FORWARD THINKING IS KEY IN MUNICH

EVERYONE thought the absence of Virgil van Dijk would cost Liverpool defensively last night. While the makeshift centre-half pairing of Joel Matip and Fabinho kept a clean sheet — no mean feat against Bayern Munich — Liverpool missed Van Dijk’s forward thinking. Positivity from the centre backs is crucial to the way Jurgen Klopp’s team play. Van Dijk and Joe Gomez — Liverpool’s first-choice pairing — are usually effortless in possession. They are always looking to play forwards to give Liverpool the platform to build their attacks. That was not always the case last night. Matip, in particular, panicked in possession. His most frequent pass in the first half was back to Alisson, finding his goalkeeper eight times. It prevented Liverpool from getting on the front foot and striking an early blow. Bayern may not be the force they once were but they still carry the aura of champions. They were able to grow in confidence throughout the match and their forwards quickly started to anticipate that Matip would keep going backwards. When I was playing in defence for Arsenal nothing made Arsene Wenger more angry than when we passed back to David Seaman. Go forward and the opposition are deterred from pressing your goalkeeper. Go back and you only invite them on. It was understandable that Matip should be nervous on such a huge occasion but sometimes, the biggest mistake you can make is to be afraid to make one. Alisson saw plenty of the ball in those early stages but the time he dwelt on it was criminal. That put his team-mates under pressure, too. Van Dijk will return for next month’s second leg in Munich. Liverpool will need his attacking impetus as much as his Rolls-Royce defending.