Topic: Team Analysis: Jürgen Klopp’s Liverpool Tactics (*)

[Purple Red]

https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2016/oct/30/jurgen-klopp-liverpool-crystal-palace-premier-league

That bitter United loving wretch Richard Keys took real exception to this today on Twitter. Tried to simplify Klopp's tactics to just saying he tells people to run into space like all football managers have done in the past. If that's the case what's wrong with United, Keys?

[Chakan]

That bitter United loving wretch Richard Keys took real exception to this today on Twitter. Tried to simplify Klopp's tactics to just saying he tells people to run into space like all football managers have done in the past. If that's the case what's wrong with United, Keys?

The day people start taking advice on football from Richard Keys in the day football is officially dead.

[007.lankyguy]

Can we achieve all this with a Sturridge/Origi traditional no.9 or is this idea of a false 9 with Firmino what gives us this amazing fluidity in the final third? I`m kinda leaning towards the latter as Mane and Phil are getting better and better at timing their runs when exploiting the space Firmino often vacates.

It operates more efficiently in all phases with Firmino up front than it does with Sturridge or Origi - he just has an instinct for supporting the play that those two don't have (or don't have to the level that he does). That's not to say we couldn't play achieve the right balance with Sturridge or Origi and Klopp has a knack of finding ways to achieve it, but it's much less complicated with Firmino. He just offers so much.

[Halibut-Thumb]

I think of Sturridge plays the way he did vs. Leicester where he worked so hard off the ball and ran himself ragged in the first half he can be effective. Origi has shown he has the stamina and drive as well, but he's a young lad and while he has shown he can do a job, I expect he has much to learn about game intelligence.

Firmino is a truly class player though, his intelligence, stamina, vision and skill is simply better than anyone else in our squad. Unless we have a Suarez, Lewandowski or Aguero I don't see many strikers in the world who can be more effective than him in that role.

The longer Bob gets used to being the striker, the better his killer instinct for finishing will develop. He's brilliant on the left of the front three, but by the end of the season Firmino will be considered a striker by the football community, having Mané interchange with him (or someone like the recently again linked Inaki Williams) gives us perfect balance going forward.

I honestly wouldn't swap Firmino for anyone in this league, not even Sanchez... Ok maybe Aguero.

[Steady Eddie]

Firmino for me has really grown into the role and looks very much like a Tevez or Rooney did around 8 years ago, where they were central strikers, who supported, pressed and worked the flanks, just really busy players who got involved in all aspects, and that i think is the key. Strikers can traditionally operate on the periphery of games for larges chunks, what it appears to me is that Klopp absolutely does not want that disconnect, he wants his players active consistently whether that be when in or out of possession and it's that all roundedness (yes i know it's a great made up word though!) that he brings which sets him apart from the likes of our talented Sturridge and less experienced but eager Origi. Ings ironically is probably the closest to him in that respect, however lacking a bit of that natural ability in comparison.

I do find it fascinating that he appears very relaxed about patterns of play in the final third with the main instruction that his forwards are all active in and around the box, it's almost as though they have a certain amount of freedom to use their initiative - however you'd fully expect there to be some direction from the training pitch on making intelligent runs, when to move etc. This has been the biggest change for me from Rodgers regime, that urgency in the final third to exploit space and become reactive to situations.

[Halibut-Thumb]

Great shout on the Tevez comparison! It's weird but I see a lot of Torres in Bob, they both have a very similar style of taking on defenders.

[afc tukrish]

Great read, and well worth a few repeat analyses...

[Persephone]

"He just tells players to go where they want" - Alan Shearer

Well that explains why Shearer was an absolute failure as a manager and pundit. He is the epitome of a thick footballer.

[rscanderlech]

We still mess up a lot of our attacks at one stage or another in a way that Man City and some foreign teams don't. Our players make wrong decisions, execute poorly or sometimes aren't good enough with the finish or lack the pace or strength and so on.

I'm not sure whether this is an issue of quality--i.e. Is Firmino a good enough goalscorer to be playing there? Are the others around him good enough to be as clinical as you need to be to win titles and trophies?--or whether it's just a matter of players gelling over time, confidence and experience (since our attackers are all young, apart from Lallana).

