Having conquered Spain, Europe, and the eventually the World, Pep Guardiola was quick to shake things up with his Barcelona side. Once things become static, success slips away. Pass into the space, not the player's feet. Move the ball, move your team mate, move the opposition. The evolution of Barca's formation from 4-3-3 to 3-4-3 (with...
Liverpool’s 3-0 defeat at Old Trafford in December was a perfect illustration of the team’s regression this season. It was a direct reversal of the result in the same fixture last March, when a trident of Luis Suarez, Daniel Sturridge, and Raheem Sterling, saw Liverpool become an unstoppable attacking force.
If the club could take...
The term box to box is used to describe a midfielder who has no specialist role, they're primarily an engine tasked with helping both sides of the teams' game. They're also more commonly found in the centre of the pitch, but could the change of formation to the 3421 formation mean Liverpool could deploy...
In Part 1 of this article, we looked into the importance of the 3-4-2-1 formation and how successful it has been for Liverpool since its implementation. In the second part of the article, we are going to examine if there are any weaknesses in this system as Liverpool use it and how opposition teams...
In the recent weeks we have seen Liverpool implement the 3-4-2-1 formation across competitions and the formation has proved to be successful. So what has made Brendan Rodgers use the 3-4-2-1 in the last few weeks? What options has it provided us pre-game and in-game? Are there weaknesses or more appropriately ways for the opposition...
Just under two weeks ago we saw Real Madrid come to Anfield and give Liverpool a lesson in what it’s like to play at the top level of European football. With four seasons out of the Champions League, and a group of players and staff with little experience of the competition, we saw a...
It was around this point last season that Liverpool were playing a back three. The basic idea behind it was to free up Sturridge and Suarez, allowing them to to play up front together whilst keeping a strong enough base behind them. This system lasted just over a month until the 2-0 loss to Arsenal at...
Liverpool's number 1o may not be best suited for the role of his number. The performance of Stewart Downing in the number ‘10’ position against Liverpool made a few people take note of how the personnel tasked with making that position work is forever changing in the Premier League.
Examples of teams playing a quicker...
May 11th, 2014. A dejected, defeated side trundled around Anfield. A side emotionally drained, physically battered, and wallowing in their failed bid for glory. Liverpool had defeated Newcastle United that day 2-1, going behind from a Martin Skrtel own-goal in the first half which was rectified by a successive goals from two Daniels; Agger...
After the midweek game against Ludogorets, there were increased calls for Rodgers to change back to the diamond 4-3-1-2 shape that had worked so well against Tottenham. Part of this was to help give Balotelli some support up front that had been sorely lacking in both of the previous games and also to bring...
