Liverpool's Midfield Struggles in Draw Against Fulham
Andoni Iraola did not hide behind the scoreline.
After Liverpool’s flat 0-0 draw with Fulham at Anfield, the head coach went straight for the heart of the problem: his midfield press simply did not work for long stretches of the game.
Liverpool’s press goes missing
Against a Fulham side that arrived without a single point from their first three Premier League matches, Liverpool laboured. The usual intensity was missing. The rhythm never really came.
Dominik Szoboszlai and Ryan Gravenberch started as the central pairing, but the gaps around them were glaring in the first half. Fulham repeatedly found space to play, drawing groans and then open irritation from the home crowd as Liverpool’s attempts to squeeze the pitch fell apart.
“Especially in the first half, we were arriving late for the presses, that is clear,” Iraola admitted. The players knew it. The stands felt it.
Fulham took advantage. They carried the greater threat before the break, forcing Liverpool into rushed clearances and nervy moments in their own box. Jeremy Jacquet had to bail his side out with a goalline clearance from Gonzalo Garcia, while Victor Munoz produced Liverpool’s best effort at the other end.
It was nowhere near enough for a side expected to dominate.
Second-half control, but no cutting edge
The pattern shifted after the interval. Liverpool tightened up, the distances between lines shrank, and Fulham’s freedom disappeared.
“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.”
The control, though, did not translate into clear chances. Liverpool probed, pushed, and pinned Fulham back more consistently, yet the final ball and the decisive run never quite came together.
“Even without scoring the goal, I was feeling more comfortable,” Iraola explained. “Even if we haven’t been incredible, and it was a struggle sometimes, we haven’t conceded clear chances. The one we conceded was the one where we messed up the goal kick and that is the only clear chance we conceded.”
The clean sheet became the consolation. Liverpool’s best looks came from dead balls rather than flowing moves. They rattled the crossbar from a set piece and carved out one opening for Alex in the second half, but Iraola was blunt about its quality: “Not a clear enough one that can score the goal you need in these kind of games when you are not playing well.”
The stalemate felt less like a point gained and more like two dropped in a season where margins at the top are unforgiving.
Midfield choices under the microscope
With Liverpool searching for control and invention, Iraola turned to Alexis Mac Allister midway through the second half, replacing Gravenberch to reshape the midfield. The Argentine offered a different profile, but the breakthrough still refused to come.
On the bench, Wataru Endo and Trey Nyoni watched the full 90 minutes unfold without being called. For Endo in particular, the wait goes on. He has yet to play a minute this season.
That may soon change.
Endo is expected to come into contention for Tuesday’s League Cup tie against Tottenham Hotspur, a match in which Iraola is likely to rotate heavily and test the depth of his squad.
“Wata lost quite a lot of the pre-season. He is still not at his best but he is training very well,” the Liverpool boss said. The issue, as he sees it, is not quality but congestion.
“The problem is in front of him in his position I have a lot of players. He is competing against a lot of players.
“We are giving minutes to Trey, Ryan, Alexis and Dom, players that I am selecting right now. But Wata is definitely a player that I like and for sure he will have his moments.”
Those moments may need to come quickly. A Liverpool side that failed to break down a struggling Fulham at Anfield will not be allowed many more off-days if it wants to stay in the title conversation.