In any case I hope to see Firmino lift his poaching skills higher. Then he will be a seriously top forward and any dispute about whether we should get a big-time goalscorer there instead would be ended. Likewise, I'd like to see players like Henderson, Can, Lallana, Mane and company becoming more efficient in the final third. Or maybe reaching that level just requires signing the real top players like the ones that are found presently at Barca, Real, Bayern and even City.

[T. Finn]

Firmino for me has really grown into the role and looks very much like a Tevez or Rooney did around 8 years ago

That's what's been bugging me, thank you, he reminded me of someone that for someone reason I had totally forgotten about. Tevez at his best, when he single handedly kept West Ham up in that run to close out the season, is Firmino at top level as well. Just tireless pressing from the front, always in a dangerous spot seemingly, with or without the ball. I think his top level is that for a whole season and it will make Klopp's system work to perfection.

[Lasardine]

I don't think there is a thread that exists for this type of thing. Thought we could have a thread about tactics that have been deployed by Klopp during games this season.

Personally felt like the City game was very interesting from a tactical point of view. It was not the all-action Liverpool side we've come to see this season, whether it was by design or not is unclear but it sounds like it wasn't based on what Milner had to say. City forced us into changing our style of play but we did so very effectively and it was a very European style performance. We got our goal early on and then saw the game out. On the ball we were not at our best but we managed the game far better than we did against Bournemouth for example and hopefully that is a sign we have learned a few lessons.

I thought Lallana was pivotal to how we defended, his use of his cover shadow to block off passes into de Bruyne in the half spaces, something Klopp mentioned pre-match would be a key part of the game. That said, all the midfielders did their job and Wijnaldum deserves a great deal of credit too. He's proving how versatile he is - I think we were all expecting a bit of a luxury player when he signed but tactically he looks very good and perhaps should've been expected given his Dutch roots.

We defended very compactly with the defence holding a high line (more so in the first half) which meant that City were unable to penetrate in the middle or final third because they couldn't find a pass into Silva or de Bruyne in the half spaces, and consequently we also shut out Aguero who probably had one of his most quiet games since arriving in the PL (no touches inside the box I believe). Second half we started drop a bit deeper and Silva was starting to affect the game a bit more as a result. It's fair to say the deeper a team drops, the more pressure they invite. #

But regardless, most of our problems came from us giving the ball away with City then breaking on us.  Firmino is doing it week in, week out, losing balls dangerously in the middle third and due to our orientation and spacing when we have the ball, it leaves us vulnerable on the defensive transition. It's something he, and maybe Mane too, need to improve on because our fluid system involves the front attackers dropping deep to provide an outlet for the man in possession, with the midfielders often then occupying the space they vacate.

I've not seen the game again and it's late now, but they were the main things I picked up on during the game. Would be interested to hear others' thoughts from a tactical perspective.

[SerbianScouser]

In recent couple of games we're struggling a bit with our build-up.

Lallana and Wijnaldum don't seem to be as open as they usually are to receive the passes. Today we dominated the ball as usual but due to our midfield not functioning properly Sturridge was dropping deep to much (which is always an indication of our midfield being dysfunctional) so we never really opened them up properly and created quality 8/10 chances. Same goes for the City game.

It's slightly worrying that when teams focus on our 2 attacking midfielders we can struggle a bit too much to get into good positions in the final third but the good news Matip and Phil are back real soon so it's gonna be a different dynamic and we'll have more options to use to avoid tactical traps.

[McrRed]

http://spielverlagerung.com/2017/01/02/klopps-compact-4-3-3-thwarts-guardiolas-game-plan/

[princeoftherocks]

"We are Liverpool. Let’s show it. We can be different to other teams in this league. Let’s fight for a result.”

What does he mean by that?

[DanA]

To me there is an obvious difference between when we have our guys that press well (Firmino, Coutinho, Mane, Lallana, Wijnaldum & Henderson) and when even one of them drops out. It seems to get exponentially worse the more of these guys are missing. I think the other options (Origi, Sturridge, Can etc) are all very good players but can't quite execute Klopp's game plan to the same level.

[SerbianScouser]

Don't think that just absence of Mane is a reason for our slump - think it's Mane in combination with absence of Matip and Phil.

