Things are afoot. I'd be interested in some discussion of how the tactical periodisation in training has led us to this point, where a team is eager to hunt the ball in packs, and seemingly does so naturally when that midfield three boasts both energy and tactical nous.
I think this is a really important point. It was hugely interesting reading the many quality posts on tactical periodisation from Phase Of Play last season, very reassuring and informative at a time where wasn't totally sure what Rodgers was aiming for. Since reading those I'm sure I'm not the only one who's been looking for signs of what PoP predicted in our play, and they've been there, sure enough. We really seem to have improved the team in stages, attack first, then defence, now it seems we're adding more pressing into that, and we've had some flexibility and success in switching between styles. It's not perfect yet, we haven't really looked clinical when we've been solid, nor have we ever managed to broadcast a sense of solidity when committing numbers to attack, but just to have looked clinical and solid, albeit at different times, is a huge progression on what we've seen in recent years, which have been characterised largely by teams with obvious limitations and little sense of a clear club plan to improve those weak areas.
I think where a game like this can really be a landmark is in getting that last bit of buy in and belief from a squad. In any job, any project, you can prepare brilliantly, you can work and edit and rework until you know, your team knows, whoever is working on the project knows that it is really something special - but that still doesn't count until it's delivered and you can start getting real feedback on it. This result is the equivalent of acing a presentation, or an article garnering lots of attention, or a book selling well. We knew we were getting good, now we've proved that we can be good, now we need to follow it up - the hard work is still only really just beginning but we also now know how to do that hard work, that it takes a lot but that we have enough effort and talent to do that work and to do it well.
This is where the off pitch stability is such a key. We all remember some landmark moments under Rafa, but they were never really followed up on structurally or strategically. We were the equivalent of having that great team doing an amazing project/producing a fantastic product, but then never having the means and/or foresight to market it properly, to exploit our contacts into getting that product seen or heard or bought.
It's also crucial that none of this will be coming as a surprise to our management, or not to the important parts of it. These are expected landmarks on a clear path. This kind of result, I could imagine, is celebrated with a professional nod, a tick of a box on a list, a small chink of modest glasses and then an immediate look at the schedule for what's required to reach that next tick on the list - and that is what I find most encouraging of all.
