All Pep Guardiola’s fault? Liverpool go top of the Premier League with narrow Wolves win: “It’s got to stop” | OneFootball

Wolves fans were frustrated as they watched their team lose 2-1 to Liverpool in the Premier League.

Gary O’Neil’s side wouldn’t have gone into their game against Liverpool expecting to win. They’re yet to win in the league this season and have lost more Premier League games against Liverpool than they have vs any other opponent.

At the same time, Liverpool had kept a clean sheet in 65% of their Premier League games against Wolves. Only Chelsea against Middlesbrough (67%) have a better rate of any side to have faced another at least 20 times in Premier League history.

But the manner of the defeat was scathing. Or at least Wolves’ performance when 2-1 down.

With the game in the dying stages, Wolves had a lot of possession as Liverpool were happy to soak up the pressure and look for the counter attack. But, there were moments when Wolves were just passing it among themselves around the back. You could have been forgiven for thinking they were the team trying to hold onto the lead.

“We always blame it on Pep [Guardiola] but Pep’s teams can do it,” said Gary Neville on commentary. “But we’re now watching teams at the bottom end of the table playing six passes between the centre-back and goalkeeper while needing a goal and I can’t accept that.

“And it’s not just a criticism of Wolves. There’s plenty of teams doing it. It’s got to stop.”

Overall, Wolves attempted 418 passes with their 44.4% possession against Liverpool, completing 351. One of the sustained periods of possession came in the 85th and 86th minute when Wolves should have been going gung ho.

During those two minutes, Wolves completed 20 passes but only one went into the opposition half. To make it even worse, just nine went forwards. Remember, this is a team trailing 2-1.

Compiling the misery, O’Neil tried to shake things up by bringing Hwang Hee-chan on in the 68th minute. But during his time on the pitch, the South Korean had just four touches. That’s a touch every five-and-a-half minutes. For a striker. When his team needed a goal.

This subject was in the news earlier this week when former USA goalkeeper Tim Howard accused Pep Guardiola of “ruining football” through his influential brand of passing football.

Asked what advice he would give new USMNT manager Mauricio Pochettino, Howard said, “You look back at my generation and we were just a bunch of tough, rugged guys, we had a couple of match-winners.

“Not everybody can do it. Three teams in the world can do it really well and so I think you have to be resolute at times.

“I think what happened was, in all ways, Pep Guardiola has ruined football. Pep Guardiola has taught everybody that they can play expansive football. They can’t.

“Not everybody can do it. Three teams in the world can do it really well and so I think you have to be resolute at times.”

One player who with every passing game looks more like the archetypal Pep Guardiola player is Ryan Gravenberch. Liverpool’s holding midfielder played the second-most passes into the final third (19), completed 91.9% of his passes and played more successful line-breaking balls than anyone (4). He also made the most tackles (3) and won all eight of his duels.

The Dutch midfielder had a slow start to life as a Liverpool player, struggling to really get a consistent run of starts under Jurgen Klopp. Not that it was the German’s fault, as Gravenberch revealed recently.

“The Premier League is quicker than German football,” Gravenberch told Liverpool’s Walk On eMagazine.

“It is more intense, both when you are in possession and when you are pressing.

“Counter-attacks are at speed and I think you get more time on the ball when you are in possession in the Bundesliga. You have to adapt here, but how quickly you adapt depends.

“Every player is different and, to be honest, I like a period to adapt. I wasn’t used to the Prem, of course, and I didn’t play a lot of football before I came here, but I had the time to adapt and I really needed it.

“It can take time to build relationships on the pitch and what I said, every player is different. I think if you train a lot with your teammates you adapt to them quicker, and adapt to the league quicker.”

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