"Dance with who brung ya" isn't a universal truth, as Liverpool found out Sunday during the Carabao Cup final, when Newcastle ran over, around, and through them for 90 minutes. Arne Slot's dedication, or stubbornness depending on your mood, to stick with the lineup that got them a 12-point lead in the Premier League is understandable. It just may have cost them a chance at any other trophy.
Newcastle were able to do a lot of what PSG did. Press Liverpool's midfield constantly, force them to go long, win the second balls. It takes a lot of energy, or at least more energy than Liverpool's midfield can exhibit. Thankfully for Newcastle, Liverpool's midfield didn't have any energy. When they were feeling spritely earlier in the season, Liverpool were fine to pass the ball into tight spaces in midfield and work their way out of it. On Sunday, their midfield couldn't even move into spots where their defenders would consider even trying it and instead opted for punting it up to Diogo Jota, who might not look totally out of place in The Shire.
Most of the focus for Liverpool's mononucleosis performance on Sunday will be about the exhausting, drag-em-out Champions League tie with PSG, which got an extra 30 minutes tacked onto it at the end. Or the emotional deflation of losing on penalties. That's a facet, but the post-mortem should probably go just a little further into the past.
Liverpool is worn down to a nub
In February, Liverpool faced five games in 15 days that would determine their fate in the league. They came out of it with a 15-point gap to Arsenal, so it was obviously successful. But it sowed what was to come in March in the other competitions.
Over those five games, Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister, and Dominik Szoboszlai started all of them. Curtis Jones came in at times, but only to play alongside that three instead of giving one of them a rest. Those three started both legs against PSG, too. Ibrahima Konate and Virgil van Dijk started and played all five of those February games as well. So did Mo Salah. So did Andy Robertson, save the last one against Newcastle at Anfield. Luis Diaz started four of the five.
Which only added to the burden that midfield has been carrying. So much of Liverpool's attacking verve this season has been based on Gravenberch being able to wriggle out of tight spots and spring Liverpool into open areas behind an opponent's press. Gravenberch played 1,589 minutes in all competitions last season. He played 906 the season before that with Munich. He's already played 3,507 so far this season. That's an impossible jump to negotiate without showing the effects, especially in a new position. Any wonder he's lost some starch?
Liverpool's transfer policy allows them to hit on a higher percentage than most clubs, but their laser focus on "our guy or no one" occasionally leaves them short. They wanted Martin Zubimendi, he decided to stay at Sociedad, and no one else fit their criteria so they didn't force it. Gravenberch in the #6 spot has been a revelation, but the question has always been what would Liverpool do if he got hurt or lost form? The answer appears to be nothing.
Other positions had alternatives, though. Curtis Jones has been asked to spell all three midfield spots, keeping the main three in the lineup more often. Harvey Elliot was good enough to play 1,600 and 1,300 minutes in the Premier League for Jurgen Klopp the past two seasons, but he's only good enough to play 128 for Arne Slot? Something is off there. We all marvel at Mo Salah's ability to play every game, and most of them in dominant fashion, but does that mean he should? Same for van Dijk. Luis Diaz's rest from the left wing was to play through the middle. Szoboszlai has already played as many minutes this season as he did last, and it's the middle of March.
Slot would point to his alternatives not being good enough. There is something to that. Diogo Jota just can't stay fit. Darwin Nunez has been the most Darwin Nunez. Federico Chiesa kept having body parts fall off of him in training.
But that doesn't absolve Slot for some short-sightedness in his squad. Wataru Endo has been used as a last-minute closer in tight games, but certainly could have taken a couple hundred minutes off Gravenberch's legs at various points. Elliot could have spelled Szoboszlai. Chiesa is only a season removed from 11 goal-contributions for Juventus. He's not a total clod. Nunez hasn't started three matches in a row, nor even two in a row since the first week of December. Not exactly conducive to finding a rhythm.
On the plus side, after this international break, Liverpool will only have to play twice in a week once. That's right out of it, where they'll host Everton on a Wednesday and then travel to Fulham the following weekend. From there, it'll just be once a week as they close in on the league title. As flagging as they've been, they should be able to manage that. Should, he says as a more-nervous-than-he-should-be Liverpool supporter.
"Only the league title" is pretty silly, especially when Liverpool could win it for only the second time in 35 years and Man City have been sitting on it for six of the past seven years. It's the toughest league in the world by some distance. Slot will always be able to point to that. Going forward though, Liverpool need to figure out if it's his stinginess in doling out minutes to the rest of the squad, or the composition of that squad, that kept them from collecting multiple trophies.