Keita the midfielder that promised so much yet failed at Liverpool
The big reveal in Game of Thrones that Jon Snow was the Prince That Was Promised ultimately meant nothing in the grand scheme of things. Before anyone accuses me of ruining the show, the final episode aired in 2019. We’re now in 2023, if you had any interest in watching it, you would’ve done so already.
So what has this got to do with Naby Keita? Well, he was the Midfielder That Was Promised. Just like with Jon Snow, however, it meant nothing.
During the summer of 2017, Keita was the midfielder that every top European club wanted. He could do everything and he did so on a regular basis for RB Leipzig. In his debut season in Germany, he netted eight times as Die Roten Bullen stunned everyone to claim a runners-up spot in their first season in the Bundesliga. The box-to-box midfielder was named in the Team of the Year and his exploits in the German top-flight saw him linked with Liverpool, Manchester United, Barcelona and Bayern Munich.
Liverpool had finished fourth in 2016/17, pipping Arsenal to a Champions League spot by a single point. Draws had plagued them during the campaign with Jurgen Klopp’s side finishing with 10 in total.
The plan for the Merseysiders during the summer was to add more goal threats. Not just to help them turn draws into wins domestically, but to give them a better chance in Europe. The Reds identified Mohamed Salah, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Keita as the players to take them to the next level.
Oxlade-Chamberlain and Keita were players who could help against low-blocks due to their ball-carrying ability. In theory, they fit seamlessly into the heavy metal football being played by the Reds back then. But the one-time Red Bull Salzburg man was viewed as the difference-maker. As detailed in a NY Times feature, Liverpool’s data team saw a phenomenon. A player “continually working to move the ball into more advantageous positions, something even an attentive spectator probably wouldn’t notice unless told to look for it.”
It is no doubt why the Reds bowed to RB Leipzig’s demands. Liverpool agreed to pay £52m to sign him 12 months later, in the summer of 2018. They paid over his release clause to guarantee his signature ahead of rival clubs.
It was viewed as a coup at the time. In hindsight, it was a mistake. During those extra 12 months the diminutive midfielder spent in Germany, Klopp had to evolve his tactics. Teams sat deeper, ceded position and almost forced Liverpool into becoming a possession-based team.
Klopp famously once said that the gegenpress was the best playmaker. If this was the case, the opposition had found a way to nullify their best creator. It was a case of adapt or perish. So the Reds adapted.
They started to funnel play through their full-backs and the midfielders went from being goal threats in Gini Wijnaldum and Adam Lallana into being facilitators tasked with filling the space left by Andrew Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Keita signed for one team and joined a completely different one, at least in terms of style.
He had to redesign his game to fit in and it meant everything he was known for - the slaloming runs and risk-taking ability in possession - didn’t suit the role he was having to play for Liverpool. Despite this, expectations remained the same. Fans and pundits expected him to replicate his RB Leipzig form in the Premier League even though Klopp wasn’t wanting him to do that.
At surface level, he was a £52m midfielder who wasn’t scoring or assisting.
What really hurt his Liverpool career, however, was his inability to stay fit. At their peak under Klopp, the Reds named the same XI for practically every single game and the German tactician often talked about his players needing rhythm.
Keita would string together a run of games and then he would miss a handful. If he didn’t hit the ground running upon his return, he would be exiled to the bench for long periods as Klopp favoured consistency over individual ability.
It happened so frequently that it is now quite clear that he isn’t trusted by the German manager. Assistant manager Pep Lijnders said as much in his book when he claimed Keita was the best substitute player. There has also been a reluctance to use the Liverpool No.8 in recent weeks too, even with the team struggling.
Klopp has tweaked the midfield three and the shape, yet Keita has remained on the bench since football resumed following the World Cup. With his contract up in the summer and the player not wanting to extend his stay on Merseyside, per multiple reports, it appears as though he isn’t viewed as a viable solution for the issues faced by the team right now. Others have left on a free transfer in the past and been used up until their contract expired. It is a far cry from what happened last season when Keita was used on a regular basis when fit. The 27-year-old racked up 25 league appearances, appeared in 10 Champions League matches and was named in the starting XI for the FA Cup semi-final and final, as well as the Carabao Cup final.
Injuries have made it difficult to rely on him though, so Klopp has taken the decision not to.
His Liverpool career has been a case of he could be the difference-maker, why should the end of his Anfield career be any different?
