Liverpool 0-0 Bayern Munich: A Tactical Breakdown
There are very few clubs with the prestige and history of Bayern Munich. Irrespective of their current form or standing, when a club such as Bayern Munich, Real Madrid or Barcelona are set to visit, everyone sits a little straighter. These fixtures are precisely what makes Europe's premier competition the best club competition in the world, in any sport.
Yet when Bayern Munich were drawn against Liverpool, it was one of the few occasions that they were not immediately considered …
Liverpool 1-1 Leicester City: A Tactical Breakdown
With a number of injuries and a suspension to deal with, even after the team sheets were announced, it was unclear exactly how Liverpool would set up. Initial reports indicated Gini Wijnaldum would fill in at right-back, in Alexander-Arnold's absence, but instead, it was club captain, Jordan Henderson who would feature there, and Naby Keïta who would function as one of the pivots in the 4-2-3-1 system.
Liverpool's setup
Henderson and Robertson played as the Liverpool full-backs, and functioned tactically as the …
Liverpool 5-1 Arsenal: A Tactical Breakdown
The Times’ David Walsh called Liverpool’s 5-1 deconstruction of Arsenal “their best performance of the season”. Liverpool barely pushed themselves. This was a clinical, ruthless and efficient dismembering of Arsenal, and precisely why Pep Guardiola said Liverpool are "the best team in the world right now". To thoroughly outplay Arsenal, score five goals, and create opportunities for at least two more, are doing so without breaking a sweat, and while needlessly opening up space for Arsenal to exploit was intimidatingly …
Liverpool 4-0 Red Star Belgrade: A Tactical Breakdown
After a drab affair against Huddersfield, Liverpool fans were craving for an impressive performance. Yet, for the opening 20 minutes, Liverpool looked a far cry from their fluid, incisive best. But this was no typical Liverpool lineup.
Klopp has employed the 4-3-3 system to good effect in his three seasons at Liverpool, after initially starting with a 4-2-3-1, which served him well at Dortmund. Having a balance between attack and defence is central to both of these systems, and as …
Liverpool 1-0 Brighton: A Tactical Breakdown
On the final game of the 2017/18 season, Liverpool romped to a 4-0 victory against Brighton, but this time around, Chris Hughton was determined for the type of game and result to be completely different to the preceding meeting between the two sides.
Brighton set up in a 4-5-1 off ball formation. In recent games, both this season and last season, Liverpool have come up against a number of teams at Anfield looking to defend rigidly, and fight for a …
Crystal Palace 0 - 2 Liverpool: A Tactical Breakdown
Liverpool's 2-0 victory at Selhurst Park was a perfect result. The performance itself though was a great deal detached from perfect. LFC's attacking brilliance is regularly lauded and rightfully praised, however, the response to the victory against Palace does not accurately reflect the performance itself, nor the underwhelming work of the forwards and midfield against a low block, again. Andrew Beasley wrote an excellent piece praising Liverpool, particularly the defence, and whilst his analysis of the defence is largely agreeable, …
Tactical Analysis: All Shots Conceded in Game 1 vs West Ham
If you haven't got the memo yet, Liverpool won't be conceding any goals this season thanks to Virgil simply swearing at anybody who lets the ball come into the box and Alisson dealing with whatever small amount that Virgil's swearing fails to deter.
https://twitter.com/babuyagu/status/1028711576071753729
This is great obviously for us Liverpool fans but sucks for me as someone who enjoys analysing the goals we concede to see where the failures lie tactically/individually. Therefore, I have decided to look at all …
Liverpool 4-0 West Ham: A Tactical Breakdown
Liverpool picking up where they left off at the end of the 2017/18 season would have been the perfect way to kick start a league season, and Liverpool did just that. There were 92 days between Liverpool's last home league game against Brighton and the opening fixture against West Ham, but the results were identical: 4-0 drubbings. However, while the results may have been the same, the personnel and the tactics were certainly not.
Alisson and Keïta were the only real …
Liverpool 2018/19: A Tactical Preview
How do Liverpool play? It's a simple question, but with the arrival of both Naby Keïta, Fabinho and Alisson, as well as the progression of Liverpool's tactics under Jürgen Klopp since he joined in 2016, the answer requires a more detailed response than the question initially indicates.
There are three main tactical phases in football: on-ball, off-ball and the transition. With Liverpool's signings and their skillsets, the on-ball phase may be the one most different this season. Hence, we'll start …
Manchester United 2-1 Liverpool: A Tactical Breakdown
There's no game that manages to make me as uneasy as the Manchester United tie at Old Trafford: genuinely, I can't eat on matchdays. Maybe it's the trauma of defeats and the subsequent stick that every young fan gets at school that's caused it - who knows, but in all seriousness, after Liverpool won 0-3 there back in 2013/14 - with three penalties awarded to Liverpool - I was, and still am, utterly convinced Brendan Rodgers performed some juju or …