Liverpool analysis – Mohamed Salah change is needed as Thiago handed new role

Ian Doyle’s Liverpool talking points after their 0-0 draw with Chelsea in the Premier League

Salah becomes Klopp’s business

Harvey Elliott would be forgiven for thinking he deserved better. The 19-year-old, who had arguably his best performance at Liverpool in midweek as the winner of the FA Cup tie at Wolves, was among those to hold onto his place.

Instead of settling on the right flank where he impressed so much at Molineux, Elliott was pushed down the opposite flank to allow Mohamed Salah to return to the right with Cody Gakpo at the helm.

It was a big request. In such an unfamiliar position, the youngster struggled, unaided – particularly in the first half – by a few erratic passes from his teammates. Elliott is still learning his trade, as is Gakpo – who got better as the game progressed, though some of his broken finishes suggest he’s trying a little too hard to impress – adjusting to his new environment. You will improve.

Instead, getting Salah fired again must be Klopp’s main concern. It was smart to use him against Marc Cucurella and he caused problems for the defensively resilient Chelsea man.

The problem was it wasn’t often enough, Liverpool couldn’t get Salah into the game enough, the Egyptian had a similar run earlier in the season with just one goal in six games.

Perhaps putting Salah in a central position could help, especially given the busy late appearance of fit Darwin Nunez on the left, underlining what had been missed during the Uruguayan’s brief absence. Thiago takes on a new role

Thiago Alcantara as a midfield defender is not what Liverpool fans expected when the silky smooth Spaniard arrived over two years ago.

But needs must, and with the Reds’ engine room spitting horribly lately, Thiago has happily shouldered the added responsibility.

While not as dominant a performance as at Wolves in mid-week – there were, as Klopp later noted, too many wayward passing – his tenacity, work-rate and willingness to put rhythm back into the Liverpool game they made their center player more impressive. of the field. No Reds player has made more tackles.

Klopp remained with the trio that started on Tuesday night, and both Naby Keita and Stefan Bajcetic struggled a bit. Bajcetic will have learned a lot from a demanding first start in the Premier League but does not seem overwhelmed. And the discipline with which he negotiated the game after a first-half warning was commendable.

Keita hasn’t hit the same highs either, but has some mitigation in that it’s a second launch in five days after seven months without it.

And in their last spells on the bench, Fabinho and Jordan Henderson have emerged as players with points to prove. Solving the midfield conundrum will be an intriguing and important task for Klopp in the coming weeks

Champions League mockery

The electronic scoreboards around the Anfield pitch almost made fun of Liverpool. During the match, they flashed with an advertisement for a transmitter who announced the return of the Champions League next month.

And the growing reality is that, even if half of the Premier League season plays, the best hope of the Reds is to ensure their continuous presence in competition by the owner of Real Madrid on the way to win the trophy on the path of profit of navigation in the trophy.

Not that there is currently a discussion on the top 4 among the reds. Klopp called for a return to the basics this week, and this applies to his immediate ambitions. Just play a game and use it as a base. The Liverpool manager is already on board, later saying this dismal draw was a small step in the right direction. After the horror of the reverse in Brighton and Hove Albion last weekend, it’s hard to argue.

Dwelling on the negatives now will be counterproductive for Liverpool. The Reds boss knows that the road back to the top will be long and positivity will be crucial.