Jurgen Klopp calls his revamped Reds squad Liverpool 2.0, but watching them is a reminder of what his best Anfield sides have always been.
Liverpool definitely needed a refresh in the summer because last season I’m not sure any of their players had the legs to play the way Klopp wanted.
The front three continued to press, but the midfield failed to get on the pitch to support them. Teams played through them and gave them a lot of trouble.
It is different now and what we are seeing is more like the heavy metal football we saw when Klopp won the Champions League and the Premier League. Liverpool are once again pressing all over the pitch and getting a younger, better and stronger midfield has been huge.
In Sunday’s win over West Ham, the Reds’ midfield trio of Dominik Szoboszlai, Alexis MacAllister and Curtis Jones; whose average age was under 23 and gave Liverpool the energy they needed.
Of course, this new team is far from perfect. They are still unbeaten in the Premier League, with only Manchester City ahead of them in the table, but there are still some question marks in defense and they need to improve.
Nunez is never bothered by a miss
Liverpool have won in four of their first six games this campaign, including Thursday’s Europa League tie with LASK, and it would have been the same on Sunday had West Ham not missed some excellent early chances. The Reds still concede too many goals, but they have enough firepower to bounce back when they struggle and even when they don’t play well, they always look capable of scoring.
Liverpool were certainly a bit unlucky when I saw them beat Newcastle with ten men last month, but Darwin Nunez won the game brilliantly for them – and he scored another big goal against the Hammers to put Liverpool up 2-1.
Nunez was hit a lot last season, but I like that he doesn’t let it bother him if he doesn’t manage to put away big chances.
It happened in the second half against West Ham when he saw his shot hit the post from close range, but less than seven minutes later he buried his own next chance, which was actually much more difficult.
Mental toughness is a big plus for any forward, and the more goals he scores, the more relaxed Nunez is in front of goal.
recognizing that mental toughness is a big plus for any forward and the more goals he scores, the more relaxed Nunez is in front of goal.
Nunez scored in Liverpool’s 2-1 win against West Ham on Sunday. He has featured in all seven of Liverpool’s games this season, starting three of them. He scored four goals and provided two assists
I can see why Reds fans love him so much because he brings so much to the team without the ball, his work rate when they press and he doesn’t stop for the whole game.
I said before the start of the season that I expected Liverpool to make a serious comeback at the top of the table after finishing in the top four last time and I think Nunez will play a big part in that. Since the start of last season, he has hit the woodwork in the Premier League eight times, more than any other player in the Premier League.
He was just millimeters away from taking those chances, and it doesn’t take much setup to really flow his goals.
Salah continues to be the Talisman of this Red team
Part of Liverpool’s overhaul was forced on Klopp because I don’t think he expected to lose his two main midfielders, Jordan Henderson and Fabinho, in the same transfer window.
I thought it was important that Mohamed Salah didn’t leave either, although the bids for him from Saudi Arabia reportedly increased as the deadline passed.
Liverpool have plenty of attacking options, but the psychological impact on the club would be huge if Salah had left – he’s a great player of course, but it would also seriously damage the team’s belief if they lost him. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Saudis return to Salah next summer, but in the meantime he is very important to what they want to do this season – and a title bid is certainly part of that plan.
Liverpool don’t like being in the Europa League, but it will help them challenge City as their games on Wednesday are not as demanding as their Champions League.
I am not saying that the Europa League is easy, but the facts are that the teams are not that good and that means that Klopp can rotate his squad.
He did so against LASK in Austria on Thursday when Salah came on late to score but still fresh to face West Ham. There is another reason why this strong start from Liverpool could be difficult to stop.
