Liverpool should have used the formation that beat Brighton & Hove Albion last night against Swansea in the Premier League defeat.
On December 2nd last year Liverpool manager was faced with a mini injury crisis in defense. Joel Matip was out with an abductor injury and Ragnar Klavan and Joe Gomez both fell ill with flu-like symptoms. That left Dejan Lovren as the only center back available for selection.
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Klopp chose not to throw someone else in the back four but rather change the formation entirely. In a bold move he went to a back three with Emre Can and Gini Wijnaldum partnering Lovren in a super-attacking formation.
The change was a stroke of genius and the Reds ran out 5-1 winners in an emphatic away victory. The ill and injured center backs returned to fitness and the club bought Virgil van Dijk. Klopp has not had a need to revisit the unusual selection and formation since.
However it would have served Liverpool well last night as they were struggling to break down a resilient Swansea side. After the Reds went a goal down, Swansea sat back. A compact flat back five proved too tricky for the Reds to break down.
Adjusting to a back three would have been the way to do it. Having Van Dijk, Can and either Gomez or Matip as a three would have allowed the Reds to push the full backs into genuine wingers. Trent Alexander-Arnold should have been the first sub on; to give extra width and create room for Mohamed Salah to play inside.
That would have left a midfield two of Wijnaldum and Alex Oxlade Chamberlain to burst forward and join the attack. Adam Lallana could have come on in the last 15 minutes for one of those two as their legs got tired.
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The reality is we stayed in the back four, often with 4 or 5 players behind the ball. After we conceded we played exactly the game they wanted us to play. A revisit of the Brighton formation would have given us a better opportunity to score and take some points from the match.