Our style of play

[baitman]

this is it

we have now got an effective pressing game. sitting a little deeper, pressing in two's and three's at times, ready to burst out, runners everywhere.

i ****ing love the way we let rip and tear into the opposition


its no longer about the people who are missing from our team. its no longer just about gerrard, or suarez. its a team game and we are finally working as a unit.

loving it.

[baitman]

from the southampton [away] build up thread...

Indeed, and our last Southampton game was exactly this problem - they pressed us to feck and were all over us. I said for ages after, that I couldn't other teams just doing the same.

I think our game has changed significantly since though, we were attempting tika-taka then, we're now all about absorbing pressure and playing a (lightning) fast counter.

[Shaggy]

http://www.whoscored.com/Articles/yp5zqvffc0ctiz0tpxrp4w/Show/Team-Focus-Liverpools-Defence-No-Longer-a-Threat-to-Their-Title-Hopes#.UynaTV-ozJU.twitter

Team Focus: Liverpool's Defence No Longer a Threat to Their Title Hopes

by Miguel Delaney at Wednesday, Mar 19 2014 17:27



It’s been a season in which Liverpool have obliterated all expectations, and a large part of that has been because they have rendered any flaws absolutely irrelevant.

Consider their previously calamitous defence. Right up to late February, as Brendan Rodgers’ side were conceding three goals at home to relegation-threatened Swansea, much of the talk was about whether problems at the back would eventually scupper their growing title challenge.

The failure to add another defensive midfielder was seen as merely exacerbating all of that, particularly after Lucas Leiva’s injury. Quite simply, it seemed like individuals of that quality needed much greater protection. Looked at objectively, the Liverpool defence just did not look like it had enough players of the required standard to sustain a run like this.

“We’ll analyse the other side of our game and look to improve it,” Rodgers said following that 4-3 win over Swansea. “I think it’s not something that is planned.”

Since then, however, momentum has only grown and Liverpool have evidently improved even further. The plan, it appears, has come together.

One obvious assumption, of course, is that it’s just down to their devastating attack pulling enough opposition sides apart; that they have simply outscored other teams and offset any defensive issues.

A deeper look, however, reveals that to be a little simplistic.

For one thing, Liverpool’s defensive record isn’t actually all that bad. They have only conceded one goal in the last four matches against Arsenal, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur and Everton - the teams that had been considered to be their closest rivals in any chase for a Champions League place. All that has contributed to what is the sixth best defence in the division, with 35 conceded in 29, and ensured they have now definitively moved beyond a top-four battle into a proper title race.

It’s also not quite been a case of Liverpool’s attack just pinning opposition sides back with either pressing or passing to take heat off the defence, as the stats indicate.

In terms of territory, Liverpool allow a fairly standard amount of play in their defensive third (ninth in the Premier League) at 28%, and their relatively low possession average of 53.9% - also ninth in the division - means it’s not really Rodgers’ side just retaining the ball in those areas. The fact that they concede 13.1 shots per game - the eighth highest - proves that, as does the manner in which they’ve scored the most counter-attacking goals this season (6).

Clearly, Liverpool’s backline are more capable of handling attacking pressure than has been perceived, but their ability on the break is perhaps a pointer.

It does seem as if, rather than just improving the backline as a unit, the backline itself has been better integrated into the overall system. That is something arguably displayed by the drop-off in individual errors of late, and is something Rodgers has stated himself.

“We conceded poor goals. It isn’t so much structurally. It’s just mistakes or decision-making that costs us. There’s absolutely no doubt we’ll continue to work on that side of it.”



There’s also absolutely no doubt, however, that Liverpool have worked on Martin Skrtel. From a situation last season where the Slovakian was barely playing in the second half of the campaign, he has now become the central figure in the side’s backline. The stats prove that, as well as a lot more.

Skrtel does the lion’s share of the pure defensive work, and greatly leads the way in many of the basics of defending - from aerial duels won (3.4) to clearances per game (11.5). More surprisingly as a result of that, he also plays more passes per game (45.8) than any of the rest of Liverpool’s regular defensive starters other than Glen Johnson. Skrtel also has a pass success rate of 90.1%, which ranks him among the top 20 in the Premier League of players with 10 or more appearances.

It is as if Skrtel serves as a lightning rod, which fosters greater stability in the rest of the defence, and has allowed them to better contribute to the overall game.

Rodgers certainly thinks so.

“I brought in a way I wanted to work, on the training field and in games, and for the second half of last season he didn't feature much. He had a choice, he could either throw the toys out the pram, or he could sit down with the manager and the coaching staff and see what areas he needed to improve.