That's why second half tonight for me was an encouragement as it looked like we were finding our rhythm , created a couple of good chances and opened them up well on occasion (Lallana getting all the way to the post after overlapping).

Think we will build on this in upcoming games because Matip and Phil due to their technical ability have a massive positive impact on our overall performances. However , I think in addition to that we'll need to make a few more tweaks. It's getting more obvious that we're simply not involved anymore in open games, almost every game is the same now as teams relentlessly park the buses against us.

We'll have to move Bob centrally; as much as I like Sturridge and how lethal he can be, this season it's just not worth it as moving Bob wide is almost a double negative. Also we've got to give our best midfield Hendo-Gini-Lallana a chance again as it's our best chance to start moving the ball again as quickly as we did earlier in the season.

[andy07]

Far from me to question the wisdom of Klopp who is experiencing his first real blip but why do we never vary our game plan?   We seem to take an eternity to get forward and never really looked capable of creating a clear cut chance.  Three shots on target tells its own story.  What I don't get is why can't we add a bit of variation to our basic game plan?   Try some long range shots,  try and dribble into the box and force a challenge,  play quick balls forward for the likes of Origi to run onto when the opposition do come forward, play the dreaded long ball once in a while,  push one of our centre backs forward for periods where the opposition sit deep and look to feed off the second ball.    I am sure that Klopp will succeed when he has the players available to fit his preferred game plan but for the time being can we not add a bit of variety and keep defenders on their toes?   

[cdav]

Don't think that just absence of Mane is a reason for our slump - think it's Mane in combination with absence of Matip and Phil.

That's why second half tonight for me was an encouragement as it looked like we were finding our rhythm , created a couple of good chances and opened them up well on occasion (Lallana getting all the way to the post after overlapping).

Think we will build on this in upcoming games because Matip and Phil due to their technical ability have a massive positive impact on our overall performances. However , I think in addition to that we'll need to make a few more tweaks. It's getting more obvious that we're simply not involved anymore in open games, almost every game is the same now as teams relentlessly park the buses against us.

We'll have to move Bob centrally; as much as I like Sturridge and how lethal he can be, this season it's just not worth it as moving Bob wide is almost a double negative. Also we've got to give our best midfield Hendo-Gini-Lallana a chance again as it's our best chance to start moving the ball again as quickly as we did earlier in the season.

I think this is bang on, I think we are on the cusp of getting back on track. There was some better moments tonight where we got in, a few decent chances and we just need a bit of luck to get going. Hopefully having Matip and Coutinho back will help but we need to go back to Henderson-Wijnaldum -Lallana in midfield and Firmino central up front. Just need an option for right wing, I'd still be tempted for Ojo as our only pacy wing option.

[mrantarctica]

There's probably a lot of contributory factors. It's not going to be 1 simple solution. A few things I've noticed of late:

1. We don't move off the ball very well. We do a lot of passing but not a lot of 'pass and move'. A lot of our passing is without tempo and cannot generate tempo because its to players feet. We then become reliant on players like Bob or Phil to beat a man and generate enough space for a shot. Mane is so successful because of his movement off the ball and because he has enough pace to skin a defender.

2. Because our play is slow and ponderous, the only way to generate space against a low block is to increase the width in our game. However, our source of width is our fullbacks. Up until now, neither Milner nor Clyne have been particularly effective at getting forward and pressuring the opposite fullback. Even if they get into an advanced position, their delivery is invariably poor or we don't have anyone to really aim for. Not surprisingly, they often advance, then stop then play back across the middle and we do our side to side routine.

3. We are playing 2 CMs but far too often, neither of them take a gamble and get forward to support our attackers. Someone running from a  deeper position to support the likes of Firmino or Coutinho would cause a bit of uncertainty in the opposition defence, probably enough to generate a bit of room for our forwards. This role has fallen to Can and Wijnaldum of late, who have struggled with it to be honest. In contrast, Lallana does it very well and it has paid off with him being amongst the goals and assists this year. Hence the calls for him to remain in CM.

4. Our midfielders first touch isn't good. As a result, they have to stand a bit deeper when we are crowded in their half against a low-block. This puts our CM's out of being credible goal threats themselves. If their first touch was better, then they could stand a little higher, and if they received a half yard of space outside the area could fire a shot at goal. Instead, because they are standing fairly deep, the opposition knows that they aren't going to be taking pot-shots from 30 yards and can just stand around and mark our players and compress the space we have to work. 

