Our style of play

[Norbs]

you can maybe move the line back, but you still have to compress the play when you're gegenpressing. klopp's philosophy is that if you stay in their half for the whole game, then you only have to run half as far. if you can sprint a short distance to win the ball rather than retreating 40 yards and then attacking 40 yards, then you retain stamina into the later stages of the game. so he says, anyway, i have no idea if the numbers back his theory but i wouldn't bet against him.

Thanks for that, I've never seen it explained that way and it makes perfect sense

[SB]

The other thing about the offsides that pisses me off is say the attacking player is 1m over the half way line when the ball is played over the top ( so he’s off side then but ) & he takes possession on the 18yd box , that’s when the Lino puts his flag up & we take the free kick there instead of near the half way line. Stupid rule in a game of inches

[Norbs]

The other thing about the offsides that pisses me off is say the attacking player is 1m over the half way line when the ball is played over the top ( so he’s off side then but ) & he takes possession on the 18yd box , that’s when the Lino puts his flag up & we take the free kick there instead of near the half way line. Stupid rule in a game of inches

I hadn't thought about that, is that correct?

It really benefits the attacking side

[SB]

I hadn't thought about that, is that correct?

It really benefits the attacking side

Yeah mate I’ve been watching for it since I first noticed it. I’m thinking right oh Lino take it back but no he stuck the flag up when he actually touched the ball 30m downfield. Stupid idea that is

[Shaggy]

[ame]https://twitter.com/_pauljoyce/status/1494345481656410119[/ame]

How Liverpool tapped into neuroscience to become set-piece masters

The club are working with German company neuro11 to help get players ‘in the zone’ through analysis of live electrical activity in the brain

Paul Joyce
Northern Football Correspondent
Thursday February 17 2022, 3.30pm, The Times

On what had become a difficult evening in the San Siro, Liverpool turned to a familiar source for inspiration to break Inter Milan’s spirit.

Yet this was not just about the precision of Andrew Robertson’s left foot or the clever headed flick from Roberto Firmino which followed, but the growing importance of set pieces to a team intent on chasing history across four competitions.

The same method had breached Burnley’s resistance on Sunday, when Fabinho profited from Sadio Mané’s touch at a corner to score at the second attempt and maintain Liverpool’s interest in the Premier League title race.

At first glance, it appeared a scruffy, somewhat fortuitous goal. To view the midfielder’s intervention purely in those terms would overlook, however, the science behind what was a landmark strike for Jürgen Klopp’s side.

Excluding penalties, 14 of Liverpool’s 61 league goals this term have come from set pieces, which is more than any other top-flight side. It is also one more than the tally they recorded in the entirety of last season.

In the Champions League, they also top the charts with five goals, two more than a cluster of teams in second.

These are totals that have not been achieved by chance but, rather, by design.

The delivery of Trent Alexander-Arnold and Robertson, the aerial prowess of Diogo Jota and Virgil van Dijk, among others, and the work of the assistant manager, Peter Krawietz, alongside the club’s analysts mean Liverpool boast natural attributes that already make their skill at dead-ball situations the envy of their rivals.

Still, fuelled by the manager’s curiosity, they have continued to improve in this aspect.

When Liverpool’s extensive pre-season preparations moved from Austria to the French town of Évian-les-Bains last summer, they were joined by a German company called neuro11, which helps professional athletes to develop their mental strength.

Pepijn Lijnders, Klopp’s assistant, said that to take forward steps as a team they wanted to finesse their work from “direct free kicks, wide free kicks, penalties and corners”.

He and Klopp believed that neuro11, founded by Dr Niklas Häusler and Patrick Häntschke, a former academy player at the German side FC Energie Cottbus, would give fresh stimulus to “accuracy training”.

The work of neuro11 does not pretend to reinvent football. Every team in the Premier League practises free kicks, so neuro11 enhances the groundwork Liverpool have already established by focusing on adding another layer of efficiency: the aim is to ensure players are “in the zone”. This in effect means running on automatic rather than having to think about what they are attempting to do.

During pre-season the likes of Alexander-Arnold, Mohamed Salah, James Milner and Harvey Elliott wore headsets with electrodes attached. This allowed neuro11 to ascertain whether a player is in the zone or not, and also how intensely. Follow-up sessions have continued during the campaign.

The electrodes measure the live electrical activity of the brain. As part of neuro11’s funding by the EU and German government, they did their own neuroscientific study to identify which part of the brain’s electrical activity is the most important to look at and what exact time frames and aspects of a set piece must be used for the analysis and training.

Through this, they can identify correctly whether a player is in the zone or not.

“This is a highly individualised process,” Dr Häusler told The Times. “But since we look at the live brain activation during our set-piece training, we can see when and how greatly the player is in the zone or what might make him fall out of it.

“In addition, we use our self-developed analysis following each training session to create an individual brain index with which the player can optimally learn session by session.

“Through these steps, and together with proper neuropsychological coaching, the player ends up knowing in very high detail what aspects help, or do not actually help, him to get into the zone.

“For example, one individual might need to look at only one focus point such as the ball, or the target very intensely. Another might have to switch the focus point between the ball and target frequently to help him get into the zone.

“These are just two of many examples, but it does not stop here. While one individual might be very good at getting into the zone quickly, another might have a harder time to get in.

“However, the latter person might then be better at staying in the zone longer and not falling out as quickly. The importance is not to judge anything as good or bad, but to let every player get to know himself better. Knowing ourselves in more detail makes it possible for us to optimise our mental processes and develop the best and most stable routine.”