“Now, you see a player with great intelligence in his defence, his use of the ball is composed and he has taken on a real leadership role. His performance levels, consistently, have been of a high level.”

It has lifted the level of Liverpool’s defence. Sure, it is still not perfect and could still cause a few issues in this run-in, but it is now very far from that detached flaw in the team.

[captainfog]

I'd rather watch us under Rodgers than Rafa any day of the week. Best football we've seen for 20 years.

[Norbs]

I'd rather watch us under Rodgers than Rafa any day of the week. Best football we've seen for 20 years.

Absolutely

Oh and Skrtel is obviously ****

[captainfog]

Absolutely

Oh and Skrtel is obviously ****

Yes, yes he is. We should have sold ****tles to Citeh when they were sniffing around him.

[Muddled]

Skrtel's block for Rooney's left foot volley was amazing.

[Mostar]

Skrtel's block for Rooney's left foot volley was amazing.

He threw himself in to block that ball without any hesitation which you cannot say for all CBs or fullbacks.

[rudedog]

Skrtels performances overall are up there with the best CB's in league this year - who would you swap him for on current form?

[Fierce]

Mertesacker

Regards
Matt

[RedReet]

Liverpool FC’s Diamond Formation: An Analysis

How very interesting it was to sit down and watch Manchester United in Champions League action against Olympiacos, putting in a much better performance than that of three days previously against Liverpool (you know, the one in which we won 3-0? Remember that? Vaguely?).



After their midfielders got bypassed and played through by Liverpool, they unearthed from the midst of nowhere, a ‘diamond’ system for the Olympiacos game which they reaped the rewards from with a much more fluid and controlled display. It was a masterstroke from David Moyes, a tactical message that surely could have only come from a divine power, for the Chosen One’s eyes and ears only.

Yet it wasn’t a rare spark of genius from the mind of David Moyes that instantly improved his midfield’s performance. It was in fact, a lesson well learned that came from spending 90 minutes on Sunday watching Liverpool’s midfield dominate and eradicate Marouane Fellaini and Michael Carrick.

Three days after getting soundly beaten by Liverpool, David Moyes adopted Brendan Rodgers’ tactics and installed them into his own set-up for Olympiacos. Could Brendan Rodgers and Liverpool get a bigger compliment then that? Their fiercest of rivals borrowing their tactics to negotiate their way through the Champions League?

I could only imagine Brendan Rodgers sitting smugly watching Sky Sports News as Moyes gets praised for ‘turning the corner’ for the 146th time this season, knowing that it was his own tactical intuition that saved Moyes his job for the rest of this season… thankfully.

However as Moyes will probably use this blueprint in every game, you will be hard pushed to second guess what kind of set-up Brendan Rodgers is going to implement in Liverpool’s next games. We have seen 4-3-3, 4-2-2-2, 3-5-2, 4-1-3-2 and 4-3-1-2 throughout this season, all to their own degree of success. A lot of these changes to the system have been down to coping with injuries and Suarez’s suspension but it just goes to show the progressive nature of Rodgers and how he is bursting at the seams with ideas to get the best results for Liverpool.

After last season where it was comical to some to deride Rodgers and his philosophical way of talking about football and looking at tactics, in 2013/14 we have been left in no doubt that there’s substance to this man’s guff. For it’s not guff at all is it? It’s the ramblings of an emerging tactical wizard who is proving he is the best man possible for this job. Get that man a new contract. Get that man a song.



To illustrate to you the cuteness of Brendan Rodgers this season, I’ve decided to look at a slight tweak the manager made to his teams for Southampton and Manchester United that made all the difference in Liverpool getting 6 points from those two games.

For a moment, lets pause and appreciate what a fantastic achievement that was. Last year we were comprehensively seen off in the first half away to Manchester United and inevitably beaten 2-1, and our 3-1 defeat at St. Mary’s was probably the stand-out game from last season where Liverpool were outplayed from start to finish.

To predict 2-4 points from those games would have been the general consensus. Yet to get the maximum points in the form of two 3-0 victories highlights the credentials of this team and this manager to defy what we believed was Liverpool’s level and keep us dreaming and believing.

So how did Brendan pull it off? Well, the most important position for me to look at is ‘attacking midfield’ and how Rodgers changed its personnel to great success for both games.

