After back-to-back defeats against Premier League champions Arsenal and Fenerbahçe, some uncomfortable questions were starting to emerge for Andoni Iraola, especially regarding his midfield.
Liverpool are far from the finished product and that has been evident in the last seven days. Fenerbahçe was all too open, all too fragile and all too similar to the form displayed under Arne Slot in the previous campaign.
Defeat at Crystal Palace would have turned a blip into a mini-crisis mulled over during the international break. This, however, is a Liverpool side with a renewed backbone and, as such, battled to some much-needed three points.
How Liverpool bounced back against Crystal Palace
The big decisions started before the referee could sound his first whistle of the day. Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister found their partnership renewed, while Trey Nyoni was forced to watch on from the bench despite how highly he’s been regarded in recent weeks.
It was a call centred around resting the inexperienced teenager rather than dropping him for options in better form. And that became apparent when Szoboszlai and Mac Allister’s partnership brought with it a struggle for control.
All of a sudden, a struggling Adam Wharton looked a man reserved for Crystal Palace and, but for Jørgen Strand Larsen’s offside position, the Eagles would have had a deserved lead.
Last season, Liverpool collapsed under similar pressure at Selhurst Park before suffering a 2-1 defeat. If any evidence was needed that Iraola has restored some kind of resilience, it is the fact that they took the lead through Mac Allister and built from there following a tough start.
Goals from Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak then rounded things off, with Eddie Nketiah’s penalty merely a consolation. On paper, it’s three points and a place inside the top four for Liverpool. In reality, it’s so much more for one particular player.
Iraola has found his own Firmino at Liverpool
When Iraola arrived at Liverpool in the summer, he had a puzzle to solve. Arne Slot and Richard Hughes had left the pieces scrambled around Anfield; pieces which once formed champions. To put it back together, he had to welcome the likes of Bradley Barcola, Victor Munoz and others alongside academy graduates.
Even with those added pieces, however, there was still a missing centrepiece in the early stages of the season. For all the exciting attacking width added to the side, Liverpool lacked control previously found through Roberto Firmino in the prime of Jurgen Klopp’s serial winners. That is where Wirtz has come into his own.
|
Premier League per 90 |
Firmino 19/20 |
Wirtz 26/27 |
|---|---|---|
|
Minutes |
3,001 |
795 |
|
Goals |
0.27 |
0.11 |
|
Assists |
0.24 |
0.34 |
|
Chances created |
1.56 |
2.6 |
|
Possession won in final third |
1.11 |
1.13 |
Wirtz has so often been at the centre of criticism throughout his Liverpool career, and rightly so at times, but he also deserves credit where it is due. He has gone from the most droppable player in Iraola’s side to arguably the most crucial in the final third.
The German is making the Reds tick, setting the tone of the press by winning possession back 1.13 times in the final third per 90 – more than Firmino managed when Liverpool won the Premier League title in 2019/20.
When it comes to chance creation, Wirtz is also key. In fact, only six players have created more than the big-money man in the Premier League so far this season.
The goal involvements are beginning to come now, too. Against Crystal Palace, Wirtz was the man waiting in the right place at the right time to double his side’s lead – linking up with fellow big-money signing Barcola – in a solid performance which featured 41 touches of control. This was arguably one of his finest displays for the Merseysiders yet.
In the wake of so much criticism, Iraola has found a crucial player and his very own Firmino in the form of Wirtz at Anfield. The German must now kick on from here.
