For some, yesterday’s defeat to Arsenal will be taken with just a pinch of salt. For others, there will be concerns going into our first title defence.
Losing the chance of winning a trophy, for instance. There are high expectations on us now to perform week in, week out. We did not do that to the best of our ability against Arsenal yesterday, having lost the Community Shield season-opener on penalties.
Neco Williams started the right-hand side of Liverpool’s defence, stepping in for the absent Trent Alexander-Arnold who had not fully recovered from injury.
It was a difficult afternoon for him, coming up against one of the strongest attacking teams in the league. But going forward, here is what I think the Wales international can take from the Wembley loss.
Study his direct opponent more
Even though Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s goal was a wonder-strike, it still could have been prevented. How many times have we seen the Gabonese striker turn inside his defender and unleash a devastating strike past the onlooking goalkeeper?
Yesterday was another example of that and the Welshman, without being overly critical, really should have done his homework.
I accept that the £3.6m-rated prospect is still young and learning his trade in the best league in the world. But if he going to be competing with Trent Alexander-Arnold for position in the future, Williams needs to study more on who he could come up against in the next few games. Stay ahead of the competition.
Work on his strength
Again, I go back to the age factor. It’s perfectly reasonable at this point of his career to lack a bit of upper body strength. But Williams really showed that today, which resulted in him being targetted by the Arsenal attackers at times.
Will Neco Williams improve as the season progresses?
Yes
No
By all means, this is no bad thing. But this is how football works sometimes. If your opponents pick out or discover any fragile areas, they will expose you. That is what the Gunners did and fair play to them for that. The Welshman lost six out of his seven duels and was dispossessed three times, as per Fotmob. In time, Williams will develop his strength and be more imposing. Patience is key.
Crosses, crosses, crosses
As we’ve seen from the likes of Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson in recent years. Crosses from wide areas has become a key part of Klopp’s approach to games from an attacking point of view. This is why his fullbacks are effectively wingers.
Williams was getting into the right areas brilliantly. But when it came to his final ball, it was not up to par and was a big reason as to why we could not unlock the Arsenal defence. He only had three accurate acrosses (Fotmob) before being hooked in the 59th minute.
Despite this, Williams can hold his head high. He had the tough task of coming up against Aubameyang and was unfortunately second best. On another day, it could have been different. But it is a tough lesson that he will learn and take into the rest of the upcoming campaign.