[Lastrador]

Don't think that just absence of Mane is a reason for our slump - think it's Mane in combination with absence of Matip and Phil.

That's why second half tonight for me was an encouragement as it looked like we were finding our rhythm , created a couple of good chances and opened them up well on occasion (Lallana getting all the way to the post after overlapping).

Think we will build on this in upcoming games because Matip and Phil due to their technical ability have a massive positive impact on our overall performances. However , I think in addition to that we'll need to make a few more tweaks. It's getting more obvious that we're simply not involved anymore in open games, almost every game is the same now as teams relentlessly park the buses against us.

We'll have to move Bob centrally; as much as I like Sturridge and how lethal he can be, this season it's just not worth it as moving Bob wide is almost a double negative. Also we've got to give our best midfield Hendo-Gini-Lallana a chance again as it's our best chance to start moving the ball again as quickly as we did earlier in the season.

The slump in performance (not result) actually started when Mane was still here. So yeah don't think we can blame our poor performances on his absence, although arguably we would have picked more points with him on this last month.

I completely agree on your point about Matip and Coutinho giving us a huge lift once they get their match sharpness going. Missing your best player, your best defender and your most dangerous attacker (Mane) for as long as we have it would hurt any team, so this current slump shouldn't surprise anyone. I think we'll be alright eventually, maybe that will not be enough to keep out title challenge alive but a top 4 spot should be achievable.

I think the curent slump should show people that are crying out for players to be signed one thing tough: When Klopp talks about signing the "right" type of player he's absolutely spot on. We have seen how ill equipped replacements have seen our form and fluidity as a team suffer, even if they haven't done much wrong themselves. Take Origi and Can for examples. I think they both have done reasonable well, especially Origi in terms of goals, but as a team we have suffered with their presence as they can't really replicate the roles of the players they are replacing. Both of them are excellent young players with bright futures, but thinking ahead I just can't see how they become main starters for this team, unless Klopp changes the current system dramatically going forward.

[andy07]

There's probably a lot of contributory factors. It's not going to be 1 simple solution. A few things I've noticed of late:

1. We don't move off the ball very well. We do a lot of passing but not a lot of 'pass and move'. A lot of our passing is without tempo and cannot generate tempo because its to players feet. We then become reliant on players like Bob or Phil to beat a man and generate enough space for a shot. Mane is so successful because of his movement off the ball and because he has enough pace to skin a defender.

2. Because our play is slow and ponderous, the only way to generate space against a low block is to increase the width in our game. However, our source of width is our fullbacks. Up until now, neither Milner nor Clyne have been particularly effective at getting forward and pressuring the opposite fullback. Even if they get into an advanced position, their delivery is invariably poor or we don't have anyone to really aim for. Not surprisingly, they often advance, then stop then play back across the middle and we do our side to side routine.

3. We are playing 2 CMs but far too often, neither of them take a gamble and get forward to support our attackers. Someone running from a  deeper position to support the likes of Firmino or Coutinho would cause a bit of uncertainty in the opposition defence, probably enough to generate a bit of room for our forwards. This role has fallen to Can and Wijnaldum of late, who have struggled with it to be honest. In contrast, Lallana does it very well and it has paid off with him being amongst the goals and assists this year. Hence the calls for him to remain in CM.

4. Our midfielders first touch isn't good. As a result, they have to stand a bit deeper when we are crowded in their half against a low-block. This puts our CM's out of being credible goal threats themselves. If their first touch was better, then they could stand a little higher, and if they received a half yard of space outside the area could fire a shot at goal. Instead, because they are standing fairly deep, the opposition knows that they aren't going to be taking pot-shots from 30 yards and can just stand around and mark our players and compress the space we have to work. 

Spot on, we have approached the last seven games with the same game plan.   How did it work out?

Sunderland (a)  D
Plymouth (h)  D
Southampton (a) L
Utd (a)  D
Plymouth (a) W
Swansea (h) L
Southampton (h) L

Hmmmm, anyone doubt this is a totally shite set of results?

[SerbianScouser]

What's interesting about those results is that if we were truly in a real slump we would most definitely have lost to Utd - quite handsomely at that.

