Football tactics analysis from UEFA Champions League, Premier League, Serie A, La Liga and Bundesliga
While #Paulinho makes a great run and #Coutinho pulls off a magnificent pass, the key move is made by #Jesus. His off the ball movement stretches the defensive unit creating space for the runner from deep. A brief video analysis focusing on individual movement from Brazil striker that allows Coutinho to show his brilliance.
This highly anticipated Man Utd v Liverpool match proved to be an interesting affair well worth watching as both teams lose two points each on Sunday evening at Old Trafford. A very different game compared to the first match these teams played at Anfield. It is safe to say nobody will be happier than Antonio Conte after his arch rivals fail to secure a win.
CONTEXT
Before the match, United had a great string of six straight wins in the league and haven’t lost a game since end of October. With a win over their Merseyside rivals they could close the gap to two points and possibly even sneak into the top four. Playing at their home ground they clearly had to take the risk and go for it.
Sitting in second spot, five points behind Chelsea, Liverpool was in better position but had to maintain the pressure on The Blues while keeping the distance from Tottenham that was two points behind. Certainly a difficult task ahead of big rival match that was made even harder without the best goalscorer, Sadio Mane, who was away with Cameroon squad. Additionally, Liverpool still didn’t win this year drawing league games against Sunderland and the FA Cup game against Plymouth while they have lost against Southampton in the League Cup.
While both teams started quite cautiously, Liverpool looked particularly vulnerable. Man United was set out determined to impede their ability to transition from defence to the middle third. Whenever Mignolet had the ball Herrera was joining Ibrahimović in closing down passing options while the whole squad went high up the pitch to man mark Liverpool players.
In case Liverpool was able to get into the middle third, a combination of man and zonal marking was employed to cut out the passing options. Above we see the situation where Klavan is able to get on the ball fairly high. However, positioning of Man United players meant he really had only two passing choices. A back pass to goalkeeper that would trigger high pressing or a long ball towards rather small forward line. As only Origi has the ability to tame high balls these usually ended up with Man United retaking the possession.
The key in above situations was the positioning of three central midfielders who man mark Liverpool players thus cutting off the possibility of a pass in the central area. Ibrahimović is keeping the horizontal pass to Lovren impossible while Valencia is marking Milner (both out of the picture). The role of the Mkhitaryan is crucial. He needs the ability to make the right decision while choosing between the following:
a) press the ball carrier forcing a rushed clearance or even snatching the ball off the defender
b) stay within formation and cover his man (Milner)
Obviously in this situation Mkhitaryan has chosen to close down on Klavan which produced a chain reaction as Milner had to be picked up by Valencia and whole defensive line needed to shift to cover for this move if the pressing was to be successful.
However, Man United pressing proved to be well synchronized throughout the match. Particularly in the opening half hour Liverpool had difficulties to get out of the defensive zone in an organized manner.
Map shown above marks the forward passes from both teams up to 28th minute of the match. You can see both teams had similar numbers (47 successful out of 77 for Liverpool and 46 out of 74 for Man United). However, Liverpool had majority of those passes initiated in their own defensive zone. United, on the other hand, managed to get higher up the pitch before going for a forward pass during this period of game. It is safe to say a good team pressing Man United has shown directly contributed to this and made Liverpool virtually ineffective in the first 30 minutes of the game. Liverpool was able to threaten United only via set pieces and, luckily enough, they got a penalty after Pogba made a crucial mistake in 28th minute.
This, however, didn’t change the overall shape of the game. United has continued to attack predominantly down the left hand side as you can see in the above “forward passes” image. Whether it was a deliberate attempt to exploit young Alexander-Arnold in the right back spot remains unclear. In any case, United often tried to unsettle the visiting team by overloading that side as Mkhitaryan cut inside.
While Carrick was playing his standard holding midfielder role, he was making sure he stayed behind the ball together with two center backs. Herrera and Pogba were altering themselves in forward runs but United found it difficult to get into scoring positions during set attacks.
Above you see a typical situation where United is attacking LFC’s set up defence. Herrera is painfully isolated in the center midfield while his team mates are far too advanced up the pitch. The screenshot also speaks to how defensive and cautious Liverpool was in this match especially after they got a lead. While Man United overloads the left side of the pitch, Valencia is the only outlet on the right. When Herrera managed to get into the offensive position, he was completely cut off as well as Pogba, Mkhitaryan and Martial. This was mainly due to hard defensive work from Liverpool which fell back into 4-5-1 formation when defending.
While Liverpool found it difficult to get on the ball and play their game, they relied on counter attacks but weren’t really successful doing so. Ironically, it was United that created more and better chances off the counter attacks during the first half. Pogba and Mkhitaryan had both good opportunities after Liverpool handed over the ball in the middle third but failed to convert.
Despite the change in the half time (Rooney for Carrick and slight formation alteration from 4-3-3 to 4-2-3-1) when United went more attacking the things on the pitch changed very little. United was still able to threaten only when they managed to dispossess Liverpool and launch a counter attack. Ibrahimović was crucial in those counter attacks as once the ball was won in the middle, his team mates were looking for him to hold on it. United used well Milner’s offensive stance and Ibrahimović often changed the point of attack down the right flank for on rushing Valencia but they failed to score.
