19 Aug 2019 22:45:43
interesting piece on MNF this eve effectively saying we're trying to play a high-line, and pushing up/ not following runs in behind as we're trying to catch offside more. As a result people are getting in behind, as they have been for the last 3 games. Clips do make it look like this is v true. If we play against Arsenal doing that they'll run riot. We allowed 15 shots v us in both games v Norwich and Southampton, if we let Arsenal have that many we'll be in trouble!

20 Aug 2019 08:52:09
I understand a bit of tweaking each season to stay a little unpredictable, but the 1 thing that was near on perfect last season was our defense. That's the 1 thing that didn't need changing imo. I'm interested to see how the next month or 2 plays out and if it's true, or whether our defense is just a little rusty.

20 Aug 2019 10:20:27
Perhaps they feel its worth trying as VAR will help with those very close calls. Just my opinion.

20 Aug 2019 11:18:28
It's total rubbish. Most of the shots we've conceded were when we had dropped off. If you press high you keep the opposition away from your goal. How many times has a striker ran off the back of Virgil or Matip on the half way line and had a free run at goal in our first 3 games?

The team needs to push higher. We are not set up to defend deep like we tried to do in the second half vs Norwich, first half vs Chelsea, first half vs Southampton, and last 10 minutes vs Southampton.

We've always played the offside trap. The problem this year is that we are playing it 30 yards from our goal which allows no recovery time. The line needs to be 50 yards from the goal so we can force any runners in behind wide.

20 Aug 2019 11:30:49
Look at the goals conceded. Pukki and Giroud were both as result of us trying to hold an offside trap just outside our own area. Nobody read the runners, sure, but If that line had been another 30 yards up the pitch do you think those players would've got a shot away before Virgil, Matip or Gomez got back across to them? No chance.

The other goals were a freak kicking error from Adrian, and a disgusting dive for a penalty. You can't legislate for them.

I think that our defence is subconsciously not as confident in Adrian so they are dropping too deep to try and protect him which is not playing to their strengths. Virgil needs to show his leadership and push the line higher. They have to trust Adrian's ability to sweep up behind them like they do when Alisson plays.

It shows how clueless some pundits are that they think dropping deeper will help us remotely. Ferdinand and co were great players but the reason why they're sat in a studio and not a dugout is because they don't have a clue tactically.

20 Aug 2019 11:35:27
Last season we trusted alisson to make saves VVD would keep players on thier wrong foot block the pass and trust alisson to make the save it's not how many shots hit the target it's the quality of the shot and that's what we dictated last season.

20 Aug 2019 12:07:29
This high line is gash. Hope we don't play it vs City, those deep runs from Sterling will ruin us.

20 Aug 2019 14:54:33
We've played a high line for years. The issue this season has been not playing a high line. There is absolutely no problem with a high line as long as it is well drilled, your centre backs have pace, your keeper is comfortable sweeping, and your midfield puts pressure on the ball. Our entire team is built around playing a high line. It's not gash, and it didn't exactly do us any harm when we went to to toe with Man City in pre-season, even though our team was half fit and not putting pressure on the ball high enough up the pitch. They still only got in behind twice. That's what quality teams do.

21 Aug 2019 23:01:25
I don't think it's going to be a long running issue going forward, one thing I've noticed too is Adrian hasn't advanced and quick off his line. Allison is top notch at that and I'm sure this set up was planned with his strength for sweeping in mind. I'm sure klopp will have approached it this week in preparation for arsenal and we may just see a slightly more compact shape if Adrian isn't up to playing that aggressive role to sweep up balls in behind.

Our strong defence has been built on this strategy so we need to trust it's principles and not panic after 2/ 3 games. I'd be more concerned at the lack of control in our midfield zones and the spaces between mid and def.