Liverpool spent over £400million during the summer transfer window.
Alexander Isak arrived for £125million, Florian Wirtz signed for an initial £100million fee, Hugo Ekitike joined from Eintracht Frankfurt for £69million while the Reds revamped their full-back options, spending a combined £70million on Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong.
Giorgi Mamardashvili signed as Alisson Becker’s understudy and Giovanni Leoni replaced Jarell Quansah as the project centre-back at the club.
Despite this huge outlay though, the buzzword on Merseyside this term has been balance.
The Reds haven’t been able to strike a balance.
Arne Slot hasn’t been able to figure it out. Whatever it is. Some believe the sale of Luis Diaz is now being felt with his high energy missing in the final third for the reigning champions.
Others feel Liverpool didn’t adequately replace Trent Alexander-Arnold in the build-up phase.
The likes of Isak and Ekitike are feeding off of scraps while Mohamed Salah, fresh off his record-breaking 2024/25 season, is in, statistically speaking, the worst form of his Liverpool career.
The midfield looks unbalanced and the defence is struggling, with four clean sheets and 20 goals conceded in 13 league matches.
All of this is connected. The team isn’t balanced and that is why, generally speaking, everything is going wrong. Defensive players are struggling to defend. Those in midfield can’t control the situation. Attackers aren’t anywhere near the threat they should be.
So it is kind of ironic after the lavish spending this summer that the solution to their problems may have cost them just £3.5million.
Of course, the win over West Ham wasn’t solely down to Joe Gomez, but his inclusion in the starting XI certainly helped.
Slot made a big decision ahead of the trip to the London Stadium. The Dutch tactician opted to bench Salah, choosing to deploy Dominik Szoboszlai on the right side of the attack, and name Gomez as the right-back.
This was likely one bold decision. Szoboszlai on the right was likely a ripple effect of having Gomez at full-back as Slot searched for balance within the team.
It could’ve spectacularly backfired. A loss against West Ham with Salah on the bench would’ve heaped pressure on the former Feyenoord boss.
But the gamble paid off.
Granted, the Reds weren’t at their best going forward and finished with an expected goals total of 1.24 (xG).
But it was much more than just three points. Isak scored his first Premier League goal for the club. Wirtz had his best game for the Reds in the English top-flight.
And Liverpool limited their hosts to an xG total of just 0.29. It was their second best defensive showing this season after their 1-0 win over Burnley in September.
The two players Liverpool fans would’ve wanted to deliver did so in their own respective ways.
On top of that, Szoboszlai did a good job as a right-winger and Gomez was a revelation at right-back. It was all linked, of course.
The No8 would drop into midfield and aid the press out of possession, giving Liverpool a more solid platform. He’d also fill in at right-back when Gomez was caught high up the pitch.
Both players on the right, when in possession, held the width and this created space for Wirtz to drift and play his natural game.
With Salah in the team, the dynamic shifts.
Gomez’s injury issues likely mean he can’t be relied upon for every game, but his showing against the Hammers does give Slot a bit of a selection dilemma moving forward.
For the first time this season, things felt balanced. Liverpool have previously won games but there have been question marks over the right side and how it impacts the forward line.
The Reds played well against Aston Villa with Szoboszlai as the No10, pressing from the front. It was a game Wirtz was benched for.
It wasn’t a long-term solution.
Slot’s used a number of players at right-back this season. Frimpong, Conor Bradley, Szoboszlai, Curtis Jones and Calvin Ramsay had a go in the Carabao Cup there.
In each instance, the question wasn't: does this balance the team? But rather: does this get the best out of Salah?
Liverpool are so used to being geared towards getting the best out of the best player in the Premier League. But the summer of spending was geared towards life after Salah, and it needs to be executed while he’s here if fans are to see the best out of Isak, Wirtz and Ekitike.
This isn’t to say Salah should be benched. He won’t be. He can’t be. But he might have to sacrifice parts of his game for this team to be balanced.
And Gomez could be key to that. Though not a natural at right-back, he did fill in for Alexander-Arnold at times and it means he has the closest profile to the former No66.
This playing profile at full-back is what Salah thrived with. So that might balance things for the four-time Golden Boot winner while also ensuring Liverpool as a team look a little more balanced in general.
Gomez claimed an assist against the Hammers and played a part in the big chance for Isak that was saved. He attempted four crosses and three long balls as he looked to help Liverpool build out from the back.
If the Reds can manage his minutes, he might be the fix for all of their woes this season. The balance for Liverpool, with and without Salah in the XI.
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