniel Zambartas’ bumper LFC News, Media & Transfer Round-Up

Job done! (Oh, and it’s also a discussion thread for the issues raised.)

Note: the Maxi may exceed the email size limit on Substack, but the whole piece can be read online by paying subscribers.

TTT Network Roundup

Links and excerpts to articles on the various TTT sites, which are run by different people and require separate subscriptions to this, the TTT Main Hub.

The Main Hub

It’s been a busy week for Liverpool on the pitch, and plenty of reaction in the post-match analysis and match thread from last night as the Reds’ were denied a late equaliser in France. Below is Paul’s reaction to the Luton draw.

Luton Town vs. Liverpool: *Bumper* Post-Match Analysis

Liverpool’s evening was almost summed up by Trent Alexander-Arnold hitting sensational long passes and utterly stupid long shots, and just some utterly brainless football all-round in the final third, but based on weight of chances and the clear penalty shout at 0-0 (albeit the handball shout for their goal, before they broke, was not a penalty you expect to get, albeit with hands out in a star-shape), a draw seemed fair. And there couldn't have been a better scorer, off his shoulder, with a bit of luck.

I'll defend Darwin Núñez below, who was busy and wasteful, but this felt like a slightly self-inflicted dropping of points.

Núñez hit two excellent shots that curled towards the far post, but most of the Reds' better shots were just right for the keeper.

The one Núñez put over the bar with the goal gaping was given offside, but I still think it falls into my category of coming across the body, bouncing awkwardly. But he had to try and get over it.

He hit the bar with his other big chance, and I think the instinctive shot was a decent effort. He can do subtle finishes, but power is his first resort.

He can head the ball well, but his headed efforts lately have been well over the bar. The xG was good, but the performance bitty and the choice and execution of some of the final moments was a real let-down.

Alisson made a huge save after 65 minutes, after an absolutely insipid start to the second half.

Liverpool moved the ball too slowly for the first 65 minutes, but at least created chances in the first half. Finally they came to life in the second, but the 20 minutes after the break felt like a missed chance to build pressure. Luton had everyone behind the ball and the fastest player in the league on the break.

Szoboszlai joined in the “shoot from distance when there's no shot on” and “don't shoot when it makes sense” brigade, which is the only real criticism I have of him. At least he didn’t shoot from 40 yards like Alexander-Arnold, which reeked of desperation and hubris.

Daniel Rhodes

Really struggling with the suggestions that was a poor performance. To go away from home against any team playing an organised low deep block and creating six big chances, over 3xG is - seriously - more than you can ever expect. 

There’s an argument we went through Nunez too much, as he missed three big chances; and failed to hit the target with at least two of them but can’t remember the third! 

It’s hard to emphasise enough how difficult it is to create so many big chances against a low block though. 

Not convinced it was a penalty before they scored, mainly because Barkley is jumping, he can’t see the ball, that’s natural position when jumping for your arm and it’s such close range. 

Find it hard to criticise poor finishing because it is so streaky, especially with players like Nunez who can do what he did on Wednesday, but also the week before and this evening. 

One criticism would be our selection on Wednesday, and Szoboszlai didn’t look like himself today. Hence his first substitution of the season in the league after playing every minute. 

Toulouse (Stadium De Toulouse) - Match Preview & Discussion Thread (November 9)

Madchenkliop

I'm going to put this sequence of 2 matches in the same bag. There were quite a few similarities, such as the way both unfurled: us not capitalising on a breezy start and then having to retrieve a situation with too little time left. The most striking similarity though was the part played by the vociferous fans who treated the occasion like a carnival. In both instances, it really was their cup final and it gave their players so much energy.

I'm tempted to worry about our tactics in that we couldn't out-think inferior opposition and that is concerning, but they were just closing us down so quickly in the hyped atmosphere, whereas - let's face it, we began the game with a sense of relief after the news about Diaz's dad. We weren't at our most zinging. It's not an excuse, but along with the lack of cohesion caused by all the changes in the line up these factors did level the playing field somewhat.

I also felt we were quite unlucky with the run of the ball in this match. Tsimikas's mistake was fairly unforgivable, but boy! did we get punished with those ricochets for the first goal. But the loose balls frequently ran perfectly into the path of French runners. We could have and should have taken more risks and ironically TGL was one of the worst culprits for that. His mistake was a sign of a player looking for security and they could obviously sense his weakness. His mentality has not been right this season. This time when he got hooked, a bit like Keita at one of those aways in Spain - was it Real on the weird pitch? - I got a sense that he might have pushed it a bit far and lost Klopp's trust.

For me, there were positives. I thought Harvey was one of the best players on the pitch. He still needs to find that clinching composure in front of goal, but the rest of his game was solid and he seemed one of the leaders. I thought Doak was good and unlucky to be hooked which I suspect had more to do with Klopp wanting to not overdo the minutes than because of his performance. Salah was pretty terrible I thought, but hasn't he always had these runs of a few matches where he loses his mojo? It's just what he does. Jota gave us yet another masterpiece goal that just seemed to get immediately forgotten - but it shouldn't be - he's an absolute assassin that lad! Gakpo seems a little bit lost, but I'd back him to work his way through.

Still, my overriding feeling is one of happiness for Diaz and his dad. This match really doesn't matter.

Paul reacts to last night’s defeat

It just strikes me increasingly how a low-scoring sport like football is almost decided by the officials, in terms of results going either way because of their decisions.

I feel it's worse with VAR as they're not doing what VAR should be doing, and rather than a safety net to get to better decisions, it feels like a total mess. The lack of consistency from refs within the PL, and even more so from the PL to Europe (specifically in terms of things like handballs), is just maddening. It feels so random as to what you'll get.

Also, for those saying that we didn't deserve anything anyway - we did deserve something at Spurs. But we got shafted there, too.

We deserve better officiating than we're getting in general, as noted by how the 5-person decision-review panel (of ex-refs/players/coaches) said both Havertz and Guimaraes should have been sent off by the VAR, and both seemed as clear as day to me for the reasons they gave - and yet weren't. Yet we've had 4 red cards that were all borderline at best. Those were two obvious ones, and nothing was given.

In addition, VAR doesn't seem to be used when fouls are made on our players in the box, as I've noted in the data. It's now happening in Europe, with their keeper fouling Salah and Diaz. He was all over the place at Anfield, and he was again tonight. I'd like to know what VAR checked and what they say to justify it, albeit it would probably be full of the same cognitive dissonance the PGMOL give us after each game.

TTT Transfer Hub & Deep Dives

Below, we have a table containing Salah’s numbers of this season comparing it to the 2017/18 campaign. We all know the records and ceilings he broke in the latter.

The goal-scoring exploits of the 17/18 season were off the charts. It ain’t that far off this time around as well, with less shot attempts and more contribution in the assist and chance-creation columns. Funnily enough, the touches in the opposition box volume is quite similar, although it has never been below eight in other seasons. It just shows how absurdly lethal he was in his first year at the club. 

What’s changed? Liverpool have more than just two players to do the scoring (previously, it was mostly either him or Sadio Mané). Hence, Salah has not only adjusted to the new system with no overlapping runs from Alexander-Arnold, he has accepted the fact that the team is stacked with goals from everywhere and started becoming the playmaking machine alongside the likes of Szoboszlai.

The Evolution of Mo Salah in Liverpool 2.0