Journalist reveals the ‘biggest problem’ behind Liverpool’s recent performances | OneFootball

Alexander-Arnold’s Absence Forcing Tactical Evolution

The numbers in Sam Dean’s recent report for The Telegraph show a team wrestling with identity, especially after the exit of Trent Alexander-Arnold. Arne Slot has already won a Premier League title in his debut season, yet this latest challenge is unlike anything he has faced.

The most damning statistic remains surrounding Mohamed Salah. As highlighted, Salah is averaging “just 39 touches per game this season” and “1.8 shots per game, compared to 3.2 last season”. His penalty-box involvement has more than halved, now at “5.2 touches per game in the penalty box” down from “9.5”. These are not small adjustments. They represent a player starved of supply.

Last season, Alexander-Arnold played “147 line-breaking passes to Salah”, comfortably the most in the league. That chemistry has vanished overnight. As Sam Dean writes, “Alexander-Arnold also created 14 chances for Salah last season. This time around, none of the three players Liverpool have deployed at right-back have created even one chance.”

Supply Chain Breakdown On The Right

Liverpool did not replace Alexander-Arnold’s profile. Jeremie Frimpong is “far more of a runner than a passer”, and Conor Bradley has admirable drive but not the same vision. The differences are striking. Alexander-Arnold completed “7.7 long passes per game in the Premier League” last season. Bradley currently averages 3.3 and Frimpong has “yet to complete one”.

Photo: IMAGO

The stylistic divide reflects broader structural issues. Previously, the right flank operated with dual threats. Now it is fragmented, forcing Salah into traffic and reducing unpredictability. His dribbling success rate has fallen to “10 per cent” from “42 per cent”. That collapse is partly due to age at 33, but also a tactical reality. Defenders no longer need to split their focus between overlapping full-back and inverted winger. They can double up without fear.

Central Creativity Yet To Settle

Slot has tried to compensate by assigning playmaking responsibility to Florian Wirtz and Dominik Szoboszlai, rather than the right-back. That is a bold philosophical shift. However, it has come at the cost of vertical efficiency. Sam Dean notes that both of Liverpool’s current right-backs “average four progressive carries per game” compared to Alexander-Arnold’s “1.9”. Liverpool are now running with the ball rather than breaking lines with it. It is possession through labour rather than incision.

There is also a psychological dimension. Salah spent “319” of his first “401 games” for Liverpool alongside Alexander-Arnold. That is not merely a tactical bond, it is a career-long partnership. Breaking such a rhythm is rarely seamless.

Set-Piece Regression A Hidden Cost

One overlooked weapon has been weakened. “21 of his 86 assists for the club” came from set pieces. Liverpool averaged “0.5 goals per game from set pieces” last season. This year, it is “0.25”. They scored eight goals from corners in 2024/25. This season? “None.”

“Coping without Alexander-Arnold is perhaps the biggest [problem] of them all.”

Some will argue the sample size is small. That is true. Yet tactical discomfort is already visible. The question is not whether Liverpool can cope without Alexander-Arnold. It is whether they choose to evolve into something new or scramble to imitate what they once were.

Our View – Anfield Index Analysis

This feels like déjà vu of losing a talisman then realising systems do not replace chemistry. You can plan for numbers, but you cannot replicate instincts. Watching Salah barely touch the ball is painful. This is not an ageing decline, this is structural abandonment.

Supporters accepted that Trent wanted a new challenge. Fair enough. What they did not expect was to enter a season without a defined replacement plan. Jeremie Frimpong is exciting to watch, but if Salah barely gets a pass in stride, what is the point? Conor Bradley has fight and bravery yet expecting him to dictate attacking patterns like Alexander-Arnold is unfair.

Seeing Szoboszlai filling in at right-back in certain matches speaks volumes. It tells us Slot knows the current setup does not work. He is firefighting. Liverpool feel like they have lost two players in one. A world-class full-back and Salah’s telepathic partner.

Fans will not panic yet. Slot earned patience by winning the league at the first time of asking. However, if Salah finishes another match with less than two shots on target, the mood will turn. The club cannot pretend this is a natural transition. It is a gaping void, and everyone at Anfield can see it.