But where we really struggle recently is against the low-block teams because without Matip, Phil, Mane and Adam out of midfielder that's too much skills and technique out of very important parts of the team. To me, Utd game shows we haven't necessarily lost our form per se, it's that we lost too many skilled players to be effective against low-block teams as we were earlier in the season. Second half tonight to me is an encouragement that we are getting back on the right way in that sense.

[KiNki]

we want to play high press, we don't have enough players to play it. The end.

[Eeyore]

What's interesting about those results is that if we were truly in a real slump we would most definitely have lost to Utd - quite handsomely at that.

But where we really struggle recently is against the low-block teams because without Matip, Phil, Mane and Adam out of midfielder that's too much skills and technique out of very important parts of the team. To me, Utd game shows we haven't necessarily lost our form per se, it's that we lost too many skilled players to be effective against low-block teams as we were earlier in the season. Second half tonight to me is an encouragement that we are getting back on the right way in that sense.

Here is me thinking we didn't lose to United because Carlton Pogba inexplicably handled the ball for no reason.

[Chakan]

Drop Can drop Sturridge play Origi in place of Mane, keep Coutinho wide keep Firmino central keep lallana in the middle. Goal goals goals

[thejbs]

Here is me thinking we didn't lose to United because Carlton Pogba inexplicably handled the ball for no reason.

I see your handball and raise you an offside equaliser.

[Chris~]

Like this time last year we look fatigued. I don't think there's a huge amount more to our slump than that at the moment.

[Son of Spion]

Far from me to question the wisdom of Klopp who is experiencing his first real blip but why do we never vary our game plan?   We seem to take an eternity to get forward and never really looked capable of creating a clear cut chance.  Three shots on target tells its own story.  What I don't get is why can't we add a bit of variation to our basic game plan?   Try some long range shots,  try and dribble into the box and force a challenge,  play quick balls forward for the likes of Origi to run onto when the opposition do come forward, play the dreaded long ball once in a while,  push one of our centre backs forward for periods where the opposition sit deep and look to feed off the second ball.    I am sure that Klopp will succeed when he has the players available to fit his preferred game plan but for the time being can we not add a bit of variety and keep defenders on their toes?

I'm the first to admit that I'm not great at analysing tactics, formations etc, and people in the game obviously know a lot more about it than me, but I agree with you on this. It sort of baffles me why we persist with doing the same things over and over again in the hope they will eventually work. I think we've been well sussed out now, but what doesn't help is the fact that we are so incredibly predictable. We don't tend to pull any surprises on the opposition. We just don't mix it up enough and give them an alternative to worry about.

I know a packed and disciplined defence is not easy to break through, but just once in a while I'd like to see someone really run at a defence rather than pass sideways across it. The way I see it, there are three possible outcomes. One is that we lose the ball, but this happens with regularity anyway. The second is that we draw a challenge that results in a free kick or even a penalty. The third outcome is that maybe we get through and create a scoring opportunity. Defences are there to be tested as much as possible.

But anyway, I agree with you. I think we need to have variety in our play so the opposition have more than one tactic to worry about.

[cornelius]

Drop Can drop Sturridge play Origi in place of Mane, keep Coutinho wide keep Firmino central keep lallana in the middle. Goal goals goals

I agree, we have to get as close as we can to what was working before and that is it.

[norecat]

We're decent enough at retaining possession but tonight we barely laid a glove on Southampton. Can's shot aside we didn't trouble their keeper with them playing a second string CB pairing. Too much side to side passing and far too ponderous in possession. Milner keeps having to go inside  even when out on the touchline. Serious lack of width and pace. Never threatened to get in behind Southampton yet they were able to get through us with 3/4 passes on the break. We badly need a proper sitting defensive midfielder.  Because teams park the bus at Anfield we need to be able to get in around the back of the house. The rare occasion we got decent crosses into the box we caused them problems. I know we have Mane coming back but you need a lot more pacy players than just Mane.
If we go 1-0 up we are perfectly set up to hurt teams at our best. We have intelligent players like Coutinho, Lallana and Firmino. But when asked to pick a lock we can be stumped too easily. Pass and move will only tire the opposition out if it's quick, and incisive. We were neither tonight.
Klopp is a very shrewd manager and it's still early in his tenure. I'm confident he will get it right.

