In his post-Everton interview Klopp said something curious: "direction in the game was very good, we tried to come in behind, Bobby and Shaq [played] in-between. We didn't play exactly like that too often, so that means we had to adjust to it a little bit." What is he talking about?
There was a subtle shift in our attacking play in this game. Firmino and Shaqiri played like two #10s, always looking for space between the lines and for the ball to be played into their feet. On the contrary, Mane and Salah were almost always looking to make runs and receive the ball in space. It was never so clear-cut before – in the past we would often see Mane or Salah drop between the lines and try to do a bit of playmaking or Firmino and Shaq making runs, however now there was a clear division of responsibilities. And I think it was working – even though we couldn't score for the most of the game, the high press was back, the speed of attacking combinations was better than it has been in a long time and we have created a lot of good chances from open play. Mane, in particular, seemed reinvigorated by simplifying his game and just attacking the space at every opportunity, which has always been his best quality. And having not one, but two playmakers stationed between the lines made our positional attacks flow more easily. It was not perfectly implemented yet, but I thought the direction was very encouraging.
Two seasons ago I calculated our winning % depending on which players from "big 3" (which at the time consisted of Coutinho, Mane and Firmino) started a particular game. The results were clear – Mane was the catalyst; when he was missing the results were dismal, whereas we did fine without Firmino or Phil. You don't need to be a football genius to figure out the reason – Mane was the only player in that squad willing to run in behind; without him we just resorted to making a thousand passes in front of a defense without any penetration. Adding Salah has altered the calculus – now we had 2 willing runners and finishers to add to Phil's (or Ox's) and Bobby's ability to string together quick passing moves and that combination was positively frightening, leading to some of the best attacking football I have ever seen in my life.
There is more than one reason why our attacking game hasn't quite "clicked" until now this season – dips in form of individual players (Salah at the beginning of season, Firmino now), opponents not giving us space to counter-attack – but I think the biggest problem has been the absence of a 2nd playmaker to complement Firmino. Without enough creativity from midfield, Bobby struggled to string moves together all by himself (while also being in charge of small things like leading the line, fighting for long balls and pressing) and Salah and Mane's effectiveness and form suffered because they had to do some playmaking as well, which is not their strength. Moving Firmino to the #10 position alleviated some of the problems, but also created new ones. Now it seems Klopp has found a potential solution with his new "2 between the lines and 2 in behind" formula.
Which brings us to Burnley, Bournemouth, Napoli and United – a nice little run of games that could be decisive for the outcome of this season. Predicting Klopp's rotation is a thankless task, but no matter the personnel, I would like to see this new balance in attack maintained. Here are our options, as I see them:
Forwards or "runners":
There was a subtle shift in our attacking play in this game. Firmino and Shaqiri played like two #10s, always looking for space between the lines and for the ball to be played into their feet. On the contrary, Mane and Salah were almost always looking to make runs and receive the ball in space. It was never so clear-cut before – in the past we would often see Mane or Salah drop between the lines and try to do a bit of playmaking or Firmino and Shaq making runs, however now there was a clear division of responsibilities. And I think it was working – even though we couldn't score for the most of the game, the high press was back, the speed of attacking combinations was better than it has been in a long time and we have created a lot of good chances from open play. Mane, in particular, seemed reinvigorated by simplifying his game and just attacking the space at every opportunity, which has always been his best quality. And having not one, but two playmakers stationed between the lines made our positional attacks flow more easily. It was not perfectly implemented yet, but I thought the direction was very encouraging.
Two seasons ago I calculated our winning % depending on which players from "big 3" (which at the time consisted of Coutinho, Mane and Firmino) started a particular game. The results were clear – Mane was the catalyst; when he was missing the results were dismal, whereas we did fine without Firmino or Phil. You don't need to be a football genius to figure out the reason – Mane was the only player in that squad willing to run in behind; without him we just resorted to making a thousand passes in front of a defense without any penetration. Adding Salah has altered the calculus – now we had 2 willing runners and finishers to add to Phil's (or Ox's) and Bobby's ability to string together quick passing moves and that combination was positively frightening, leading to some of the best attacking football I have ever seen in my life.
There is more than one reason why our attacking game hasn't quite "clicked" until now this season – dips in form of individual players (Salah at the beginning of season, Firmino now), opponents not giving us space to counter-attack – but I think the biggest problem has been the absence of a 2nd playmaker to complement Firmino. Without enough creativity from midfield, Bobby struggled to string moves together all by himself (while also being in charge of small things like leading the line, fighting for long balls and pressing) and Salah and Mane's effectiveness and form suffered because they had to do some playmaking as well, which is not their strength. Moving Firmino to the #10 position alleviated some of the problems, but also created new ones. Now it seems Klopp has found a potential solution with his new "2 between the lines and 2 in behind" formula.
Which brings us to Burnley, Bournemouth, Napoli and United – a nice little run of games that could be decisive for the outcome of this season. Predicting Klopp's rotation is a thankless task, but no matter the personnel, I would like to see this new balance in attack maintained. Here are our options, as I see them:
Forwards or "runners":
- Salah
- Mane
- Origi
- (hopefully soon) Brewster
- Firmino
- Shaqiri
- Sturridge
- Keita
- (not before May) Ox
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