Liverpool's Press Fails in Stalemate Against Fulham
Anfield expected a reaction. It got a stalemate.
Liverpool were booed off after a flat 0-0 draw with Fulham on Saturday, a game that never really caught fire and left Andoni Iraola pointing straight at one problem: the press.
The visitors arrived on Merseyside without a single point from their opening three Premier League matches. They left with a clean sheet, a share of the spoils and the better first-half chances, as Liverpool’s midfield screen repeatedly arrived a step too late.
Pressing problems and a porous midfield
Iraola did not sugar-coat it.
“Especially in the first half, we were arriving late for the presses, that is clear,” the Liverpool boss admitted.
The evidence was out there. Dominik Szoboszlai and Ryan Gravenberch started as the midfield pairing but the spaces around them kept opening up, drawing groans from an increasingly restless home crowd.
Fulham sensed it. Gonzalo Garcia almost punished a sloppy moment when Jeremy Jacquet had to hack his effort off the line after a scramble, the clearest chance of a first half that belonged to the away side in terms of threat.
At the other end, Liverpool rarely stitched together anything convincing. Victor Munoz came closest, but even that felt more like a half-opening than a moment that should have changed the scoreline.
The patterns were wrong. The distances were off. Liverpool’s press, usually the trigger for everything they do, simply didn’t bite.
Second-half control, same end result
After the break, the tone shifted slightly. Liverpool tightened their shape, the press finally snapping into place more often, and Fulham were pushed deeper.
“I think we improved this part a lot in the second half,” Iraola said. “We have been better structured and we controlled better the game in the second half.”
Control, though, did not translate into clear chances. Iraola acknowledged that while his team “haven't been incredible, and it was a struggle sometimes,” they at least stopped giving up big opportunities.
The one exception came from Liverpool’s own carelessness.
“The one we conceded was the one where we messed up the goal kick and that is the only clear chance we conceded,” Iraola noted, clinging to the clean sheet as one of the few positives on a frustrating afternoon.
Liverpool’s threat came mostly from dead balls. A set-piece rattled the crossbar and there was a half-chance for Alex in the second period, but nothing with the conviction you expect in these tight, scrappy home games that title-chasing sides normally find a way to win.
“We had probably our best chances coming from set plays, hitting the crossbar, and one chance from Alex in the second half,” Iraola said. “But not a clear enough one that can score the goal you need in these kind of games when you are not playing well.”
Midfield competition and Endo’s wait
The search for control in midfield prompted a change. Alexis Mac Allister replaced Gravenberch midway through the second half, adding a little more composure on the ball, but it still wasn’t enough to crack Fulham open.
On the bench, Wataru Endo and Trey Nyoni stayed seated, watching a game that seemed to cry out for fresh legs and a different rhythm in the middle of the pitch.
Endo is still waiting for his first appearance of the season, his path blocked by the crowd of options in front of him. That could change this week. With Tottenham Hotspur visiting Anfield in the League Cup on Tuesday, Iraola is expected to rotate heavily, and the Japan international is edging closer to his chance.
“Wata lost quite a lot of the pre-season. He is still not at his best but he is training very well,” Iraola explained. “The problem is in front of him in his position I have a lot of players. He is competing against a lot of players.”
For now, the minutes are going to others.
“We are giving minutes to Trey, Ryan, Alexis and Dom, players that I am selecting right now,” Iraola said. “But Wata is definitely a player that I like and for sure he will have his moments.”
Those moments may need to come quickly. If Liverpool’s press continues to splutter and their midfield remains this easy to play through, Iraola will be forced to lean on every option he has. The question now is whether this goalless jolt at Anfield is a one-off, or the first warning sign of deeper issues in Liverpool’s engine room.
