As Liverpool endure a troubling start to season, pressing problems emerge
As Liverpool endure a troubling start to season, pressing problems emerge: Recent Liverpool success may be traced back to the squad’s commitment to the gegenpress, a style in which the team loses possession but quickly regains it through ferocious and strategic tackling.
In the words of Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp, “gegenpress to become the best playmaker in the team” refers to the practise of applying intense pressure in the final third of the field in an effort to win possession of the ball.
This has required monumental effort on Liverpool’s part. Their crew has had to run after their adversaries. It hasn’t come without cost, as seen by the fact that striker Roberto Firmino now prioritises shutting down the passing lanes of the defensive midfielder entrusted with stopping him rather than scoring goals.
Because of this, the team has had to be closer knit than usual, which has led to injuries, long distances travelled, and general wear and stress on everyone.
Because of this, the Reds have travelled all over Europe in search of glory, and have finally achieved it with a Champions League victory. Under their German manager, they have won every domestic trophy possible, most notably the English Premier League after 30 years of trying and slogging.
Press
These days, pressing is a standard practise for most football clubs. Neither of us is aggressive. The two of us are on the trail. We don’t mean to impose our will on them.
When we press, we’re not trying to force sloppy passes. Our definition of pressing is trying to intercept passes. The best way to attack is to steal the ball, and the best way to create is to steal the ball to use in an attack. The final two metres are the most crucial.
It’s a ball stealing mission, and we’re going there. In this clip from The Coaches’ Voice, Liverpool assistant coach Pep Lijnders discusses the English club’s mindset after their 4-0 victory over Barcelona at Anfield, widely regarded as the clearest sign from football’s gods that Liverpool’s methods were bearing fruit.
It’s 2022 now, and Klopp has been with Liverpool for six years; some signs of wear are beginning to show.
Foremost among these is a type of breakdown in the very facet of football that makes them great—their unrelenting gegenpress. The problem, put plainly, is that they aren’t trying hard enough any longer.
148 is the critical factor. According to FBRef, it was the average number of presses made by Liverpool per game during their 2019–2020 Premier League championship season. In the previous season, that figure stood at 141.
In their opening game this season, they only managed 113 presses, with their lowest total being 85 in a loss to Manchester United at Old Trafford.
Missing Mane
It’s no secret that Liverpool’s three forwards are crucial to the success of their 4-4-3 formation.
However, the club made some stingy decisions during the drawn-out contract discussions this summer, the most notable of which was the decision to not break their salary structure by selling left winger Sadio Mane to Bayern Munich and ultimately keeping Mohammad Salah.
Mane, who was seen as the lesser of the two losses, was a player who stood dead centre in the three-way intersection of being a persistent ball-chaser, a prolific finisher, and exceptional in his link-up play.
However, the Reds are constructed in such a way that even if they spent 100 million pounds on a successor, it wouldn’t be enough to make up for the loss of their Senegalese forward.
Although he joined the squad from Benfica, new forward Darwin Nunez has only attempted 10 press plays in the last third of the field in nine games, which is disastrous for a team that relies so heavily on its forwards to contribute to the defence.
That doesn’t mean Nunez won’t improve and become the player Klopp envisions. Unfortunately, in this case, neither time nor training can be sacrificed, and the final price is no longer a guarantee.
Liverpool
Liverpool’s high defensive line has become a selling point due to a lack of volume pressing from the top.
Liverpool’s forward line is vulnerable when opponents are given too much breathing room and too much time to formulate a plan of attack.
The Manchester United coaching staff reportedly told David de Gea to try to make long kicks forward, preferably to his left, in the direction of Trent Alexander Arnold.
United sailed to a win that would have been much more challenging under different circumstances last year by completely ignoring a midfield and forward line that isn’t putting in as many miles and instead matching up a quick forward line against one of the highest defensive lines in the league.
Liverpool’s disappointing start to the season has been compounded by Thiago’s injury. Thiago is the key to survival following the gegenpress, which Jordan Henderson powers.
The Brazilian-Spanish player performs to the level of his heritage, ranking in the 99th percentile for progressive passes, the 97th for progressive carries, and the 93rd for passes completed. Someone who can play in the centre of the field and reliably carry, pass, and advance the ball.
Without Thiago’s brilliance, Liverpool has had to experiment with several midfield lineups, most of which have faeatured Henderson, James Milner, and Harvey Elliot. None of them have been able to consistently move the ball quickly and effectively from the back third to the goal.
Signs of life
Despite concerns that Liverpool’s gegenpress is losing steam, Klopp and his staff appear to have discovered a workable answer. Salah, Diogo Jota, and Luis Diaz clicked as a front three against Ajax in the Champions League last week, and Thiago has returned from injury.
After Diaz came on for Nunez, the three of them pressed the ball 43 times in the last third of the field. Overall, Liverpool applied 160 pressures to Ajax.
With Diaz pressing so aggressively and Thiago back on the field, Klopp and his coaching staff have some breathing room.
The group can experiment with different approaches and determine which one yields the greatest results. Jota and his striking partners performed well enough against Ajax for him to displace Firmino as the team’s secondary striker.
For the Reds, these indications of life come at a time when every run counts. Brighton (now fourth in the EPL), Arsenal, and Manchester City are all coming to town for one of their next three Premier League games, and all three clubs are playing excellently right now.
Recent Premier League title races have followed a familiar pattern, suggesting that teams have little wiggle room in the early going. Even a tie can cast uncertainty on an entire season if it happens once. Liverpool’s new forward line experiment might save the team from a dismal start or give Manchester City another year of dominance.
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