'It can't go on' - how Liverpool's tactics helped brilliant Doku run riot

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Jeremy Doku was absolutely brilliant for Manchester City in their 3-0 win on Sunday, but Liverpool's tactics were the reason he was able to run riot down their right.Without Mohamed Salah tracking back, Arne Slot's side were always so vulnerable down that flank and I felt sorry for Conor Bradley, who was trying to stop Doku but had Nico O'Reilly to worry about too.Even if Liverpool had found some better balance, and had a winger who gave Bradley more defensive support or condensed City's space, then with the way Doku was playing he would still have been almost impossible to stop.Doku was a pleasure to watch, irrespective of who you support and who you wanted to win. This was the best I've seen him play in a City shirt, but Salah not being asked to defend made it so easy for him.It became a really productive area of the pitch for City, and was one of the reasons they won so comfortably in the end.Media caption, Doku stands out as Manchester City dominate Liverpool'Liverpool ended up being pulled apart'I am really surprised Liverpool's potential problem down the right was not identified before the game.Since he broke into the team a year ago, O'Reilly has been a real positive for City from an attacking perspective and frequently ends up in left wing or even centre-forward areas.So City were always going to look for an overload from him and Doku down that flank, and it was down to Liverpool to deal with it.But because Salah stayed high up the pitch when O'Reilly was flying forward, it left Bradley isolated, and with a dilemma - did he commit and stick with Doku, or drop off him and pick up O'Reilly charging forward instead?Image caption, Salah staying so high meant Bradley (red circle, right) frequently had to deal with two City players - Doku (top blue circle) and O'Reilly (bottom blue circle) running at himAs I explained on Match of the Day, Bradley was caught in between both players a lot because he was unsure what to do, but whatever he did it felt like there was always so much space over there for City to exploit.It was hard for Ryan Gravenberch to do much about it, because if he went out there too early he was only leaving space centrally instead, where the likes of Phil Foden and Rayan Cherki were looking for pockets to get on the ball.Ibrahima Konate tried to help Bradley too, but he was having to cover a lot of distance to get over to support his right-back, and being dragged across meant he left space behind him in the middle as well.Image caption, For the move that led to Doku's goal in the second half, Gravenberch cannot help Bradley (red circle, left) because he is picking up Foden centrally.

Liverpool cannot allow this to keep happening when they play the top sides, especially away from home where they see less of the ball and have less control of the game.Image caption, More than half of City's attacks came down their left, through Doku and O'Reilly. Last season, when Liverpool won at Etihad Stadium, Salah's defensive performance was among the best I've seen from him.This time, I think it was maybe down to him to look at how Bradley was having a tough time and decide 'I am going to help him out', even if it was just for 15 minutes or half an hour, to help Liverpool get back in the game.I am not saying Salah should now become a completely different player - you don't want him running back every time you lose the ball, because sometimes you want him ready for the transition where O'Reilly is out of position.

I don't understand why he didn't do it at all.Image caption, Doku was the top player in the match for shots on target, touches in the opposition box, dribbles completed, duels won and fouls wonDecisions did not cost Liverpool the gameThat failure to try to fix things during the game was another disappointing part of Liverpool's display, but there were plenty of other things that must have concerned Slot too.Especially in the first half, they did not press particularly well. In both areas, they were well below the level we saw in their previous two games against Aston Villa and Real Madrid.Now, of course they played a huge game on Tuesday against Real, one of the best teams in Europe, and put every bit of effort in to get a positive result.I get that, but City also played in the Champions League, a day later, so I don't believe Liverpool can use the Real game as an excuse.Media caption, Liverpool 'completely dominated' by Manchester City in first half, says SlotIf Virgil van Dijk's equaliser against City had been allowed to stand then I suppose things might have been different - Liverpool had started really poorly but moments like that can change momentum in games.I still think it was a poor decision, even when you break down the laws behind it, because Andy Robertson did not affect Gianluigi Donnarumma, but I would emphasise that decision did not cost Liverpool the game - City dominated them in all departments.Are Liverpool still in title race?Media caption, Guardiola beaming after win over Liverpool in 1,000th game as a managerThis result meant a good week for Slot ended badly, especially regarding the Premier League title race.The defeat is not quite as damaging as it could have been, because leaders Arsenal drew on Saturday and dropped points.But Liverpool are still eight points behind the Gunners and the biggest observation for me so far this season is that they are not consistently playing well enough to be able to think they can close that gap.This is a challenging time for Slot and his players but it is so early in the campaign, and there is plenty of time for them to bounce back and find some balance and rhythm, and cut out the mistakes.At the moment, though, all that feels like it is a long way off.City were not just the better team on Sunday who created the better chances, they were dominant for most of the game.