21 Oct 2024 11:06:58
It's a very hard watch at times Slot ball. And it will take some getting used to for me.
We win the ball back after good pressing the crowd get up for it, we play the ball back to our keeper or centre backs put our foot on the ball and slow the game down and kill the momentum and the crowd goes dead.
Clearly instruction is to go back and start a passage of play they have drilled into them until it becomes open and when it doesn't it's a long ball forward.
We are top of the league which is fantastic but for me majority of the games we have played bar one or two could have gone either way.
21 Oct 2024 12:27:40
Slot is becoming predictable. He will be found out soon by top managers. The strategy is nothing more than lure opposing press to defence and then play quick 1-2 to break past midfield lines to final third.
If i am opposing managers, i will ask 1 player simply to man mark Gravenberch and other to man mark VVD or Konate whoever is that long ball launcher. And go full speed, really aggressive with sliding tackles on GK and defenders when pressing, so Liverpool will get nervous playing out from back.
{Ed025's Note - im sure that now the rest of the premiership clubs will be head hunting you Lee, you have found flaws that it seems 8 clubs have missed up to now and your stock will have risen through the roof mate.. :)
21 Oct 2024 12:39:25
Of course it's better to be unpredictable and unsuccessful ?.
That's where Guardiola is going wrong.
And sliding tackles, eh? Why has no one ever thought of that? ?.
21 Oct 2024 12:50:58
I would give it time before making too harsh a judgement. I think the players are still getting used to adapting to different opposition pressing styles and the balance between control and dynamism. We're in a process and still sitting top of the league. Pretty good if you ask me.
I think yesterday was the first time Slot felt the power of Anfield in those moments that spark the crowd. If he's as smart as he seems, he will figure out how to harness this. It's a new relationship.
21 Oct 2024 12:54:54
I am amazed by some of the tactical revelations we read here. I feel highly privileged. If only managers would spare some time and take the same benefit as us, by reading and following these pages. Pure gold, I say. ?.
21 Oct 2024 13:10:09
Things have been very good to start off with, I expect bad times though, it will come. We can judge at the end of the season.
21 Oct 2024 13:36:46
Flypelican your spot on mate, it’s just strange going from Klopps style and will just take time. And as you said I’m sure Slot will learn a lot as time goes on.
21 Oct 2024 13:47:50
- Man mark Gravenberch and a CB
- Play out through the other CB and McAllister or Jones instead.
I have defeated Lee's tactical genius. Unless teams push right up and go man for man, there's a path out. And if they try that, they could end up chasing the ball (cos we can use our keeper) and they're in serious trouble if we beat the press cos they'll be a minimum of 1 man short in their midfield/ defensive third.
21 Oct 2024 13:59:33
I don't really see the problem. Sure, I get the point that blood and thunder or "heavy metal" football gets the crowd out of their seats but it gets them back in their seats pretty quickly when it results in a goal conceded because you had nine players in the opposition box or because possession was lost in a dangerous area or you weren't able to control the game once you were in the lead.
I've been delighted to see that we've eradicated the problem that blighted us all last season where we almost always conceded, often first and regularly very early. That improvement comes from having more control and being less open. Can only be a good thing in my opinion. Meanwhile we are also the top scorers in the league and regularly scoring two or three goals in a match so it's not like we've turned into a Mourinho team or George Graham's Arsenal.
The one slight worry I do have at the moment is Robertson. I know it seems strange to look for negatives when in such a positive position but I am very much in favour of fixing little problems when you're in a position of strength, rather than trying to fix lots of big problems when it's too late. For me, I think I've seen enough of Robertson to conclude that he's not going to get back to where he was and I think he is giving us a defensive exposure whilst also seeming to have lost some of his attacking prowess (which might also be something to do with the change in how we're playing, to be fair to him) . I wouldn't mind seeing Bradley have a go at left back.
21 Oct 2024 14:03:05
It’s been an amazing start to the season but I don’t see it as fans being critical but honest.
For the last few seasons we have given Pep and City pelters for playing so called boring possession football.
Now we’re playing more that style and it’s all forgotten about.
In this day and age it doesn’t have to be black or white. We can still be excited and happy about the start we’ve made and also a little less excited about how we are playing etc.
21 Oct 2024 15:34:09
It was very noticeable to me that we didn’t press their centre backs anywhere near as much as we normally would.
The 2 teams played a very similar style in possession where there try to draw you onto them and play through the lines. We just didn’t get sucked in and only pressed when they played long sideways passes along the back line because we could get to the player before he gets his head up.
This led to Chelsea having more possession but most of that was at the back.
They pressed our back line much more aggressively but most of the time we passed around them and got through. Cole Palmer led their press and we just passed it around him, I can’t remember us getting caught once. When we lost the ball it was normally through sloppy play in the middle or final third.
I also noticed after they’d equalised we upped the tempo and got more players forward then after we’d scored we slowed it all down again.
I love the blood and thunder of Klopp football so this new style will take some getting used to but you can’t argue with the results so far. We will struggle against teams that refuse to leave their own box though like Forest so he’ll need to find a solution to that.
21 Oct 2024 15:54:36
I find it wild Slot is being questioned.
He's top of the league with a group of players still learning his system and arguably the most important player in that system actually learning a new position and role.
This iteration of the system seems to be safety first which has us top of the league, we don't know where the system will end up once he has some of his players and the current ones are familiar with it.
I am very excited either way, he couldn't have made a much better start and when he speaks, you listen because he seems so knowledgeable. A proper football man.
21 Oct 2024 15:54:48
Honestly i have no idea what you're talking about with the 'very hard watch' slot ball as yesterday was the 1st game all season the opposition had the ball more than us. We have basically dominated and created chances to win 2-3 games in most of our games this season. Yesterday Slot was smart and knew Chelsea are great when counter attacking so he took away that from them. Plus we were playing Chelsea and the referee. Which obviously gave them more momentum, still they barely created any clear cut chances all game while we could and should have scored a couple more. I agree it wasn't the best performance but vs Chelsea you take the 3 points and be grateful. Under Klopp we almost never beat Chelsea no matter how bad they were and the performances vs them under Klopp were almost never convincing either. Short memories.
21 Oct 2024 16:20:04
Not bothered at all. We are work in progress and we are getting results while trying our best to improve the way we play and solve problems on the pitch in real time. The Klopp era is gone and personally, Im over it. Maybe others should prolly start working on doing the same.
21 Oct 2024 19:05:57
Absolutely with Gunn 10.
Ridiculous that Slot is being criticised.
It’s different to Klopp, it had to be, but so far it’s been very effective.
All managers get “found out”, every system has weaknesses. The best managers adapt and find solutions in game. The worst managers don’t.
Of course Slot will have challenges, we’ll have to wait and see how he reacts.
21 Oct 2024 19:16:00
I read somewhere that this is our best start to a season since the end of the 1980s. So, for anybody under the age of 35 this is the best start to a season that you will ever have seen.
@Lee, I have to say thank you, you made me laugh out loud. The only way your set up to counter the way we play could be improved would be to also have someone man mark our goalkeeper.
21 Oct 2024 20:55:28
Don't forget the sliding tackles on the keeper.
Great advice that in this era of football, lots of aggressive slide tackles.
22 Oct 2024 02:00:34
The sliding tackles on the keeper would make a difference though. I would very much prefer us playing against 10 or even 9 players ;)