[Suareznumber7]

There's probably a lot of contributory factors. It's not going to be 1 simple solution. A few things I've noticed of late:

1. We don't move off the ball very well. We do a lot of passing but not a lot of 'pass and move'. A lot of our passing is without tempo and cannot generate tempo because its to players feet. We then become reliant on players like Bob or Phil to beat a man and generate enough space for a shot. Mane is so successful because of his movement off the ball and because he has enough pace to skin a defender.


4. Our midfielders first touch isn't good. As a result, they have to stand a bit deeper when we are crowded in their half against a low-block. This puts our CM's out of being credible goal threats themselves. If their first touch was better, then they could stand a little higher, and if they received a half yard of space outside the area could fire a shot at goal. Instead, because they are standing fairly deep, the opposition knows that they aren't going to be taking pot-shots from 30 yards and can just stand around and mark our players and compress the space we have to work.

These two are totally spot on.  When we were blowing teams away earlier in the season it wasn't because of our pressing it was because of these two things right here.  The movement of the front 3 combined with Lallana and Wijnaldum getting beyond the front 3 causes defenses to become unbalanced which opens up space for our attackers.  Since Coutinho got injured and Mane left for ACON our movement has basically stopped. 

I like Emre Can and think he's a good player who is only going to get better but he isn't the same type of player that Wijnaldum is.  He doesn't look to get beyond the front 3 as much as Lallana and Wijnaldum do or as much as Hendo would if he was played further forward.  Can likes to attack from deep which is what his skill set is more suited to.  So, when we play both Hendo and Can in the same positions that they played tonight that limits the penetrating runs from deep and makes it easier for the defenders.  I think we'd be much better off if, when we need to play both Can and Hendo together, to have Can be the deepest midfielder and Hendo further forward. 

[El Denzel Pepito]

Can and Sturridge's form and overall play seems to be more of a hindrance than help to us at the moment. Get back to a Wijnaldum, Lallana, Henderson midfield, with Coutinho, Firmino and Origi in the front three. That screams 'energy' to me, the opposite of what the former two have shown us in their current form.

It's not down to just them - they're obviously very decent players - it's the system that isn't really made with them in mind. Can's not the reliable difference maker in the final third or in transition, Sturridge isn't really suited to our possession style. Something's got to give with those two currently. Also I really don't think there's ever a need for both Can and Henderson in midfield together. Play very similar styles, but Henderson is quicker (despite all the shit he gets on here) and more agile in his decision making. Can should only ever be in there as a DM, as a box-to-box midfielder or an '8' he is not. Lallana is. Wijnaldum with his energy is. Henderson can be, if moved further forward. I'd even have Ejaria ahead of Can in that '8' role in midfield.

I've never really said a bad word about either before, just recognise that currently they aren't helping and unless the argument is 'well let's just play them into form', I don't see how they can keep their places, especially with Wijnaldum and Origi waiting in the wings - two players who, in theory, are much more suited to our game - and I'm saying this despite being slightly concerned with Origi's confidence.

1 win in 7, when those 7 include Sunderland, Plymouth (x2 - and our only win), Swansea, and a two-leg semi final, of a cup we clearly want to win, against Southampton x2 is simply not good enough, and I'm surprised it's actually that bad. Running on fumes and out of ideas at the moment.

[mrantarctica]

These two are totally spot on.  When we were blowing teams away earlier in the season it wasn't because of our pressing it was because of these two things right here.  The movement of the front 3 combined with Lallana and Wijnaldum getting beyond the front 3 causes defenses to become unbalanced which opens up space for our attackers.  Since Coutinho got injured and Mane left for ACON our movement has basically stopped. 

I like Emre Can and think he's a good player who is only going to get better but he isn't the same type of player that Wijnaldum is.  He doesn't look to get beyond the front 3 as much as Lallana and Wijnaldum do or as much as Hendo would if he was played further forward.  Can likes to attack from deep which is what his skill set is more suited to.  So, when we play both Hendo and Can in the same positions that they played tonight that limits the penetrating runs from deep and makes it easier for the defenders.  I think we'd be much better off if, when we need to play both Can and Hendo together, to have Can be the deepest midfielder and Hendo further forward.

