1) Arne's passed his first test of in-match coaching. We were tactically outmatched in 1H as Josh pointed out. At half time, Arne corrected the tactics & stressed areas for improvement. We all heard others describe his strengths as a tactician & man-manager ... nice to see it in practice!
2) Last season, Atalanta man-marked & outhustled us at Anfield & we had no answers. In many other matches last season, we "start slow" & an opponent's press or intensity results in a conceded goal. On Saturday, Ipswich took the game to us and created issues ... need to be switched-on from kickoff.
3) It was a weak opponent & a small sample size but Ryan's performance was encouraging, especially his ability to dribble by his marker to break lines. He's one of the only players we've got who can dribbles past markers & progress through carries ... let's see a repeat on Sunday!
“Goals change games” is a hilarious one to me as well because obviously.
There was a lot to like about that second half, and I heard that Slot would swap out players if he wasn’t getting what he wanted; however, I wasn’t expecting it in the first game, with a centre back, away from home.
It’s early days but we may be seeing man management of a different kind? Do you think there’s anything in Elliott, Jones and Nuñez not getting any minutes at all? I know there are a lot of games but I figured they’d get at least 20-30 minutes. Maybe they’ll go a full 90 next match so United don’t know which players we’ll start? Exciting times!
Yeah dead happy with that half time turn around; always felt one of klopps greatest strengths was understanding his system well enough to see what wasn’t working and then make those tweaks at halftime that suddenly make everything click.
I think this becomes particularly important when you are playing 3 games per week and the teams you face have a lot more time to set up and find a way to stop you… and you don’t have that time to set up for them.
So you go and do what you do… weather the storm; see what they are doing then adjust and take control.
I think one factor from the analysis last night of Liverpool that wa sinteredting was the movements of both Robertson and VVD that were highlighted.
My take is the movements are designed to create overloads as the opposition do not track those runs. When Robertson did it meant the 1vs 1 presser on Quansah or on gravenberch now had to make a decision where to go. The person meant to be marking Robertson stayed in his position. It means Liverpool had Quansah free at that time. And disrupts the 1v 1 press of Ipswich
Same with VVD
This meant the press could be beaten because of the overload. It gave Liverpool more bodies than Ipswich in that part of the park. The risk is that it leaves Liverpool vulnerable at the back stick if the move breaks down.
Slots game all over the pitch is about overloading. He takes it to a larger extreme than did Klopp.
It's obviously very early doors, but Slot impressed me on the weekend. He seems tactically astute and I'm excited to see how this team develops under his coaching. The first half felt like a case of teething problems which is to be expected. Therefore, it was really pleasing to witness the tactical tweaks and for them to pay off. Love your point about 'everything is connected' and also the importance of 'having a strategic edge'. Great write up, Josh.
While watching the second half, I began to consider whether we might already have a viable replacement for Salah during those times when he can't play the full 4,500 plus minutes this season. What if we were to shift Trent into the right-wing position as a temporary solution? Under the current system, that role demands certain key attributes:
A: The ability to make runs behind the defence—Trent has both the pace and strength to do so.
B: The capacity to reach the byline and either pull the ball back or deliver a cross into the box.
C: The vision to pick out a pass for an underlapping runner in support.
Seeing Trent link up higher up the pitch with Bradley or Szoboszlai could be an intriguing option. It would grant Trent more freedom during transitions without the obligation to track back into the right-back position, yet still allow him to cover that role when needed.
Under this system, I currently question whether Harvey possesses the pace necessary to fulfill the requirements of the right-winger.
Feels good to be back reading about the actual footy not just the ifs and maybes. Good take Josh!
Observations from Ipswich match:
1) Arne's passed his first test of in-match coaching. We were tactically outmatched in 1H as Josh pointed out. At half time, Arne corrected the tactics & stressed areas for improvement. We all heard others describe his strengths as a tactician & man-manager ... nice to see it in practice!
2) Last season, Atalanta man-marked & outhustled us at Anfield & we had no answers. In many other matches last season, we "start slow" & an opponent's press or intensity results in a conceded goal. On Saturday, Ipswich took the game to us and created issues ... need to be switched-on from kickoff.
3) It was a weak opponent & a small sample size but Ryan's performance was encouraging, especially his ability to dribble by his marker to break lines. He's one of the only players we've got who can dribbles past markers & progress through carries ... let's see a repeat on Sunday!
“Goals change games” is a hilarious one to me as well because obviously.
There was a lot to like about that second half, and I heard that Slot would swap out players if he wasn’t getting what he wanted; however, I wasn’t expecting it in the first game, with a centre back, away from home.
It’s early days but we may be seeing man management of a different kind? Do you think there’s anything in Elliott, Jones and Nuñez not getting any minutes at all? I know there are a lot of games but I figured they’d get at least 20-30 minutes. Maybe they’ll go a full 90 next match so United don’t know which players we’ll start? Exciting times!
THEY JUST WANTED IT MORE!! 🤣
Kind of did though…
Yeah dead happy with that half time turn around; always felt one of klopps greatest strengths was understanding his system well enough to see what wasn’t working and then make those tweaks at halftime that suddenly make everything click.
I think this becomes particularly important when you are playing 3 games per week and the teams you face have a lot more time to set up and find a way to stop you… and you don’t have that time to set up for them.
So you go and do what you do… weather the storm; see what they are doing then adjust and take control.
Great read that!👏🏽
Thanks for reading Thashen.
I think one factor from the analysis last night of Liverpool that wa sinteredting was the movements of both Robertson and VVD that were highlighted.
My take is the movements are designed to create overloads as the opposition do not track those runs. When Robertson did it meant the 1vs 1 presser on Quansah or on gravenberch now had to make a decision where to go. The person meant to be marking Robertson stayed in his position. It means Liverpool had Quansah free at that time. And disrupts the 1v 1 press of Ipswich
Same with VVD
This meant the press could be beaten because of the overload. It gave Liverpool more bodies than Ipswich in that part of the park. The risk is that it leaves Liverpool vulnerable at the back stick if the move breaks down.
Slots game all over the pitch is about overloading. He takes it to a larger extreme than did Klopp.
It's obviously very early doors, but Slot impressed me on the weekend. He seems tactically astute and I'm excited to see how this team develops under his coaching. The first half felt like a case of teething problems which is to be expected. Therefore, it was really pleasing to witness the tactical tweaks and for them to pay off. Love your point about 'everything is connected' and also the importance of 'having a strategic edge'. Great write up, Josh.
While watching the second half, I began to consider whether we might already have a viable replacement for Salah during those times when he can't play the full 4,500 plus minutes this season. What if we were to shift Trent into the right-wing position as a temporary solution? Under the current system, that role demands certain key attributes:
A: The ability to make runs behind the defence—Trent has both the pace and strength to do so.
B: The capacity to reach the byline and either pull the ball back or deliver a cross into the box.
C: The vision to pick out a pass for an underlapping runner in support.
Seeing Trent link up higher up the pitch with Bradley or Szoboszlai could be an intriguing option. It would grant Trent more freedom during transitions without the obligation to track back into the right-back position, yet still allow him to cover that role when needed.
Under this system, I currently question whether Harvey possesses the pace necessary to fulfill the requirements of the right-winger.
Every team marks Liverpool man for man now and you saw the team continue to struggle against that in the first half.