Liverpool's Pressing Issues Against Fulham: A Tactical Analysis

Andoni Iraola did not hide behind the scoreline. A 0-0 at Anfield, on paper, looks solid. In reality, Liverpool’s manager saw a midfield pressing game that simply wasn’t there for long stretches against a Fulham side that arrived with no points and left with far too much comfort.

The Premier League stalemate on Saturday felt flat from the first whistle. Liverpool laboured, Fulham grew in belief, and Anfield’s frustration grew louder with every loose press and mis-timed trigger.

Pressing problem at the heart of Liverpool’s display

Iraola went straight to the core issue: the midfield.

“Especially in the first half, we were arriving late for the presses, that is clear,” he admitted. Liverpool had started with Dominik Szoboszlai and Ryan Gravenberch as the central pairing, but the structure without the ball never really convinced. Fulham found pockets. The gaps between lines were obvious. The crowd could see it, and so could the manager.

The warning signs were there early. Victor Munoz produced Liverpool’s best moment, but it was Fulham who carved out the clearer chances before the break. Jeremy Jacquet was forced into a goalline clearance to deny Gonzalo Garcia, a reminder that the visitors were not just there to survive.

The press was late, the distances were wrong, and Fulham played through it.

Iraola, though, felt the second half told a different story.

“I think we improved this part a lot in the second half. We have been better structured and we controlled better the game in the second half,” he said. “Even without scoring the goal, I was feeling more comfortable.”

Liverpool did tighten up. The spaces closed, the counter-press bit a little more, and Fulham’s threat faded. It was still far from the high-octane, suffocating pressure Iraola wants as a trademark, but it at least resembled a plan.

Chances from scraps, not from flow

The irony for Liverpool was that when chances did come, they arrived from dead balls rather than from the aggressive, front-foot football Iraola demands.

“The one we conceded was the one where we messed up the goal kick and that is the only clear chance we conceded,” he said of Fulham’s big opportunity. “From there we have defended quite well in terms of keeping a clean sheet.”

At the other end, Liverpool’s threat was sporadic. The manager pointed to set-pieces as the main source of danger.

“We had probably our best chances coming from set plays, hitting the crossbar, and one chance from Alex in the second half,” he said, referring to Alexis Mac Allister. “But not a clear enough one that can score the goal you need in these kind of games when you are not playing well.”

That line cut to the heart of it. When the system misfires, you need someone to grab the game, to turn half-chances into something more. Liverpool never quite found that edge.

Mac Allister replaced Gravenberch midway through the second half, an attempt to bring more control and incision. It helped Liverpool steady the game, but it didn’t transform it.

Endo waiting in the wings

While Iraola tinkered with his midfield on the pitch, two other options stayed rooted to the bench: Wataru Endo and Trey Nyoni. Both watched the full 90 minutes, unused.

Endo, in particular, is a curious case. He has yet to play a single minute this season, but his manager moved quickly to explain why.

“Wata lost quite a lot of the pre-season. He is still not at his best but he is training very well,” Iraola said. The issue, he made clear, is not about trust, but competition.

“The problem is in front of him in his position I have a lot of players. He is competing against a lot of players.”

Right now, the minutes are going to others.

“We are giving minutes to Trey, Ryan, Alexis and Dom, players that I am selecting right now,” Iraola added. “But Wata is definitely a player that I like and for sure he will have his moments.”

Those moments may come quickly. Liverpool host Tottenham Hotspur in the League Cup on Tuesday, a tie almost certain to bring heavy rotation. Endo is firmly in line for a role there, a chance to push his way back into the conversation in a midfield that still looks like a work in progress.

Liverpool escaped with a clean sheet. They did not escape the questions. The next 90 minutes, in a different competition, may start to tell whether this was just an early-season misfire or a warning about deeper issues in Iraola’s pressing machine.