Brighton vs Liverpool: Jurgen Klopp continues search for solution to his midfield puzzle

A Reds midfield of individuals when placed in a collective sometimes do not look as balanced as maybe they need to be

When Liverpool went to Brighton last season, Georginio Wijnaldum started in a defence and so did Emre Can. It was the first game of December and after a series of potentially dispiriting results, Jürgen Klopp would face an intensive schedule as well as questions about the depth of his squad. Though Liverpool would win 5-1, a month or so later one of the scorers that day Philippe Coutinho was sold to Barcelona in a record deal.

The more things change, the more they stay the same; or sort of. It seems likely Fabinho will be the midfielder pushed back into a defence tomorrow in the absence of other options, though it is a defence that now includes Virgil van Dijk as well. Liverpool have lost successive games for the first time this season: to Manchester City and Wolverhampton Wanderers and though those outcomes were understandable considering firstly quality of what was in front of them and then the strength of the team named by Klopp in the second of those games, he would have a tougher time rationally explaining anything less than a victory at Brighton even though they are in excellent form and a much-improved version than the one he prepared to face thirteen months ago.

Liverpool will not be losing a Coutinho this time around and it is to Klopp’s credit that he did not make the departure feel like a loss at all, though the Brazilian’s absence – or someone similar to him – may have been evident at certain moments in the subsequent period of time.

Forty-one years ago yesterday, Liverpool made arguably the most significant midfield signing in their history by recruiting Graeme Souness from Middlesbrough, someone who redefined what the expectations were on a player in his position – someone who would become captain and give his finest performance in his final game by leading Liverpool to victory in a European Cup final being hosted in the home city and home ground of the opponent.

Defeat at City returned to the theme of this Liverpool midfield’s capabilities, a midfield with solid, industrious players each of whom offer what Liverpool need individually but when placed in a collective sometimes do not look as balanced as maybe a midfield needs to be.

People watch football matches from all different vantage points. The press box at the Etihad is lower down so, though a reporter gets a greater sense of the endeavour and theatre, they miss out on a wider feeling of placement. Meanwhile, there is always a danger watching any match through the key hole of a television camera because it simply follows the ball and misses lots of the work that goes on without it. Perhaps it explains why players like Jordan Henderson are not rated that highly by the many who seem to spend their lives on social media, those whose positions are much further away from the real action.

From high up at the very back of the Colin Bell Stand, patterns were easier to spot. Defensively, Liverpool’s midfield did their job against City in the first half, plugging the gaps and stopping City’s midfielders from sliding passes down the sides which cause even the best defenders problems because no defender likes to have to turn sharply even if they are as formidable as van Dijk.

Though City’s opening goal would arrive from a midfielder sliding a pass into Sergio Aguero whose turn on Dejan Lovren was razor-like, should a Liverpool midfielder have followed Bernardo Silva all the way to the touchline to stop him or was it a defender’s duty to try and deal with the run?

In an attacking sense, though, Liverpool’s midfield contributed less than Klopp would have liked – just as it did when they went to City in the quarter finals of the Champions League last season before Klopp rollicked them, instructing Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain to burst forward as often as he could. It was an instruction and act that would shift the momentum of the tie.

Liverpool must bounce back this weekend (AFP/Getty)

Liverpool do not have that player right now, though Oxlade-Chamberlain is making excellent progress in his recovery from a knee injury and could play again this season. It explains why Klopp hasn’t gone deep into the market for a player of that ilk. He had wanted to sign Nabil Fekir last summer because while it wasn’t public knowledge then, he already knew that Oxlade-Chamberlain would be out for so long.

When Fabinho was introduced at City, Liverpool rediscovered their purpose but in his commitment to equalise, Klopp compensated the defensive balance of the team and that meant City were able to counter attack more than they had before and make Liverpool appear more vulnerable because of the space available to them.

In November, Klopp was irritated when he was asked about his midfield, insisting that like Oxlade-Chamberlain and Andy Robertson in the previous campaign, Fabinho and Naby Keita would emerge in the New Year as key performers. While Fabinho is now challenging Henderson’s place, when it comes to the crunch Klopp is still choosing James Milner and Wijnaldum ahead of Keita, whose quality is clearly there but has not so far developed the sort of consistency that Klopp demands to make him a regular. Perhaps it is one of the last structural issues in Klopp's team that he needs to solve.