David Lynch Explains Liverpool’s Midfield Problems After Newcastle Draw

Liverpool’s midfield was one of the major talking points after the 2-2 draw at Newcastle United, particularly after Andoni Iraola’s side were exposed during transition.

Speaking to Dave Davis on Anfield Index’s Media Matters podcast, David Lynch argued that the debate should go beyond simply demanding a new defensive midfielder.

For Lynch, Liverpool’s problems involved decision making, structure and coaching. He accepted that another midfield profile could help, although he strongly rejected the idea that a signing alone would solve everything.

Newcastle Goals Exposed Liverpool’s Decision Making

Lynch was particularly critical of Liverpool’s failure to stop Newcastle during the build up to one of their goals.

“Someone just needs to stick a foot in there really,” he said.

His argument was that Liverpool had enough players in defensive positions, yet nobody made the necessary intervention.

“The setup was fine there,” Lynch explained. “We had the numbers, it wasn’t a problem, but it just kind of needed someone to make the intervention.”

He felt Liverpool’s players were thinking about recovering possession and launching another attack rather than recognising the immediate danger.

“We have to stop this happening right now because this could be really dangerous,” Lynch said.

For Lynch, that kind of mistake should be coachable.

“I really do think that is a fixable one and I actually think the first one is fixable as well,” he added.

Lynch Pushes Back on Defensive Midfielder Debate

Much of the wider reaction has centred on whether Liverpool need a specialist defensive midfielder.

Lynch acknowledged the argument, although he believes too much responsibility is being placed on recruitment.

“The defensive midfield thing has been such an issue, such a kind of obsession online now for such a long period of time,” he said.

Lynch even joked that he almost wanted Liverpool to make the signing simply to demonstrate that “if you just popped a DM in there, it wouldn’t fix things”.

He used Moises Caicedo and Chelsea as an example.

“If it’s solely about popping Caicedo in the middle for Liverpool, why did Chelsea concede so many?” Lynch asked.

His conclusion was straightforward.

“I think setup is massive.”

That does not mean Lynch believes Liverpool’s midfield options are complete.

“I think they probably need that profile in the squad to have it as an option in certain games,” he said.

Iraola Backed to Improve Liverpool Midfield

Lynch believes there is significantly more to come from Liverpool’s current midfield under Iraola.

“There is so much more to come from this double pivot at the moment,” he said.

“I know everybody’s convinced themselves that this is the limit of their capabilities. I truly do not agree.”

He pointed towards Iraola’s Bournemouth side, where former winger Ryan Christie operated in a deeper midfield role.

“Nobody talked about Bournemouth being easy to play through and felt that that Bournemouth team was really well balanced,” Lynch said.

Liverpool’s first goal conceded at Newcastle also supported his argument about structure. Lynch noted that Liverpool had a “4v3 in their favour” when defending the counterattack and still conceded.

That, for him, demonstrated why adding one specialist midfielder cannot automatically eliminate every transition problem.

Midfield Balance Is Iraola’s Biggest Puzzle

Lynch did accept that Liverpool’s existing midfield profiles could eventually impose limitations.

“There might be a point at which we have to acknowledge that the profiles they have in the mix that they have in midfield is probably going to put a ceiling on where Liverpool go,” he said.

Yet he remained adamant that improvement can come from the training ground.

“I really think that Iraola is capable of getting more out of this midfield than we’ve seen this season,” Lynch said.

He described Liverpool’s midfield as “the biggest puzzle” Iraola has to solve, with questions surrounding Ryan Gravenberch, Dominik Szoboszlai, Florian Wirtz and Alexis Mac Allister all forming part of that equation.

“I think it’s probably the main challenge that he’s got in this first season,” Lynch concluded.

“I think it can develop and I’m not just wedded to the idea it’s only possible to fix this with the signing.”

For Liverpool, Newcastle exposed genuine midfield problems. Lynch’s assessment, though, is that Iraola should be judged on whether he can coach solutions before every weakness is treated purely as a transfer-market problem.