D
Dustin
Active Member
I think for the first time in a while - possibly this season - we were not outrunning and dominating the opposition in the middle of the park. This in part needs to be put on the players. But on an off day, particularly for Wanyama, it seemed that Poch was very slow to see this and instead of changing it up, he doubled down that we could rise to the occasion. While we did look better in the second half, it was primarily because Liverpool were happy to sit back a bit.
To me the game was simple. Liverpool marked Walker and our right side closely high up and allowed more space on our left as they knew that side would struggle. This was not only because Mane pinned Davies back and Son was impossibly high up the pitch, but equally important because Dier was not comfortable on his left foot under pressure. From the first minutes, we struggled to get the ball out of the back - and that didn't change throughout.
MP had 4 basic tactical options to get around Liverpool's high press:
A) Nothing: Tell Davies to step inside and Dembele to cover wide a bit - but basically do nothing major and hope Wanyama realizes that he was playing a football game (he didn't).
B) The Arsene Wenger: "Oh yeah, you're playing 10 central midfielders? well then I'm pulling my keeper and playing 11." We essentially played a front 3 and desperately needed Eriksen to drop deeper and both Alli and Son to do more to show options for our desperate defenders in the midfield.
C) Route 1: Tell Kane to use that that front 3 to our advantage and start playing long-ball until Liverpool get the hint. Otherwise, sub Jannsen on for Son at half time and start knocking that ball over the top every time your defenders get pinned back. Probably could do a somewhat similar wide-outlet long ball to Sissoko as well.
D) Good old width: There were a variety of ways he could have added width to the field, some better than others. But the boldest move would have been to bring on GKN for Son, and move to a 3-4-2-1. Back three of Dier -- Toby -- Davies with Walker and GKN as wingbacks. Now everyone is back on their correct foot and the team is in their comfort zone, we have width and options to get the ball out of the back and attack.
Very rarely do I feel like I see things that MP hasn't seen 30 minutes (or years) before me. But this one was disappointing.
I'm not worried about our away record in big games, our youth or our resolve. This team is fantastic, and expecting them to do more than they are at the moment, to me, is being unrealistic. Yes we had a stagnant day and were a step behind, but still - would like to see Jamie Carragher's stats for both home and away this season.
Ah, PS...I would have went with B in the 10th minute. It was already obvious we had a problem. And unless we had nicked a goal and not conceded would have went with D at half time - that was always going to be our most comfortable set up anyway and Liverpool would be poorly set up to react. Why put GKN on the bench if you're not prepared to use him?
COYS
To me the game was simple. Liverpool marked Walker and our right side closely high up and allowed more space on our left as they knew that side would struggle. This was not only because Mane pinned Davies back and Son was impossibly high up the pitch, but equally important because Dier was not comfortable on his left foot under pressure. From the first minutes, we struggled to get the ball out of the back - and that didn't change throughout.
MP had 4 basic tactical options to get around Liverpool's high press:
A) Nothing: Tell Davies to step inside and Dembele to cover wide a bit - but basically do nothing major and hope Wanyama realizes that he was playing a football game (he didn't).
B) The Arsene Wenger: "Oh yeah, you're playing 10 central midfielders? well then I'm pulling my keeper and playing 11." We essentially played a front 3 and desperately needed Eriksen to drop deeper and both Alli and Son to do more to show options for our desperate defenders in the midfield.
C) Route 1: Tell Kane to use that that front 3 to our advantage and start playing long-ball until Liverpool get the hint. Otherwise, sub Jannsen on for Son at half time and start knocking that ball over the top every time your defenders get pinned back. Probably could do a somewhat similar wide-outlet long ball to Sissoko as well.
D) Good old width: There were a variety of ways he could have added width to the field, some better than others. But the boldest move would have been to bring on GKN for Son, and move to a 3-4-2-1. Back three of Dier -- Toby -- Davies with Walker and GKN as wingbacks. Now everyone is back on their correct foot and the team is in their comfort zone, we have width and options to get the ball out of the back and attack.
Very rarely do I feel like I see things that MP hasn't seen 30 minutes (or years) before me. But this one was disappointing.
I'm not worried about our away record in big games, our youth or our resolve. This team is fantastic, and expecting them to do more than they are at the moment, to me, is being unrealistic. Yes we had a stagnant day and were a step behind, but still - would like to see Jamie Carragher's stats for both home and away this season.
Ah, PS...I would have went with B in the 10th minute. It was already obvious we had a problem. And unless we had nicked a goal and not conceded would have went with D at half time - that was always going to be our most comfortable set up anyway and Liverpool would be poorly set up to react. Why put GKN on the bench if you're not prepared to use him?
COYS
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