Significant changes came in the 60th minute. As Jurgen Klopp introduced Coutinho Liverpool was finally able to hold the ball in the central midfield area and get into counter attack. On the other side, United was losing patience relying more and more on the crosses. Mata didn’t provide the creative spark Mourinho was hoping for and in 75th minute he went all about crosses. Darmian left the field and was substituted with Marouane Fellaini. As a consequence, Mkhitaryan went to left full back, Rooney was moved from CAM position to left wing and Fellaini went up with Ibrahimović.
This only meant that in last 15 minutes of the game Liverpool had more control with Coutinho on the pitch while the hosts tried to lump the ball forward to two tall players from deep and from flanks. United failed to create anything substantial and the plan clearly didn’t work until it actually worked.
To conclude, for the major part of the match United managed to tame the visitors with great closing down and pressing. However, they weren’t able to break down their defence through the combination play. Liverpool rarely looked so ineffective on the offensive as in the first half of the game but as nerves started to play with United in the second half, they have managed to pick themselves up and will be disappointed to have lost two points so late in the match.
This analysis was first published at soccerspecific, a coaching education platform with the mission of creating and sharing the highest quality of coaching information in order to positively impact player development around the world.
Jose Mourinho got the stick and stone from media and fans as his Manchester United drew against Liverpool at Anfield in, what was labelled, the worst derby of the decade. Fans just can’t accept defensive stance he took at Anfield after spending huge money in the summer on transfer. However, having good players doesn’t really equal good team and that is only one of the things that comes into the equation.
Before the match Liverpool was the favourite to win the game. They haven’t been so efficient in decades while United is still in search for best 11. They had big trouble overcoming Ukrainian side Zorya in Europa League and managed only a draw in their last match with Stoke. It is safe to say the mood in the dressing room is far from perfect. To make it worst, after big match against Liverpool, Man Utd has to play Fenerbahce, Chelsea and Guardiola’s Man City in next ten days.
All that together made it a very difficult game for Mourinho who had to make some important decisions. Above all, Mourinho didn’t want to lose the game since that would drop the morale even further as he approaches difficult ten days. He did everything to avoid that and with style, taking care of most threats his opposition posed. Last time he faced a team that plays the ball from back was against Man City. Mourinho opted for quite deep defence and very passive approach with zero pressing. Man City completely dominated United in that match and punished the choice. So, against Liverpool, Mourinho chose to obstruct opposition high up the pitch in order to stop their transition into the middle third. This way he made home side suffer numerous possession turnovers and, what is perhaps more important, Liverpool lost confidence in build up and smooth approach to rival’s goal.
He also sent his team on the pitch with clear idea not to succumb to gegenpressing. “Heavy metal” football that Klopp employs is a trade mark of his team. To avoid that trap Mourinho didn’t want too much fiddling with the ball in own third. De Gea’s ball distribution shows he didn’t make single short pass during the match and if you look at the above diagram of clearances made, you can se United punted the ball on numerous occasions. Being pragmatic is what Mourinho does best and if clearing the ball means not being caught in gegenpressing, then United will and did punt the ball almost every two minutes during the game.
Often disputed Marouane Fellaini found his way into the starting line up as, together with Ibrahimović and Pogba, he is extremely useful in those situations. Statistics show that those punted balls weren’t really so hopeless as United managed to win aerial duels three times more than their opponents. It isn’t a coincidence as almost ten per cent of passes United made were chipped balls for tall and strong Ibrahimović, Pogba and Fellaini. While it is very dubious offensive plan since most of second balls off the headers get scooped by defence anyway, it is still a plan and United played to their strengths. In the end, the best chance they had came in 53rd minute when Ibrahimović headed the ball unusually poor.
However, remember that main idea behind the game plan was not to concede the goal by not getting caught in gegenpressing. The offensive plan was just a side effect of main goal.
However, Mourinho had to think how to stop Liverpool on the ball once they do break the pressing. LFC plays a particular brand of football where full backs provide width while attacking trio is relatively free to roam and switch positions hoping to exploit the width created by wide and offensive full backs.
Above you can see Liverpool in offensive shape with Clyne and Milner very wide while offensive players plus two attacking minded midfielders (Can and Coutinho) look to break through the defensive block. However, Mourinho nullified the space they need by having two energetic wingers who marked full backs. You can tell how well prepared and thought out was Mourinho as he Ashley Young got his first starting spot since January. His ability to repeatedly run up and down the pitch was crucial for Mourinho. Ability Lingard lacks.
Using wingers to mark opposition full backs tightly liberated defensive fore from direct threat and made the half spaces occupied and unapproachable by Firmino, Mane, Sturridge and Coutinho. Mourinho simply nullified the space they need to operate. With Fellaini, Herrera and Pogba in center midfield United completely closed down space and time Liverpool would need to develop their flair and direct runs to the goal. This approach, coupled with quick direct forward passing, insured Liverpool had no chance to catch them in possession to spur counter attack and no space to play direct towards the goal nor ability to create overloads.
