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There are many ways to create a scoring opportunity, none of which can be definitively said to be right or wrong, especially if the ball ends up at the back of the net.
However, it seems that the cross is the black sheep of the attacking soccer family. If a team suffers a poor result and has tried a large number of crosses, you can be sure that it will be mentioned in the post-match reports and in the discussion afterwards.
It’s probably all due to when David Moyes’ Manchester United tried 82 barely credible crosses in a 2-2 draw with Fulham in 2014. But Liverpool had experienced the problems that strategy can bring back in 2011/12, when a team Reds designed by Damien Comolli and directed by Kenny Dalglish focused on the crossover with very limited success.
Times have certainly changed at Anfield in recent years, and deliveries from wide areas are now a key component of Liverpool’s arsenal. Twenty of the Reds’ goals in their Premier League title-winning campaign were assisted by crosses, which was the most in the division that season (according to WhoScored). First-choice wingers accounted for 16 of them, with Trent Alexander-Arnold’s 10 being the most of any player in the top flight.
There were some massive goals there too. Fourteen of Liverpool’s league victories included at least one goal assisted through a cross. Both goals in the 2-1 wins over Aston Villa and Brighton came that way, as did the crucial goals against Manchester clubs and the goals at home and away against Arsenal and Chelsea.
At first glance, nothing has changed much this season. The Reds have six cross assists in the league after about a third of the season has passed, and six of their last eight goals at Anfield have been created from crosses (if we include the two own goals that were set up from that way).
But the problem is that coherence no longer exists. Assists are based on the player’s shot at the end of the cross, and the opposing goalkeeper obviously has something to say about it as well. Just ask Stewart Downing, who is famous for receiving no assists in his debut campaign at Liverpool despite creating more clear chances than any other red that season (and mostly from crossovers as well).
Jürgen Klopp’s side could have created seven scoring chances (plus an own goal) from crosses in their recent 3-0 win over Leicester, but have failed to configure anything that way in four of their last six league games. And while Alexander-Arnold has missed games through injury recently, he played 221 minutes in those four games in which no center gave Liverpool a chance.
For context, they only remained without crossover opportunities in four league games in all of 2019/20. And while they came nowhere near probing the depths against Fulham that United made nearly seven years ago, the 34 crosses Liverpool attempted at Craven Cottage are the most they have thrown without a chance since the start of last season.
They are just six fewer than the total for games with West Ham, Manchester City and Brighton, in which they also failed to establish a shot at a center. However, Fulham deserves credit for their involvement in this, as they defended well.
Scott Parker’s team blocked five crosses (14.7 percent of the Reds’ total) when only 18 of 215 (8.4 percent) were shut down by rival teams in the first 11 league games in 2020/21.
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Antonee Robinson’s efforts deserve a mention here, as he blocked three by Neco Williams in the final four minutes of the game as the Reds desperately sought a winning goal. Williams doesn’t have the Alexander-Arnold crossover prowess, of course, but Robinson wasn’t disappointed when asked.
Maybe this is just one of those random spells that happen to a team from time to time. However, with Liverpool scrambling for away victories, the fact that they haven’t yet assisted a goal from a cross away from Anfield in 2020/21, when they did so 10 times last season, clearly doesn’t help.
The proportion of crosses in the league leading to opportunities has dropped from 11.8 percent last season to 10.6 this season, so getting back into form in this aspect of the game could prove hugely beneficial in upcoming matches.
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