Written by Paul Michael Ezeoha
A display of class from the Merseyside Reds, who turned the tie around few moments after Tottenham opened the scoresheet through Dominic Solanke's header.
This match was a goal feast for Liverpool, with 5 goals scored by different players.
They deserve accolades not only for such ample scoreline but also for their outstanding performance throughout the game.
With a possession percentage of 63 compared to Tottenham 's 37, 18 total shots with 8 being on target compared to Tottenham 's 8 and 3 on target - these stats corroborate the fact that they were the domineering team in this game by a large margin.
Tottenham Hotspurs on the other hand were the shadow of their opponents.
With this defeat- the second in a row- they now sit in 16th berth in the Premier League, a loss that might prove demoralizing to their confidence as they face off against Norwegian giant killers, Bodo Glimt, in the Europa League semifinals on Thursday.
This being said, the focus of this analysis is on the newly crowned English champions, Liverpool, during this fixture.
LINE UP
As usual, Liverpool's formation on paper was 4-2-3-1.
Allison Becker started in between the sticks; Andrew Robertson who returned to starting 11 after being dropped for two consecutive matches, Virgil Van Dijk, Ibrahim Konate and Alexander Arnold who like his full-back partner, also returns to the first eleven- formed the back four.
Ryan Gravenberch and Alexis Mac Allister were the two holding midfield partners, while the three forward players: Cody Gapko, Dominick Szoboszlai and Mohammed Salah mounted ahead of them.
Luiz Diaz was the sole striker.
IN POSSESSION
FlUIDITY
Fluidity during the possession phase, is one prominent attribute of the Positional Play. Teams who subscribe to this philosophy assume different collective shape.
The major aim for this is simply to create space in order to advance play from their own half to the final third.
This philosophy is a common trend in possession oriented teams. Pep Guardiola's teams have portrayed this to a great degree, often taken on different shapes when the ball is in certain areas on the pitch. With his Manchester City team, we've come to see them assume several in-possession shape- switch from a back two in 2-3-4-1 to a back three in 3-2-2-3 shape.
With Liverpool, this tactical trend was visible during this fixture.
Although on paper, like we've seen earlier on, their formation was 4-2-3-1, it did changed into several shape at certain situations during the match.
As shown below, Liverpool maintained a 4-4-2 shape during build up play.
Here, they build up play with two deep lying fullbacks: Robertson maintains his natural position on the left flank, while Trent-Arnold takes a narrower position, operating in the half space- something we have seen him perform in several occasions this season. This deep positioning of the fullbacks alongside the presence of the two holding midfielders presents a solid defensive shade or cover, which is vital to curtail opponent's counter-attacks.
Also, higher up, Liverpool front line now included 4 players, with Dominick Szoboszlai pushing higher from his natural number ten position to play more like a second striker alongside Luiz Diaz. So, this presents another advantage for Liverpool: the presence of the front 4 would cause Tottenham's midfielders and even wingers to retreat so as to augment their defense against Liverpool's threatening forward 4, thus there would be enough space for Liverpool's fullbacks and holding midfielders to operate in.
This could spill danger for Tottenham as one of these players would have enough space to either advance with the ball to then cause danger at the final third or he could seek to bring the front four into the game.
Liverpool's 4-4-2 in-possession structure (Photo Credit : Canal +)
In the continuation of this same scenario as would be shown below, we shall see how Gravenberch takes advantage of the space created when Tottenham players retreated to undertake defensive responsibilities.
Here, Andrew Robertson plays a pass to Gakpo on the left hand flank, he then makes a forward run into Tottenham's box to add up to Liverpool's forward players, making it a front 5. This therefore causes Tottenham midfielders and wingers to retreat so as to provide defensive protection.
As a result of this deeper positioning of Tottenham's midfielders and wingers,Gravenberch now has a lot of space in the midfield area close to the final third.
He receives a pass from Gakpo who has dribbled with the ball inwardly. He moves the ball to his stronger right foot and shoots, but it couldn't beat Vicario in the post.
Photo Credit: Canal +
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This same 4-4-2 shape during possession phase is seen in the scenario below.
In this instance, Mac Allister operates in his natural holding midfield position alongside Gravenberch, thus making it possible for Liverpool to build up play with ease, as having six players during build up phase- the back 4 and the holding two midfielders- would outnumber their opponent's front line because there are availability of several passing options. Szoboszlai joins Diaz at the number 9 position, while Gakpo and Salah operates from the flank.
In this same scenario also, Salah is caught in a 1v1 action against Tottenham's left back, Iyenoma Udogie, on the right hand flank. Space is created in the right half space when Udogie goes to close down Salah.
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Photo Credit: Canal + Dominick Szoboszlai spots this space and runs towards it to receive a pass from Salah. Szoboszlai's run distracts Tottenham players. In particular, the right central back,Kevin Danso,who is supposed to handle Diaz close by is also distracted by Szoboszlai 's run. So, Diaz makes a dash at the blind side of Danso to then attack finish off a pass from Szoboszlai. This scenario thue evinces the importance of the double number 9.  |
In the below scenario, Liverpool's in-possession shape now becomes a 4-1-5: the two central backs which in this case is outside view, the two full backs, also Gravenberch now plays as a sole holding midfielder, the front five consisting of the wingers, striker and Szoboszlai and MacAllister who has now taken an advance midfielder role.
Here we can also observe that the presence of Liverpool's front 5 also forces Tottenham midfielders, wingers and even the striker to fall backward in other to defend against Liverpool.
This invariably resulted in bulk of space being created at the edge of their box 18 for Liverpool's narrow positioned fullbacks to take advantage of.
These fullbacks positioning at these areas could spell danger for Tottenham. Because of their narrow positioning closer to the final third, they are in better positions to have attempts on goal- and they can do so with much freedom.
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| Photo Credit: Canal + |
INTENSITY
Intense press has always been part of Liverpool's identity as a club.
This game approach is implemented during different game situation.
So, in this article, emphasis would be placed on the one carried out immediately the ball is lost.
This tactical phenomenon popularly known as "Gegenpressing in Deutsch or Counterpressing in English" in the football world, is a defensive tactic that involves applying intense but strategic pressure on the opponents immediately a team lose possession of the ball, with the aim of regaining it back.
This phenomenon can be credited to German legendary coach, Ralph Ragnick, who so much implemented it during his time at RB Leipzig and RB Salzburg.
There are several benefits that this tactic can offer to teams.
Although this phenomenon is primarily a defensive tactic, it can also be a very lethal attacking stratagem.
This tactic could present teams with goal scoring opportunity- especially when implemented close to the final third.
This is so because when the opponents first regain possession of the ball, they need somewhat amount of time to plan for the next course of actions to take.
So, winning the ball back in this situation and proceeding to score a goal, could prove catastrophic for the opponent, as they could be caught not prepared enough to curtail this attack.
During this tie, Liverpool did implement this counter pressing strategy during several occasions.
As shown below, Liverpool's second goal came as result of this:
They lose possession to Tottenham at the final third, so they applied intense pressure immediately to regain the ball. The intensity of the press overwhelms Tel and forces him into giving lose pass. The ball gets to MacAllister who strikes a rocket-like shot to beat Vicario in the post, thereby taking the score line to 2-1 in favour of the home team.
Photo Credit: Canal +
CONCLUSION
This tactical analysis has done justice in dissecting several tactical stratagem employed by the current English Premier League champions, Liverpool: from in-possession tactics to defensive tactics.
Finally, a congratulatory message to the reigning Premier League champions !
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