Despite having 65 per cent of possession, Liverpool managed only three shots on goal and only one was really dangerous. An incident from 58th minute when Liverpool was able to find Emre Can who managed a shot from inside penalty area. While United had even fewer opportunities, they really didn’t care. They came to seal off one of the most potent teams in Premiership and they did it almost perfectly. While that meant only few players in offensive positions and anger from fans, Mourinho really won’t care. He had a task, studied it well, and his players executed it even better.
Despite the outrage on the social networks, real loser was Juergen Klopp. He failed to adapt and only once he put Adam Lallana on the pitch his team was more dangerous. However, by that time, visitors were already even more decisive to keep bodies behind the ball. In the end, both managers will be happy. Liverpool was favourite but still didn’t lose and they have few “easier” games ahead while United bought some time before difficult weak ahead while keeping the clean sheet against one of the best attacks in the league.
No doubt Arsenal and Liverpool played a match of the season at the Emirates on Sunday. It remains to be seen how long this title will hold, however. Season opener is always a tricky affair as no one wants to lose, luckily, both teams went for a win and the match didn’t disappoint.
Arsene Wenger had some tough time deciding the starting line up as he was missing six players. Welbeck, Mertersacker and Gabriel were injured while Oezil, Giroud and Koscielny are still not in shape after EURO. In defence he had little to chose and new signing Rob Holding made a début paired with unproven Calum Chambers. Only real surprise was on left wing where another unproven player, Alex Iwobi, took place ahead of Oxlade-Chamberlain in the starting line up. All in all, Wenger was forced to pick severely weakened central defender pairing while deliberately sidelineing Oxlade-Chamberlaine.
Similar problems in defence had Juergen Klopp who was missing new signing Joel Matip due to injury while Mammadou Sakho was out of squad for breaching the discipline during the pre-season. Last year’s starters James Milner and Daniel Sturridge were also missing. However, unlike Wenger, Klopp did his shopping during the summer and had new signings Ragnar Klavan, Georginio Wijnaldum and Sadio Mane to replace injured players. By the end of the match it will prove decisive as all players that made a début for Liverpool proved crucial for victory over Arsenal.
As expected, both teams opted for high pressing game from early on. You can see above four Arsenal players locking down six Liverpool players which lead to a lot of problems for visiting team. At times Liverpool had trouble getting out of their defensive zone having to rely on long clearances more than Klopp had hoped for. This might be the reason Wenger went for Iwobi instead of Oxlade-Chamberlain as Nigerian is much harder worker thus more useful chasing down opposition defence. Whole lock down on above screenshot is down to Alberto Moreno who is way too central congesting the space and making it easier for Walcott to mark himself and Klavan. As this is not bad enough, his poor positioning clogs the midfield as Wijnaldum is directly affected by Moreno’s positioning so he is restricted to occupy more central position as well.
Wijnaldum’s role, as well as Henderson’s is to drop deeper when Liverpool is pressed high and help them establish numerical advantage to transition the ball from defensive into middle third. Whole Klopp’s idea gets destroyed by poor positioning from left back.
While high pressing triggers Wijnaldum’s and Henderson’s runs deep, deeper opposition triggers forward runs from full backs as you can see above. Liverpool has a solid base of two centre backs and two midfielders who create a box to control the transition into middle half of the pitch with numerical advantage. While width is achieved by pushing the full backs high, wingers Coutinho and Mane get into central positions to occupy the centre backs. This image also tells an important role Firmino plays for Klopp. He has relatively free role to roam left and right.
As match progressed in deeper in the first half Arsenal scored after Henderson lost the ball deep into his half to Alex Iwobi who assisted Walcott. Five minutes after the goal were best football Arsenal offered in the match with crisp passing and quick runs from central players, particularly Aaron Ramsey. However, Liverpool regained their composure and put their foot on the game rather quickly. After a masterful free kick in the injury time they were back and second half looked very promising.
Although Liverpool pressed high in first half, they did it with even more energy after the second half had begun. Only four minutes into the second half comes the moment Klopp will be especially happy about. As you can see in picture above, Liverpool positioning in attacking third is very much same as in second still shot, albeit on the left side of the pitch this time. Free roaming Firmino changes places with Coutinho and passes him a ball from left into the central area. Coquelin and Elmeny fail to close him down and Chambers is forced to leave the defensive line opening space behind. Skilful pass finds Wijnaldum who exploits that space and Liverpool is through. Subsequent cross from Wijnaldum finds his partner in midfield and Lallana who scores with great finish.
Although skills to pull the move off are down to players, the move itself is conceived and done by Klopp on training pitch. At that point Liverpool stole the ball from Arsenal and controlled the game completely. While Arsenal tried to get back with more pressing Klopp’s team employed more direct balls and threatened even further. Quarter of an hour later they were three goals clear of hosts and it looked like the match was over.
Despite the fact Arsenal managed to get two goals back, Liverpool wasn’t really in danger of letting points go. Well, it was, but not from well executed team play by Arsenal. In conclusion, Liverpool showed they play as a team more than Arsenal does at this early stage. Also, the quality of players Klopp brought in, compared to those Wenger could muster together, was too much for London team.
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