More evidence of how Liverpool constantly seek to tweak routines was Klopp’s admission that he has encouraged Fabinho to go forward at set pieces in recent weeks and the Brazilian has responded with a flurry of goals. At Turf Moor, there was an acceptance that Alexander-Arnold’s corner was a little low and that Mané’s intervention was vital.

However, Alexander-Arnold’s relaxed state ensured that he was able to find his team-mate while ignoring the obvious distractions around him, such as the barracking from Burnley fans and also the howling wind and swirling rain. The partnership between Liverpool and science is proving beneficial.

“‘Beneficial’ is an understatement in my opinion,” Lijnders said. “When Niklas texted me last week, ‘Thanks for your trust and belief,’ I just responded: ‘I want to win!’

“It’s the best way to train pure accuracy and pure focus. We focus a lot already on ‘the assist’ in the game, and with them we can really work on it. We want to create set pieces by shooting a lot, we want to use them, and most importantly, we want to make them decisive. It’s a part of the game we believe in as much development as possible. I’m happy we made this step with them.”

As well as free kicks and corners, Liverpool have also worked with neuro11 to improve their penalty-taking. The club expect more Champions League ties to be decided by spot-kicks after Uefa scrapped the away goals rule in knockout ties.

Confidentiality prevents neuro11 from going into too much detail on their processes but the spike in interest in the company shows how football’s frontiers are expanding for those, such as Klopp and Lijnders, willing to be open-minded.

The willingness of Liverpool to embrace innovation has been seen previously by the recruitment of the throw-in coach Thomas Gronnemark, working with the club for a fourth season, and the use of the German surfer Sebastian Steudtner, who offered tips on staying calm under pressure.


Liverpool’s desire to harness marginal gains meant they had been looking to tap into the field of neuroscience previously, only for the coronavirus pandemic to check their plans to work with the company.

“Everyone in our team has played and watched sports all our lives,” Hausler said. “We knew the importance of the brain in relation to optimal performance and realised right away that we had developed something very special.

“How the brain learns using rewards and losses and how it works in relation to risk had been the topic of my previous research, so I was always wondering how to use this expertise in professional sports as efficiently as possible.

“Because if you think about it, a lot of aspects that fascinate us in sports have to do with rewards, losses and risk. The key moment then came when Patrick told me that in the world of professional sports, this kind of knowledge and brain training coming directly from neuroscience has not been used thus far.

“Once I saw this with my own eyes and we had the results of our study, we both had a gut feeling that Jürgen was the right person to get in touch with.”

Scrutiny often falls on Liverpool’s cutting edge in front of goal, yet the thirst for silverware means their ruthlessness goes far beyond their finishing.

[Buzzo]

Following on from Fabinho and Matip and Klopp again I think Klopps observations on the offside play on rule are worth mention.

He is pointing out that if a play is offside and the flag is not raised under the new rule and we win the ball back, then that is left as a 'play on'. That makes it look as if the opposition are putting us under more pressure than they are if the flag were to be raised. That is a massive flaw in the system. We play with a high line specifically to enable a high press and have a well drilled defensive line looking to catch offsides. Ultimately we are controlling games even more than it seems on face value.

He mentioned that the analyst confirmed 3 or 4 times Arsenal went through offiside and we won the ball back from an offside play, making it appear as if Arsenal were having more success in attack than they actually were.

[wiw]

Following on from Fabinho and Matip and Klopp again I think Klopps observations on the offside play on rule are worth mention.

He is pointing out that if a play is offside and the flag is not raised under the new rule and we win the ball back, then that is left as a 'play on'. That makes it look as if the opposition are putting us under more pressure than they are if the flag were to be raised. That is a massive flaw in the system. We play with a high line specifically to enable a high press and have a well drilled defensive line looking to catch offsides. Ultimately we are controlling games even more than it seems on face value.

He mentioned that the analyst confirmed 3 or 4 times Arsenal went through offiside and we won the ball back from an offside play, making it appear as if Arsenal were having more success in attack than they actually were.

Match of the day seem fairly guilty of this too..they will show highlights of offside chances we concede

[Fredo]

Yeah, definitely. They let the game play on, then if it ends up in a corner or free kick, they allow it to stand, only if it results into a goal in the immediate flow, they would review it.

Just blow the whistle and stop the play, especially if it's clear offside.

[baitman]

The offside play on ting really boils my piss

[banditos]

The offside play on ting really boils my piss

Agreed. Wait til someone gets a serious injury because they played on for the added drama. Fkn joke.

[Irishnev]

[ame="https://twitter.com/gasipo_opinions/status/1513523975208513536"]https://twitter.com/gasipo_opinions/status/1513523975208513536[/ame]

[Fivex]

Is that Alisson bottom right?

[Irishnev]

Is that Alisson bottom right?

No - I thought the same but it’s some guy from the Bundesliga

[Fivex]

Still debatable I reckon

[Charly]

According to the BBC

Our assists are broken down as follows:


GK 1
DF 26
MD 20
F 21

I always have the impression that our midfield does not do enough decisively in the final third, but perhaps that is due to the fullbacks being godlike, and due to our tactics more than anything else.

I still think if we are to improve our first 11 the midfield would perhaps be the area to focus on. But at the end of the day, we are superior to pretty much every team on the planet, other than City.

Would a more creative bent in midfield work in our system? Or is it just adding a bit of quality to our final ball the fine margin that we need to usurp City?

Fabinho and Thiago are world class in my opinion, with the rest being pretty good. Are we one player short of being the absolute best?