Liverpool look to be making a major change to the way they play and it could benefit one struggling Reds player in particular, according to CaughtOffside columnist Neil Jones.
The LFC expert has exclusively revealed his take on what the signings of Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister mean for Jurgen Klopp’s tactics, with Darwin Nunez perhaps the main figure likely to benefit from a different style of play.
It wasn’t the best debut season at Anfield for the Uruguay international, though Jones can imagine he’ll be “licking his lips” at the prospect of service from more creative midfield players like Szoboszlai in particular.
Mac Allister is another who represents a different kind of midfield signing to what we’ve seen from Liverpool under Klopp, with Jones explaining that this surely points towards what could be one of the most fascinating seasons we’ve seen at the club for many years as the German tactician totally reinvents his side.
“(The Szoboszlai signing) seems to clearly signal a change in direction from Liverpool – they’ve now signed two midfielders who are a move away from the traditional kind of players Jurgen Klopp has used in the middle of the park,” Jones said.
“Both Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister are multi-functional players, and Szoboszlai in particular has had a few different roles in his career, whether it’s been out on the wing or as a number 10, as well as where it seems he’s going to play at Liverpool in that role aligned with his official squad number, the number 8.
“This now makes Liverpool a bit more technical and creative in midfield than they have been previously. We’d normally expect Liverpool to go more for physicality in that area, with the creativity coming from wide with the full-backs, but now they have players with the ability to play the final pass, and I think someone like Darwin Nunez, who makes runs in behind and who likes to get on the end of balls into the box and crosses, will be licking his lips.
“Szoboszlai creates an awful lot of chances, he was one of the best in the Bundesliga at that with his quality set piece delivery and good crosses and through-balls in open play too. Mac Allister is another who has shown he can both create and score, and I think Nunez in particular is going to get a lot of chances now.
“Nunez as well, of course, is a different kind of striker to what Klopp had for so many years with Roberto Firmino, so all signs point towards a different kind of tactical set-up, and means it’s probably the most intriguing summer of Klopp’s reign so far in many ways. We saw a bit of a change already at the back-end of last season with Trent Alexander-Arnold coming into midfield, so we’re in uncharted territory now really, with Klopp into his ninth season in charge – it’s not really something we’ve seen because that’s when it started to go wrong for him at Borussia Dortmund, and we’re going to see if he’s able to reinvent this team to an extent.”
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He added: “Overall, I think it’s a fascinating time to follow Liverpool, probably the most interesting since Klopp first took over. For the first time in years, it’s not clear what to expect from the team, what the roles of big names like Alexander-Arnold will be, what the midfield is going to look like.
“There are so many unknowns, but the recruitment looks good, and with the players who’ve left as well it generally looks like a huge tactical shift, and probably the biggest change to the way the team plays since Klopp brought Alexander-Arnold and Andrew Robertson into the side and really built around the full-backs as key attacking outlets.
“I’m definitely going to be watching with real intrigue over the next few weeks, I can’t wait to see what the side looks like.”