Liverpool’s next manager could bring a massive tactical throwback – Opinion | OneFootball

From Roy Evans to Xabi Alonso as Liverpool Revisit a Forgotten Blueprint

Liverpool’s season feels like it is being played on two timelines. One is the present — Arne Slot, damage limitation, low blocks, and incremental progress. The other is clearly the future — a future increasingly shaped by Xabi Alonso, structural evolution, and a squad quietly being retooled to play a very different kind of football.

The future signing of Jérémy Jacquet, the winter focus on young centre-backs, and the growing emphasis on profile versatility all point toward a system shift rather than isolated recruitment. This is not about replacing individuals. It is about preparing Liverpool for a new shape, one designed to overwhelm compact opponents and unlock attacking freedom without sacrificing control.

At the heart of that shift sits the most intriguing question of all: how do you maximise Alexander Isak, Hugo Ekitike, and Florian Wirtz on the same side?

A Return to Two Strikers and a Familiar Liverpool Blueprint

The idea of two starting strikers has quietly re-entered elite football, driven by systems that prioritise central overloads and wing-back width. Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen showed this repeatedly, using a 3-4-2-1 or 3-4-1-2 to suffocate low blocks and force defenders into impossible choices. Liverpool, under Edwards and Hughes, appears to be positioning itself to do the same.

There is historical symmetry here. Roy Evans’ Liverpool may never have won what it should have, but its attacking structure remains one of the most expressive the club has ever seen. Steve McManaman operating behind Stan Collymore and Robbie Fowler was not chaos — it was controlled aggression. Macca created, drifted, and disrupted shape. Collymore imposed himself physically and dynamically. Fowler finished ruthlessly.

The parallels are striking. Wirtz already operates as a modern interpretation of McManaman — a free creator who thrives between lines, capable of dictating tempo and producing decisive moments without being fixed to a flank. Ekitike, much like Collymore, is a physical phenomenon when allowed to attack space with momentum rather than play back to goal constantly. Isak, like Fowler, is devastating when central, instinctive, and unburdened by isolation.

A 3-4-1-2 or flexible 3-4-2-1 would allow Liverpool to centralise all three without asking any of them to become something they are not.

Wing-Back Width, Fluid Roles, and the End of the Salah Era

The clearest indicator of where this is heading is what Liverpool no longer seems obsessed with—traditional wide forwards. If Mohamed Salah is sold — and all signs suggest that door is opening — Liverpool’s next attacking evolution will not replace him like-for-like. Instead, width will be delegated to wing-backs, freeing the front line to rotate, combine, and overload central zones.

This suits Alonso perfectly. Flying wing-backs stretch the pitch horizontally, pinning full-backs and preventing low blocks from compacting centrally. Behind them, a back three stocked with six starting-calibre centre-backs provides rest defence and security. In front, Wirtz floats, Isak leads the line, and Ekitike attacks channels with freedom.

The beauty of this structure is its adaptability. Against deep blocks, Liverpool can overload the box with runners. Against stronger sides, transitions become lethal with two strikers always occupying centre-backs. The constant need to “find width” disappears — the attack breathes centrally.

A multifunctional forward like Bradley Barcola may arrive to add rotational depth, but the core idea remains unchanged. This is about liberation. About finally giving elite attackers a system that serves them rather than constrains them.

Liverpool has flirted with this evolution before. This time, the defensive foundations are being laid properly. If Konaté commits his future and the centre-back group matures as expected, the conditions are finally right.

The game is changing again. Liverpool looks ready to change with it.