Jurgen Klopp may need to rethink Diogo Jota as a centre-forward after Liverpool 0-1 Inter. The Reds scraped through in the Champions League.
Liverpool are into the next round of the UEFA Champions League after getting past Inter over two legs. It took both legs, though – the Reds’ win in Milan saved them here.
Inter won 1-0 at Anfield, inflicting Liverpool’s first home defeat in over a year. They were helped, in all honesty, by a ‘slapstick’ attacking performance from the hosts, as Jurgen Klopp put it.
This wasn’t Liverpool at their best – far from it. They struggled to control Inter in key areas and while Liverpool still created chances, this game could have gone the other way.
A large part of that, as we see it, is the decision to play Diogo Jota centrally for Liverpool. The forward is a world-class player, undoubtedly, but was he the right man for the job here?
Diogo Jota up top for Liverpool
The Reds have a sensational record in Europe under Klopp. They’ve made two Champions League finals, after all, and always make the quarter-finals. A huge part of that is the front-three of Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mané and Mohamed Salah.
These three aren’t just great players but they mesh together beautifully. Firmino, as the centre-forward, moves around to find space and operates as a False 9. He picks the ball up deep, adding another centre-midfielder that usually overwhelms opposition midfielders. After all, it’s like having a fourth player there.
As a result, Liverpool control games very well in Europe. That might be in possession, it could be on the counter-attack. Either way, Firmino adds that extra man in midfield that makes build-up play far easier.
Jota doesn’t do that, however. It’s something we’ve written about before and the Portugal star is a very different type of forward. Like Mané and Salah, he wants to get in behind and threaten, rather than drop deep and support.
Jota had only 41 touches for Liverpool in the centre-forward role on Wednesday. Compare that to Mané’s 75 against West Ham United in midweek when he played the False 9 role to perfection.
The no.20 also completed just 24 passes against Inter. That was fewer than any other Liverpool player but Luis Diaz – who only featured for 10 minutes.
It’s not a case of Liverpool not having the ball much, either. They boasted 62% of possession at Anfield but just didn’t have that same outlet through the middle.
In certain games, Jota is an extraordinary, world-class centre-forward who wins games for Liverpool. In Europe, however, where the Reds need more control through the middle, we do wonder if he’s the answer. For us, Mané and Firmino should still be the go-to options.
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