So that's what happens when you don't have a full midfield plan. In both teams. End-to-end, sometimes punctuated and sometimes uninterrupted, but in any case, when one side attacked, it always reached the last third, which presented some potential for danger.
Perhaps Mauricio Pochettino and Jurgen Klopp are content not to lose their season opener, perhaps both will feel they can win the upcoming battle off the pitch even if they didn't make it across the finish line. From what we've seen at Stamford Bridge, in the long run it's the more important confrontation to win and the one that can bring the most points as the season progresses: getting the right defender to tackle that technical Add much-needed stability to problems , fast sites.
Chelsea and Liverpool both appear to want the same two players, but as of this writing it remains unclear who wants which most – even if you don't factor in the back-and-forth over which target the players themselves want. What is certain is that bringing Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia into the line-up here presents a very different set of odds for whoever scores first and a very different task for one team trying to beat the other.
If you're reading this without actually seeing the game, it might make it seem like Conor Gallagher and Alexis Mac Allister performed terribly – they certainly didn't. Both were aggressive, fighting runners, making big tackles in crucial areas and passing out with flying colors from the deep.
But neither are they true defensive midfielders, nor do they have the innate, automatic and natural instincts to always be where they need to be: call it positional sense, spatial awareness or just an understanding of team tactics; Either way, both don't have it at the moment and both are better served playing elsewhere.
We can be sure that as one side counterattacked, Brighton's hierarchy looked on with an ever-widening smile. Caicedo's price will certainly not go down after the first 90 minutes of the Premier League season and Southampton too will feel perfectly justified in sticking to their assessment of Lavia.
For the Blues, Gallagher's chance to start in lower midfield came with notable follow-up considerations: he was the subject of around £40m transfer interest that month – not enough for Pochettino to consider a sale – while he also had Enzo Fernandez the opportunity to play upfield. Impressive for the most part, the Argentine was good at pushing forward in both connection play and creating chances, amassing more touches on the ball than anyone save for centre-back recycler Thiago Silva. Gallagher darted relentlessly, not in his usual box-to-box manner but sideways, frustrating Mohamed Salah in the channel or nodding the ball away from Diogo Jota.
Gallagher, 23, is still in doubt as being good enough, consistent enough and impactful enough to start regularly at Chelsea.
This game showed the desire and intent to do so, but also the certainty that all that sprinting back to perform recovery tackles was a direct result of just not being in the right position to begin with.
Mac Allister, on the other hand, started out as the Reds' newest No. 10 in a role last held by the former No. 3.
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Such is the imbalance and upside-down nature of Klopp's midfield after a total restart in the summer that the man who has been signed on to bring control and creativity out of the middle must first be used as a main defensive support – and these Liverpoolers team is really one of them Really needs his holding players to do a lot of support work.
Offensively they are excellent at times. During transitions and against direct passes or runners from deep, they remain a mess.
As Fabinho showed towards the end of last season, a good anchor can make a big difference; As he also showed, Liverpool now need a player with far more athleticism and recovery speed than the Brazilian.
Mac Allister did a good job, as did Gallagher, both in terms of distribution and the dirty work. The Argentine also has the added caveat that he's only been learning a new team and system for weeks; The Englishman, in turn, learns a new management approach.
At times, these two teams looked for what they are: enormously talented, attacking big teams that expect to win many games in ten months and finish in the top four – but especially those with gaping gaps in the plan in the middle the midfield, where so many passes, so many dribbles and so many runners could penetrate.
A draw away is not bad for Liverpool; A draw from behind is not bad for Chelsea. But the way the game was played and the associated uncertainty up to the last minute were absolutely perfect for Brighton.
