Liverpool's heavy metal football is now lofi hip hop

The nights in the mosh pit are over for ageing Liverpool.

Seven years on from the declaration that Liverpool would be moulded in a symphony of heavy metal football, the playlist has been changed to something more akin to lofi hip hop, nice to listen to in a certain time and place, when you need to wind down perhaps after a stressful day, but completely the wrong genre to gee you up while labouring to yet another defeat.

That feels like Liverpool heading into 2023. Winding down on the wild nights in the mosh pit in favour of coffee shop music. Soft, inoffensive and leisurely and lacking any of the punch Jurgen Klopp had instilled into the team from very early on in his tenure.

To see a Klopp Liverpool lack fight is a major death knell to the heavy metal football that carried them to so much success over the past few years, going toe-to-toe with Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City in often remarkable fashion. It was the banner under which all of their success flourished—a style of play and a never-say-die hunger that made them impossible to deal with, blowing away opponents in a tornado of lung-bursting pressing, razor sharp attacking and casual domination in defence, with a seemingly unbeatable Virgil van Dijk.

In its current incarnation, Liverpool have moved away from that identity and look a shell of their former selves.

Good things must come to an end and as Liverpool quickly aged, seemingly becoming one of the oldest squads in the Premier League overnight, the transition into the future appears to have been massively mistimed and misplaced.

Klopp and company clearly place a lot of value on attack and having a hoard of options to carry the load. Diogo Jota, Luis Diaz and more recently, Cody Gakpo have all been exciting and unexpected additions to the forward line. Jota and Diaz can be deemed successes, injuries aside, while Gakpo is generally seen as an excellent deal at the price off the back of a pretty impressive World Cup campaign for the Netherlands.

The Darwin Nunez transfer marked probably the biggest change in dimension in Klopp’s entire time in charge at Anfield. An old-fashioned number 9, the Uruguayan has shown elements of world class forward play, but a frustrating lack of consistency in chance taking to the delight of much of Football Twitter.

While the addition of Nunez may have been phase one in any transformation, phase two and three have been painfully slow and generally non-existent. The midfield area has become geriatric, with Jordan Henderson notably slowing down while Thiago and Harvey Elliott lack the physical tools to adequately cover all the tasks a Klopp midfield demands, all the while Fabinho sheepishly attempts to keep everyone together like a ventriloquist.

It has become quenched of new arrivals, the last remaining survivors wasting away on a remote island waiting for help to come from above.

The focus—and fury from certain corners of the fanbase—on the midfield has been radioactive and the post-World Cup games have been the biggest sign yet that whatever Klopp is trying with this personnel, it isn’t working. Elliott in particular has attracted a lot of criticism, in a role he looks misplaced for despite Klopp’s best efforts to commit to the selection.

If Liverpool don’t add a midfielder this month it will go down like a lead balloon amongst fans and strengthen the resolve of the FSG-out brigade, who lay everything at the door of the owners for not being more proactive in the market.

With Enzo Fernandez on an on-again, off-again flirtation with Chelsea, there is one massive Jude Bellingham shaped expectation heading into next summer in a myriad of competition from other buyers.

The lack of investment in the midfield has been strange, especially when you consider how quick they have been to pull the trigger on attackers. A number of options tend to come and go, while players like Matheus Nunes and Moises Caicedo make up popular gossip column fodder. Unless Klopp is back to not settling for anyone below first choice, likely the aforementioned Bellingham, and that they won’t waste money and settle, then the inactivity is inexcusable.

The most inexplicable decision dates back to not replacing Gini Wijnaldum in 2021, when he left for PSG. Although he was coming up in age, Liverpool seemed resigned to letting him go, but didn’t attempt to replace a near ever-present nor the legs and athleticism he offered. Thiago did arrive, but his injury issues were well ear-marked and he was obviously not a like-for-like replacement.

With the midfield in disarray, the defense has become the football equivalent of Sideshow Bob stepping on rakes. Although Ibrahima Konate was a strong addition to reinforcements, van Dijk hasn’t been the same since his knee injury, losing a lot of the unbeatable lustre we were used to. His new injury will add extra strain on the defence, but might at least offer Klopp to experiment with a pacey pairing of Joe Gomez and Konate.

The strange reports to emerge this week seeking to blame Pep Lijnders for… something… were just that, strange. Him having influence on the training pitch isn’t anything new, whilst any influence he has in the ear of Klopp in regards to transfers seems incredible overblown. I highly doubt he’s holding a gun to his boss to make certain additions, and is most certainly not at fault for failing to add a single midfielder. The evidence on the pitch, with a worrying lack of leadership and drive as legs tire, isn’t exactly something Lijnders should the scapegoat for.

It may speak to some discontent somewhere in the background, with key figures in the recruitment division leaving and the product on the field suffering this season, but it goes to show how quickly things can sour just months after an unprecedented quadruple was still alive in May.

But last season did feel like an emptying of the tank and not stopping to replenish that in key areas is now coming home to roost. Luckily for Liverpool, there is time to dip into the market—although clubs will smell the desperation for midfield blood a mile away—and a half-season to get their top four plans on track, not to mention a knockout Champions League tie with Real Madrid to keep their European hopes alive.