Jurgen Klopp’s substitutes are making all the difference for Liverpool this season as they proved influential once again in the 2-1 win over Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Saturday.
Klopp has made the most changes out of any manager in the Premier League this season, 138 in all competitions, and the German’s decision to tweak his team in the second half against Palace proved decisive once again.
Jarell Quansah, who was put alongside Virgil Van Dijk from the start at Selhurst, was flawless up until he clipped Jean-Philippe Mateta inside the area. The Frenchman converted to put Palace ahead and in doing so meant it was the 11th time in all competitions that Liverpool have conceded first.
Quansah was replaced by Ibrahima Konate in order to keep everyone fresh for the pile-on of fixtures in December which Klopp labelled as “super intense”.
Wataru Endo, who was smothered by Palace’s high press in the first half, was hooked at half-time for Joe Gomez, who moved to right back which in turn allowed Trent Alexnder-Arnold to move further into midfield and thus give Liverpool more control.
Embed from Getty ImagesGomez was immense after being introduced and combined with fellow substitute Cody Gakpo- who replaced the lacklustre Ryan Gravenberch- to set up Mohamed Salah for his 200th goal in English football.
Curtis Jones, who replaced Dominik Szoboszlai, got the assist for Salah’s historic equaliser as he latched onto Gakpo’s cross and just about squared the ball for the Egyptian to prod home.
Liverpool’s final substitution of the day, and their most significant one, was Harvey Elliot. Coming on for the ineffective Darwin Nunez, Elliot immediately went about dragging Liverpool from the trench they found themselves in.
As the board went up for 10 minutes additional time, Elliot stepped inside Mateta and arrowed a fierce effort that beat substitute keeper Remi Matthews at his near post.
With these impactful displays from the bench comes the question as to whether some of these players should be arguing for a starting position, in particular Elliot. The youngster who was signed from Fulham in 2020 has now made significant contributions from the bench in games against Everton, Aston Villa, Wolves and now Crystal Palace.
Embed from Getty ImagesJoe Gomez will be wondering if he can staple down a place at right-back given his impressive displays there this season and the benefits it offers to Alexander-Arnold who can stick to playing in midfield.
Cody Gakpo will be thinking the same about a midfield role, as his contribution in 15 minutes from the right side of midfield was significantly more than that of Gravenberch’s. The versatile Dutchman has been searching for his best position all season and perhaps it could be alongside Szoboszlai.
This is certainly not a troublesome situation for Klopp to be in, who now has various approaches both in terms of personnel and tactical switches that he can deploy from the bench.
Having options and instilling a healthy rotation within the squad is a hallmark of any team that wins titles. Klopp has leaned on it all season- just look at Darwin Nunez’s brace off the bench against Newcastle, Ryan Gravenberch’s fine display against Manchester City two weeks ago or even Endo’s stunning equaliser in that 4-3 comeback win against Fulham.
Klopp has rotated regularly – using 70 of the possible 80 substitutions available to him this season in the Premier League- and will continue to do so as Liverpool look to head into Christmas top of the pile.
