Midfield

Observations From the Win That Sends Us to Wembley!

"Man City or Everton, it doesn't matter. We'll win the Cup." - Jurgen Klopp Our manager is fanning the flames. He's bringing back a trophy in his debut season. It wasn't particularly pretty and it won't be remembered as a spectacle but Liverpool once again dug deep to take something away from a disappointing performance. It's been...

Emre Can – Vorsprung Durch Technik

If you could design the perfect central midfielder, they'd be tall, athletic, with raw power and pace. Then look at Emre Can and tell me he doesn't fit the model?! He, by design, is the perfect midfielder. His attributes are made to dominate football matches in the Premier League and go on to become...

Rise of “Die Maschine”: Consistency, Leadership, and Emre Can

I remember it well. The final game of a legend, of a man that had exemplified what it meant to wear the Red on Red kit for a generation and embodied the spirit and mystique of Liverpool Football Club for a certain, young American fan discovering this wild world of English football for the...

The Coutinho Conundrum

In recent weeks, Liverpool have put on three stellar displays: dismembering Chelsea, Manchester City and Southampton all away from home, and yet there have also been some dire, and rather boring affairs - the Newcastle and Sion matches, and to an extent the Swansea match were all too familiar and brought back bad memories...

Liverpool 2 WBA 2 – What Went Wrong Tactically

I recently wrote a piece inspired by the positivity of the 6-1 victory over Southampton in the Capital One Cup. In that match there was a real feeling that Jurgen Klopp was starting to introduce his tactical concepts to the squad and that we would see the team go from strength to strength. Since...

Liverpool’s Midfield Matches

A disappointing result, and a disappointing weekend, however turning the result into a positive we were missing in my eyes first team players like Mamadou Sakho, Emre Can, Jordan Henderson, Philippe Coutinho and Daniel Sturridge.  Five players who make a difference. You would still like to think a team in some people's opinions who are...

Newcastle Utd vs. Liverpool: Team News, Key Stats & Predictions

Klopp's Liverpool continue to impress, moving up to sixth in the league with three points against Swansea at Anfield, before thumping six past a full strength Southampton side at St Mary's midweek in the Capital One Cup Quarter-Final. Steve McClaren's Newcastle, on the other hand, are probably alongside Aston Villa as the worst team,...

Southampton 1 Liverpool 6: A Glimpse Into Next Season’s Tactical Concepts

There was a misconception when Jurgen Klopp took charge of Liverpool that he would immediately transform the club into Borussia Dortmund mark II. This misconception was propagated mainly by the mainstream media but also by fans and amateur bloggers. The first few weeks of Klopp's reign however have given us a glimpse of what...

Jürgen Klopp’s Midfield Unit

Hello again Anfield Index, it's been a while. Sorry I've taken some time since my last article, but apparently being in the final year of your degree is quite time-consuming. Moving on, in this piece I will be attempting to analyse what I consider the most important component of any Klopp system: the midfield. Most...

Liverpool’s Midfield – The Heart of the Team, in Need of a Defibrillator!

Editor's note: This article was written prior to Liverpool's win against Manchester City at Etihad on Saturday I've always believed that the competitive games are won and lost, by the battle in midfield. It's the area of a team so influential to the style, tempo, control and competitiveness of a team. A good midfield will...