The clock is ticking for Jurgen Klopp. It is only a matter of time before someone, somewhere, works out how to stop Liverpool. Jose Mourinho has done it before. On Saturday night in north London, the Portuguese will attempt to put a brake on the Premier League leaders with his Tottenham Hotspur side.
Mourinho stopped an Anfield title charge in its tracks six years ago. The 56-year-old was in charge of Chelsea at the time and Brendan Rodgers’ team were three games away from winning the Premier League until the London club’s 2-0 victory in front of the Kop. The Tottenham manager is unlikely to prevent Klopp’s side from lifting the trophy in May of course. Liverpool’s 13-point lead at the top of the table – with a game in hand – looks unassailable given the form of the European and world champions. Yet the finest brains in football are consumed with the problem of how to slow down a team that is unbeaten in the league for more than 12 months. Mourinho’s powers may be in decline but few coaches can frustrate like him.
The problem is simple. Liverpool’s full backs have developed into one of the most dangerous pairings in the sport. Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andrew Robertson have transformed the way the team play. Two years ago the front three of Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane were the side’s main threat. There was a sense, however, that defences were beginning to come to terms with the trio and close down their running lanes to minimise their impact. Then the full backs emerged and from being very good Liverpool became virtually unstoppable.
Alexander-Arnold and Robertson surge forward. They frequently make the front three into a five, stretching and overwhelming defences. They open up space for the attacking trio. Their crosses turn around centre backs and put them in situations that defenders hate. Liverpool have moved on from gegenpressing. Students of German may come up with a better word but flankenangriff – flank attack – suits this team's style better these days.
The shape of the team sometimes looks like a throwback to the early days of the sport when 2-3-5 was the fashion. So far, rivals have had limited success in stopping it. A number of sides set up against Liverpool as if they are playing against a commonplace modern midfield. They are choosing the wrong battle. Klopp’s middle men are not traditional, thrusting, forward-looking players aiming to arrive on the edge of the box. The hunt for a replacement for Steven Gerrard – or at least someone remotely in his image – warped the recruitment policies at Anfield for the best part of a decade. Klopp solved the problem by changing how the midfield works. The central three are there to give the team balance, allow the full backs freedom and to supplement the defence. Any team that targets the middle against Liverpool is choosing to contest the wrong terrain.
Some of the best strategists in Europe are focused on clamping down on Alexander-Arnold and Robertson. The issue is at the forefront of Diego Simeone’s mind as the knockout phase Champions League tie against Atletico Madrid looms next month. At some point a team will have success in denying Liverpool width. That is why Klopp is already thinking ahead. He knows the shelf-life of any style is limited.
Mourinho should have a plan tomorrow. In 2014 his approach at Anfield was magnificently negative. On the face of it, he does not have the squad at Spurs to create a roadblock for this rampant Liverpool team but his raw materials six years ago appeared equally unpromising. His back four was anchored by Tomas Kalas and the two wide men who dropped deep to allow Chelsea’s full backs to play narrow were Andre Schurrle and a young Egyptian called Salah. Mourinho flooded the space where Gerrard and Luis Suarez operated and squeezed the life out of Rodgers’ somewhat braindead gameplan.
The Tottenham manager has a dilemma this time around. If he starts with three at the back, Klopp will be delighted. Firmino has had great success exploiting the space either side of Davinson Sanchez. Serge Aurier and Ryan Sessegnon do not look equipped to push Liverpool backwards out wide. Eric Dier and Harry Winks may lack the necessary mobility and Dele Alli the required discipline. Nevertheless, Mourinho has done some marvellously malignant work with less impressive raw materials. Even so, Tottenham will need to be significantly more organised than of late to arrest Liverpool’s progress.
Klopp is more flexible and pragmatic than Rodgers, too. Looking beyond Spurs, he is conscious that tactics are constantly evolving. If and when opponents get the full backs under control, he will need to change the point of attack. The emphasis might switch back to the central areas. The signing of Takumi Minamino suggests bolstering midfield attacking options is on his mind and if Naby Keita can continue his slow development then Liverpool will have an extra dimension. Long term, Alexander-Arnold may grow from a world-class right-back into a multifaceted, top-class midfielder.
For now, though, the full backs are still rampant. Tottenham will be desperate to stop them at the Lane. That is much easier said than done, even for a master of defensive dark arts like Mourinho. At least in the Premier League, Klopp still has quite a bit of time to play with.