Not sure that Can has much football intelligence. He does all the showy/flashy bits well which is why I think supporters rate him highly. However, his decision making and game nous from what I've seen is pretty poor. I think this is the reason that Hendo is the deeper of the two. Hendo, for all his problems, is still quite an intelligent footballer and is usually positioned better than Can is.

I wonder if our movement has suffered a little bit from having a small squad and a crowded recent schedule. Because of these 2 factors, our key players are probably more likely to have a period of recovery/rest after games. Even Klopp said that during this period, they don't train all that much. I wonder if that means the understanding between players has just degraded a little. It may well come back once we have a less crowded fixture schedule and more time to prepare for games tactically.

[Robinred]

Not sure that Can has much football intelligence. He does all the showy/flashy bits well which is why I think supporters rate him highly. However, his decision making and game nous from what I've seen is pretty poor. I think this is the reason that Hendo is the deeper of the two. Hendo, for all his problems, is still quite an intelligent footballer and is usually positioned better than Can is.

I wonder if our movement has suffered a little bit from having a small squad and a crowded recent schedule. Because of these 2 factors, our key players are probably more likely to have a period of recovery/rest after games. Even Klopp said that during this period, they don't train all that much. I wonder if that means the understanding between players has just degraded a little. It may well come back once we have a less crowded fixture schedule and more time to prepare for games tactically.

Or as was mentioned above, it might just be that our squad is too thin to cope with the winter schedule in this country, and thus the main players - minus injuries and of course, Mane - are knackered.

Klopp and his backroom team have experienced one Christmas/January period before, which should have helped them plan for this one; for injuries, and for the ACN. I have faith in Klopp to get it right, but at this moment in time it's not disloyalty to question the planning and squad make-up, particularly given the demands his methods place on players.

[LiamG]

2nd half was definitely an improvement, we moved the ball a lot quicker, think henderson and someone else did a great pass and move to set up a sturridge chance i think it was?

[jillcwhomever]

2nd half was definitely an improvement, we moved the ball a lot quicker, think henderson and someone else did a great pass and move to set up a sturridge chance i think it was?

I remember that pass Hendo did and the way it seemed galvanize everyone. That's why I really feel we can get this back on track. It is going to take one of those huge moments that changes everything. A goal going in, before you know it the confidence will return. I think when you struggle like this every ball you miss makes you more tired, its playing with the mind. We need a big win to kick start us again and get us believing.

[Vinay]

Small squad that has been over-used means they cannot play the same way they did till December.
The Klopp style is not working and he may have to tweak because teams coming to Anfield know how to set up. We now risk becoming a 'small club' (small squad = small club too) as we are not winning anything. We cannot assume top 4 (the holy grail these days) is guaranteed anymore.

I think if the style is not working, it is the personnel that needs to be looked at. OR, same players, but adjust the style/tatics.

[Funky_Gibbons]

Teams aren't playing as open against us as earlier in the season. We look short of ideas against teams who are defending deep and narrow, forcing us to commit players forward but then look vulnerable to the counter attack, which seems like age old problems.

Our first eleven is good but as soon as any of those players are missing or suffer a drop in form/fitness the back ups are not good enough. We needed to rotate more earlier in the season as too many players are now looking knackered and we need a bigger squad. 

[killer-heels]

Teams aren't playing as open against us as earlier in the season. We look short of ideas against teams who are defending deep and narrow, forcing us to commit players forward but then look vulnerable to the counter attack, which seems like age old problems.

Our first eleven is good but as soon as any of those players are missing or suffer a drop in form/fitness the back ups are not good enough. We needed to rotate more earlier in the season as too many players are now looking knackered and we need a bigger squad. 

Again i dont think its a tiredness but a form thing. Everyone was begging for Firmino to get a rest but he has seemed to played through his poor form.

[Redman78]

Small squad that has been over-used means they cannot play the same way they did till December.
The Klopp style is not working and he may have to tweak because teams coming to Anfield know how to set up. We now risk becoming a 'small club' (small squad = small club too) as we are not winning anything. We cannot assume top 4 (the holy grail these days) is guaranteed anymore.

I think if the style is not working, it is the personnel that needs to be looked at. OR, same players, but adjust the style/tatics.

It really doesn't