Liverpool’s 4-3-3 formation, with a front three of Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mané and Phillipe Coutinho, ahead of a midfield three made up of three of Jordan Henderson, Emre Can, Adam Lallana and Georginio Wijnaldum, has been their default this season.

This tactic has worked extraordinarily well against the top sides, and as a result, Liverpool have picked up five wins and five draws from their ten games against the members of the 'big six' this season.

However, on the other hand, all five of Liverpool’s defeats have come against teams outside the Premier League’s top half and they’ve won just one of their five games against teams in the bottom half in 2017: their recent 2-1 win over Burnley.

And given that after their Merseyside Derby on 1st April, all eight of Liverpool’s remaining games are against teams outside the European places, should they change this formation in order to get the results needed to finish in the top four and make the Champions League?

There have been calls to go to a back three, or to shift to a 4-2-3-1, but the other option is to stick with a 4-3-3 but change the personnel involved.

A back three is one of several options and it makes some sense on a logical level. It retains the same basic shape and structure of the 4-3-3 but pushes Nathaniel Clyne and James Milner up into wing-back roles. It sacrifices a central midfielder in order to solidify the defence, and Liverpool's has been increasingly ropey since Christmas.

However, this is not a solution that would work, as Liverpool’s personnel issues prevent it from working. It would not solve the basic problems with Liverpool’s attacking threat against lesser teams, and moreover, Liverpool simply don’t have the defensive players for a back three.

At the moment, Liverpool barely have two central defenders good enough to start for the club, so playing three of them wouldn’t solve that particular issue, although it might help structurally.

The other main issue is that changing Liverpool’s team too drastically would undermine the chemistry and system that Jürgen Klopp has worked hard to build.

Should Klopp consider reverting to his famed Dortmund system?

The 4-2-3-1 is a more logical shift, given that Liverpool utilised it last season, and that Klopp has made it fit his own system at Borussia Dortmund. Moreover, if Liverpool were to play Henderson and Can together in defensive midfield, then that would certainly shore up the defensive issues that are currently plaguing the side.

However, the difference between the 4-3-3 and the 4-2-3-1 is negligible depending on what players are playing in each system. If Klopp doesn’t change his personnel significantly then the difference between a 4-2-3-1 and a 4-3-3 doesn’t matter.

If Klopp continues with Firmino up front in the one, and then three of Lallana, Wijnaldum, Can and Henderson behind him, then very little will change.

Of course, one solution would be to play Firmino in the hole, but given Liverpool’s current lack of striking options, only Divock Origi can play in the striker role, and that would require dropping then two of the midfielders, probably Lallana and Wijnaldum given that neither really plays as a defensive midfielder.

On the other hand, perhaps the simpler answer is just to drop players who haven’t been performing well in 2017.

Whilst that may appear to be most of them, both Can and Wijnaldum have been exceptional in recent weeks and Firmino has not played well enough in 2017 to justify changing a system to shoehorn him in the side, when the simpler solution to Liverpool’s goalscoring situation is to play a striker up front and drop him entirely (or perhaps drop the poorly-performing Philippe Coutinho and play Firmino off the left).

Nevertheless, the issue remains that it’s not the system that needs changing, but either the tactics within it: since both Liverpool’s defensive system and their offensive tactics have struggled in 2017, or the personnel playing it.

If Liverpool continue to play the high-press against teams that can easily bypass it, and play a high defensive line with players that cannot defend in that way, and if they continue to play midfielders and attackers who can only play in that same certain way, then things aren’t going to change, even if they switch to a 4-2-3-1 or any other system.

VAVEL Logo
About the author
Tom Holmes
Liverpool fan and writer for AnfieldHQ. Part of the Student Radio Award winning RaW Sport team at Warwick University. FPL enthusiast.