Under the system Rodgers implemented for these games, this position was located at the top of the diamond, slightly deeper than what you’d expect from a number 10 as Liverpool played with two strikers. So in effect, Rodgers broke down the roles of a centre midfielder into it’s four principles and designated one of each to his 4 chosen players:

• To anchor the midfield
• To support the forwards
• To cover the left wing
• To cover the right wing

So for example against Southampton, Rodgers gave the holding role to Gerrard who could sit a bit deeper and was given more protection as he had Allen and Henderson alongside him. Henderson took up the role of slightly right of the diamond while Allen was on the left; both expected to do all the pressing and covering of their closest wings. Ahead of them in the forward supporting role was Coutinho.

This change of system was in response to the 4-3 victory over Swansea where the 4-2-4 formation deployed struggled to keep control of the game and left the back-line terribly exposed. Rodgers realised this wasn’t the way forward for their following 11 games and created this diamond formation best suited to his team. You don’t need to clutter our attack when Suarez and Sturridge cover every inch of grass so effectively in the attacking third. And we all know that the more freedom on the wing you give to Johnson, the better he becomes. All in all, the diamond formation was a wonderfully thought-out change in direction from Rodgers that has kept Liverpool on the right road to glory.

Southampton, as a team, are all about ball retention and they play football in between the lines – in other words, their centre backs step up, they play with a defensive midfielder in Schneiderlin and the likes of Lallana float around up top.

Therefore Liverpool were going to be doing a lot of pressing in their own half and needed to make maximum use of the ball when in possession. With Coutinho as the attacking midfielder, he may not have the pace to take the ball out of the danger area but what he did successfully was constantly find Sturridge or Suarez on the break, or build patiently with either Allen or Henderson. From this foundation, Liverpool eventually wore Southampton down, and picked them off efficiently and swiftly.





Then against Manchester United, Rodgers swapped Coutinho for Sterling at the tip of the diamond. A lot of us looked on slightly confused when seeing Sterling so central yet as the game at Old Trafford kicked off, it quickly became clear as to why Rodgers had made the change.

United’s defence sits much deeper than Southampton’s and they also play without a holding midfielder. Liverpool did not need the unlocking abilities of Coutinho as much as they needed someone with pace to drive on with possession in the gaping area between United’s defence and midfield.

Sterling, in a role he had never occupied before, was extremely professional and successful. He would carry the ball out of midfield, give it to Suarez who had dropped off, then take up his natural position on the right wing for the attack. When the move would break down, he’d make it back to his central role as quickly as possible.

It was a masterstroke from Rodgers and one that Moyes or no one for that matter could have foreseen. 12 months previously, Sterling was written off as not clever enough for a Rodgers team. Yet the manager portrayed to the world just how good his coaching is by entrusting Sterling with a mindfully difficult role in Liverpool’s traditional hardest game of the season, and come away as a 3-0 winner.





So as we gear up for the most exciting and unexpected run-in to this season, every manager will fear Liverpool not just because they have the deadliest strike partnership in the league, but because they will not know what tactical bomb Brendan Rodgers is going to drop when their team turn up to face Liverpool.

Therefore expect many more explosions between now and May, from this, the most exciting team in English football and their diamond manager.

http://anfieldindex.com/7982/liverpo...-analysis.html

Is that ture about United? I didn't pay enough attention during their match.

[Shaggy]

Love this

[baitman]

so then, post meltdown at crystal palace...
so much of the good work and goal scoring, then too gung-ho and trying to haul city back and level the gaol difference. so many of the players knackered, no concentration, ongoing poor technique or just cant be arsed enough


too many of our midfielders play a pass to a team mate then turn away and jog off on a little forward run with little thought to continuing to be available to support the play. if possession is then lost we end up with too many players in front of the ball and can get caught with our pants down, wide open and lubed up.

it was a shame not to see more input from the bench. i know we are a little short in options but maybe a couple of fresh players who are coming on to keep the game secure and then still allow the attack to bomb on would have helped.
once we conceded i didnt see brendan trying to 'steady' the ship through the stormy seas....

[Fredo]

Brendan rarely makes a defensive substitution. He alters our formation, might push a player back to plug a hole, bring on an additional defender in the last minutes. He's forward thinking, and I like it. He shouldn't change, but persist in playing this way. We'll win the league more often than not.

[Charly]

I love the Death or Glory football we have been playing this season. Unfortunately that mean you wont always see glory.

I am not sure playing this way will get us the league next year. More often than not its the defensive minded teams, or at least balanced teams that win titles. That's not to say I wouldn't love us to break the mould. One thing Rodgers has going for him is he adapts, and I do not mean swapping players around constantly like previous managers.

It will be interesting to see how we play next season, as the shocktroop tactics this year may not work as well if teams always sit deep for 90 minutes. We will always have a chance with Suarez though, although I am not too sure if he will still be here next year after last night.