I think you’ll find we often do. When the opposition have the ball and one of their forwards is in front of our goal
1 Like
I’m going to try an answer. A front four of Isak up top, with three behind him - Ekitike left, Wirtz central, and Semenyo right. Get that clicking and we won’t look back.
I don’t see the wide players too wide - more in the half space. And they all need to work hard, run, help the press, and also be flexible positionally to pull defenses out of shape.
It necessarily needs two athletic midfielders behind it (of course they have to be good footballers, that is a given at Liverpool) and Dom and Grav fit the bill perfectly. We might need to add another to the group, such as Wharton or Anderson, possibly at the expense of Mac Allister, who is a really good player but not one who I think blends well with Wirtz in the same midfield.
Obviously we haven’t signed Semenyo, but there may be a January chance to do that if reports of a clause are accurate.
It’s a 4231 and that could be a good solution for the attack.
We look exactly the same when we defend.
Where’s the problem? 
I don’t think that’s a training issue - they look absolutely terrified of playing a risky ball and trusting their mate to make something of it. It looks like the team is in a state where don’t trust each other, and given how hard we find it win a 50/50 that’s hardly surprising.
It is a coaching issue - it’s a dreadful set up that we keep using, particularly when we’re behind.
1 Like
So what you saying is that Slot is getting them on the training pitch and telling them he wants them to move the ball painfully slowing across the back line, with every player in turn get their go at pausing, waiting for the opposition to get in position, and then playing the ball to their team mate just at the moment when they can’t do anything with it?
1 Like
No, that’s not what I’m saying. Where did you get that from?
1 Like
Mac making a BIG effort to run out of the big space in which he could have received the ball to his feet. He was chasing the retreating CB like the guy had stolen his wallet
3 Likes
The only one really moving to receive the ball was Chiesa, but alas he doesn’t get selected, probably because he moves when he should stand still 
1 Like
Being compact works in both directions, even if you want to make the pitch bigger when you’re in possession and especially in Slot’s idea. He wants wingers wider than Klopp had his wide forwards in more narrow half-spaces.
Last season, our full backs and defenders overall were more closer to each other. Slot explained he prefers that because it allows the ball to move faster and it attracts pressure. How that resulted in us bringing the likes of Frimpong and Kerkez is anyone’s guess… perhaps we wanted to change how we use our full backs or believed the two have the ability to learn and be flexible. But anyway.
It’s true that some of our shapes and distances in possession have resembled the issues of for example Conte’s 4-2-4 initial attempt at Chelsea. We at times look like a team cut in two. Obviously the major disappointment this season has been off the ball.
Against United, the two #8’s hid too much in crowded areas, leaving Gravenberch (not a great passer of the ball) with not a lot of passing options. Even in a more positional game approach, yes, we do need people offering themselves to receive. It’s often a tiny, sharp move, but makes all the difference.
Football cannot be played only vertical and 200mp/h all the time, now we have a man in charge who wants more control than we had previously. The usual taste among fans is that everything should go fast, faster than it is, fast players and everything fast all the time. It’s not possible and it’s not even healthy. You need to also be patient, sometimes go back, go sideways, switch, delay attacks. It needs to lead to something though. It’s all intented to open up spaces. If the space is there, you play the ball forward. If it isn’t there, then you have to “cook”.
That said, this season we cannot talk about adding more control and domination to last season, because we’ve dropped and first have to bring balance back before aiming to reach PSG of last spring type of performance.
The ball sometimes moves too slow (or without direction, even after we “cook” a little bit) because of a lack of passing options. Which is connected to our lack of being compact.
It’s absolutely true that we’ve lost a major factor in Trent there, but in my opinion we should find ways of having better build ups even without having such a rare “talent” (those likes of Alves, Alaba, Marcelo, etc.).
Like always, the solution will be a combination of collective and individual improvements.
1 Like
After a few days of intense reflection, I have decided I would like our attack to score more goals.
7 Likes
Troll, what a stupid statement why would you want that, pffffttt
2 Likes
Not only linked to the attack, but I liked some of the stuff we played today in the box shape midfield in possession. Been calling for it lately.
Would like us to use it more often, an attacking midfielder playing off either sides instead of always playing with two wingers. We can do it on either side and then decide also depending on our full backs on the day.
The ball progressed with more fluidity, more one-twos and although West Ham left us spaces a little bit everywhere (Sunderland will be more compact), we often found the spare man. Nice combinations in small spaces and also some nice counter-pressing moments.
Isak’s goal was a nice finish (and I especially liked Wirtz’s part in it, his pass to Gakpo), that’s his forte, although a lot of room for improvement on that general performance.
2 Likes
Saw on MNF last night (before that game that is) and in terms of xG difference, we’re currently 5th in the league, so +5 compared to our table position.
2 Likes
That is some mitigation (similar to how the team identified that Dortmund’s bad season in Klopp’s final season was a lot of bad luck), but even ONLY being 5th right now would have Slot under a good amount of pressure
2 Likes
This might be a bit of an oversimplification but hear me out.
In place of Sadio we have Hugo. Hugo is a bit of a jack of all trades striker who may also be a master of some. He has that natural combativeness allied with size strength speed and no lack of skills and finishing. He could totally take up Sadio’s berth on the left. On the right we could have Isak. Him with the twinkle toes and deadeye finishing once fully fit and firing. And he is basically a Salah replacement but in a different style.
And in the middle in Bobby’s place, we have Florian. Someone who’s got magic feet great vision and can thread passes to his to forward mates. Now instead of having a flat from three, now we have a two with a no 10 sitting behind them. Why can’t that work?
It’s a big oversimplification or better to say, there just isn’t enough similarities between those players.
I just don’t see how Mane and Ekitike are comparable, just two very different players. The other two comparisons also.
We’ll have to build something new, it’s just not possible to recreate what we had by trying to get as close as possible to it with the current ones. Style wise, I mean.
3 Likes
https://x.com/LewisSteele_/status/1999405901472760285
I hope he didn’t mean playing one of them on the flank to accommodate the other because it will end in pain for all of us.
1 Like
I’m not sure if playing both of them centrally together will end up any differently for us.
Joking aside, we’ll see.
In Milan the other night, in our diamond, they were positioned wider than in a let’s say classic diamond. Ekitike inside left, Isak inside right. They didn’t complete one single pass between each other. Mac had an important role (especially defensive one) off the ball between them. Different games might require different things.
Slot today said that he will see what he will do tomorrow, whether the two can start again and whether they are central together or set up differently (I guess it means Ekitike could start on the left).
1 Like