Liverpool's Pressing Issues Exposed in Fulham Draw
Andoni Iraola did not hide behind the scoreline.
After Liverpool’s flat 0-0 draw with Fulham at Anfield, the head coach went straight to the heart of the problem: his midfield press simply did not function, especially before the break, and it left a restless home crowd with little to shout about.
Pressing problem at the heart of a flat display
Liverpool, up against a Fulham side that had lost all three of their opening Premier League games without taking a point, laboured through a dismal stalemate. The visitors looked the more assured outfit for long spells of the first half, exploiting the space between Liverpool’s lines as the hosts failed to snap into their usual aggressive shape.
Dominik Szoboszlai and Ryan Gravenberch formed the starting midfield pairing, but the gaps around them were glaring at times. Fulham found routes through too easily, with Liverpool’s pressing triggers either late or missing altogether, and frustration crackled around Anfield.
“Especially in the first half, we were arriving late for the presses, that is clear,” Iraola admitted. The diagnosis was blunt. The timing was off, the distances wrong, the structure loose.
Fulham sensed it. Gonzalo Garcia forced the best defensive moment of Liverpool’s first period, Jeremy Jacquet scrambling back to hook the ball off the line after the Fulham man had rounded the goalkeeper. At the other end, Victor Munoz went closest for Liverpool, but even that chance felt like an isolated flash rather than the product of sustained pressure.
Improvement after the break, but no breakthrough
The pattern shifted after the interval. Liverpool tightened up, the press finally resembling something closer to Iraola’s high-energy blueprint. The spaces narrowed, the lines moved together, and Fulham’s confidence on the ball began to ebb.
“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 took some comfort from the defensive resilience, pointing out that Fulham’s best opportunity came from Liverpool’s own mistake, a mishandled goal kick that almost gifted the visitors the opener.
“Even without scoring the goal, I was feeling more comfortable,” he said. “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.”
From open play, Fulham rarely carved Liverpool apart after the break. The home side’s best looks at goal came from dead balls. A set piece rattled the crossbar, and Alex — introduced as a second-half threat — had a decent opening that never quite rose to the level of a must-score moment.
“We had probably our best chances coming from set plays, hitting the crossbar, and one chance from Alex in the second half,” Iraola reflected. “But not a clear enough one that can score the goal you need in these kind of games when you are not playing well.”
The clean sheet offered some consolation. The performance did not.
Midfield competition and Endo’s wait
Alexis Mac Allister replaced Gravenberch midway through the second half, adding a touch more control in possession as Liverpool tried to squeeze Fulham deeper. But as the game drifted towards its goalless conclusion, two names stayed glued to the bench: Wataru Endo and Trey Nyoni.
Endo has yet to play a minute this season, a curious subplot in a midfield undergoing constant scrutiny. That could change soon. 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 an opportunity.
“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 issue is not attitude, but traffic.
“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 team that wants to press higher and harder cannot afford many more afternoons like this one, with Anfield waiting for the spark and a misfiring midfield stuck half a step behind the game.
