www.espnfc.com.
ESPN FC caught up with former
AC Milan, Fiorentina and Brentford set-piece coach Gianni Vio for insight into how Liverpool can cure their biggest defensive Achilles' heel.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
ESPN FC: Klopp uses a zonal system to make up for the lack of height in his team. Is he right to use this approach? Vio: In my opinion, there isn't a system that does not concede goals. Man-for-man, zonal, mixed -- all these systems have weakness points. For example, if you mark zonal and I put five players at the far post, I'm sure that in this space my team is two versus one.
If you mark zonal, like
Liverpool do now with five or six players, and there is only three players that mark man-to-man, I put players in front of the keeper and ones to pick up the second balls. I can then create some situations where there is a player free because the other [defensive] players just control six yards of space in the box.
Believe me, no solution in defensive organisation is correct for not conceding goals. Offensive situations and offensive set pieces are my job, so I've studied all the weakness points of defensive organisations [at set pieces].
-------------------------------
ESPN FC: From all the teams you've studied, who defends set pieces the best?Vio: Germany, and I think it is one of the reasons why Klopp marks like Germany. But Germany's goalkeeper [Manuel Neuer] is the best in the world.
Two things make the difference: the players and training. If I don't have big, big players, then it's necessary to improve the training. Juventus mark man-to-man and they don't concede a lot of goals because they have the best players in Italy.
In every team there is a maximum of two or three players who are very good at headers and can score goals. We have tall players who never score. For example, in Italy, with Juventus it's not necessary to mark all the players because only [Giorgio] Chiellini and [Leonardo] Bonucci [score often]. For Real Madrid, only Sergio Ramos scores. Why do you have to mark the other players?
If I were Liverpool, I would have five players mark zonal and one player marking Ramos, for example -- but not just in the first ball.
Liverpool are concentrated in the first ball, but lose the movement in the second ball. You have to mark this player always and stay with him.-------------------------------
Source: http://www.espnfc.com/club/liverpool/364/blog/post/3112967/set-piece-specialist-vio-qa-liverpool-dead-ball-woes-remain-a-concern