Liverpool have a pace problem and Klopp’s ‘high-speed’ idea may be the only way to fix it

Add as preferred source on Google

A ‘high-speed’ attack, as Jurgen Klopp puts it, could be the only way to fix Liverpool’s pace problem. The Reds have to try something.

It’s clear right now that Liverpool have a problem with pace in their side – or rather, their lack of pace. Saturday made it evident as Darwin Nunez missed the game, leaving Mohamed Salah as the only genuinely quick player in Liverpool’s team.

That’s very un-Jurgen Klopp. His teams have been built on incredible pace, particularly in attack, as he looks to counter quickly. Close down quickly, win the ball back early, hit the space with pace.

Klopp’s first major signing was all about that – Sadio Mané. Just one player wasn’t quite enough, however, and he brought in Salah for the other flank. A Liverpool attack was born – one that worked beautifully. Roberto Firmino operated as a playmaker who created space for the other two forwards. Mané and Salah then ran in behind, hitting the channels and offering constant out-balls over the top.

Liverpool not only had pace but their attackers fit together perfectly. In effect, that’s what made the Reds so dangerous over the last few years.

Right now, however, there’s a lack of pace in the team. Both Diogo Jota and Luis Diaz – who each offer plenty – are out until after the World Cup. Mané has left completely, of course, and it leaves Salah and Nunez as the only quick players.

None of the Reds’ midfielders are particularly fast, while the full-backs aren’t pacey, either. There’s one more problem, too.

Liverpool’s pace problem

Mané and Salah were perfect together. They played on opposite flanks, in their natural positions, and Firmino was their perfect striker.

Nunez and Salah don’t have that relationship. In fact, we’re yet to see them both play well in a game together as when Nunez is central, Salah is stuck out wide and isolated. It means that even when both are in the side, we’re only really seeing one of them attack.

Once again, there’s a lack of pace.

But the 4-4-2 formation offers a fix and Klopp hinted at it recently. Liverpool can use the pairing as a front-two, particularly as their wide players aren’t offering much speed as it is. With Harvey Elliott and Fabio Carvalho wide – and playing well – the Reds can’t rely on pace out wide. It’s extra incentive to overload elsewhere.

Centrally, Liverpool could be blistering, and Klopp feels it might be possible. He says it’s something they’ve thought about as a ‘high-speed’ duo.

We see it as the only way they’ll get the full effects of Nunez and Salah simultaneously. Get them both offering a threat as a pairing, like Mané and Salah once did, and the Reds can see the return of their greatest threat.