Digging Deeper Into Liverpool’s 5-1 Victory Over West Ham in the Carabao Cup
With a victory over West Ham in the books, we take a closer look at what it all means for the Reds.
Liverpool open up their Carabao Cup campaign by thoroughly eviscerating West Ham by scoring all of the goals in the match. Lots to talk about when it comes to this because quite a few hanging narratives surrounding the club were confronted in the match. Let’s get to it.
Talking Tactics
We’ll talk about rotation specifically but Slot ran out a side that saw both Diogo Jota and Darwin Nuñez in advanced roles. It was an interesting decision because out of possession, the team seemed to settle into a 4-2-2-2, with Curtis Jones and Wataru Endo in the holding spots. In possession, though, Cody Gakpo had license to cut in from the left as Kostas Tsimikas and Jones would fill in that space for Gakpo, essentially leading to an overload in the West Ham box. The entire front line was industrious and deserves a lot of credit, but the little tactical wrinkle was interesting. In particular the spacing between Darwin and Jota, where the Portuguese striker often played just slightly recessed and off to the side of the Uruguayan.
Unfortunately, I don’t have a game stat breakdown for the xG to see how this held up over the course of the match, but if you felt like Liverpool’s set up absolutely suffocated West Ham, you’d be correct as some folks had Liverpool’s defense as being typically stingy w/ an xG allowed of approximately .5.
Dissecting the Narrative
Well, I guess we know for sure that Arne Slot can rotate. This squad saw nearly almost all fringe players start - including captain Joe Gomez, Wataru Endo, Curtis Jones, Kostas Tsimikas, debutante Federico Chiesa - and ensured that Slot finally made good on his promise to rotate during this heavy fixture period. I think the biggest takeaway for fans is that Liverpool were able to fully rotate, and dominate, a lower-table Premier League team. It may still be too early to consider Liverpool real challengers to the PL title, but it isn’t a stretch to say they’re not as far off of Arsenal or Manchester City as the punditry might have folks believe. They are, at the very least, the third best team in England and I’d wager they’ll cause problems against both title challengers when they come up on the calendar.
I think the early judgement for Slot’s Liverpool is quite clear: an enjoyable team that manages to play exciting football but also now has an elite-level defensive scheme. That should worry Premier League clubs because a well-balanced Liverpool can only mean trouble for the other folks.
What Happens Next
Liverpool head to Wolves this weekend as they hope to keep pressure on City by taking the full points. Liverpool are now on the back end of this fixture crush before the October international break. It’s after the break that Liverpool face their first test as they take on a resurgent Chelsea and a pesky Brighton, along with a tie against messrs of the Dark Arts: Arsenal.
Source: liverpooloffside.sbnation.com
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