UEFA B and El Gouna FC youth coach Omar Lasheen analyzes Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool tactics following the Reds’ Premier League title triumph in a two-part series.
25 years on from their last title win in 1990, Jurgen Klopp was brought to Anfield to change the fortunes for a team struggling in mid-table. Liverpool ended that season 21 points off champions Leicester City.
Klopp began a process that saw him dismantle the Liverpool squad in order to create a team in his image; one that is now proficient in every aspect of the game. This two-part piece will look at the key tactical factors that transformed Liverpool into Premier League champions.
In this part we will highlight Liverpool’s defensive stability, pressing and counter-attacks, while part two will focus more on how the front three combine together, and the full-backs’ key involvement in Jurgen Klopp’s playing style.
Liverpool’s 2-3 Balance
Since Jurgen Klopp switched Liverpool’s formation to a 4-3-3, he has improved his team’s balance in offensive organization. With Liverpool’s width being provided by full-backs Alexander Arnold and Andy Robertson, a front five is formed to cover all five offensive vertical lanes, and spread opponents accordingly (this will be further explained in part 2). The other five players in Liverpool’s system create a 2-3 formation, consisting of the two central defenders in addition to the three central midfielders. They provide a structure behind the ball that helps both in and out of possession.
Maintaining Possession
A reason to occupy the space behind the ball is to put players in positions where the team can keep possession more easily. Their occupation of central areas allows a flexible build-up of the attack, with the midfielders being in contact with both the attacking central areas as well as the wide players. Both central defenders and midfielders are in positions where they have a numerical superiority in deeper areas to overcome possible pressure from opponents. In possession, they provide a base behind the ball to restart the attack and are a pivot to switch the play from offensive full-backs Trent Alexander-Arnold to Andy Robertson.
Their closeness in positional proximity is to allow the team an easier build-up as they can play more safe passes. Playing safe passes in the early stages in the attack is key to progress the ball comfortably into more dangerous areas and advanced positions, to create more threatening opportunities.
The 2-3 Formation is shown below as Liverpool are in possession of the ball looking to build-up the attack. Their occupation of space allows them to circulate the ball between them until they find an opening to progress the ball up the pitch.
Defensive Transition
This formation also provides a structure behind the ball, giving freedom to the attacking players to use the width of the pitch to create spaces to exploit (explained in part 2).
With Liverpool having an average of 65% possession in the Premier League this season, it was important for them to have a good structure to control the phases when they lost the ball. Having players in depth in central areas makes it difficult for opponents to play through Liverpool in counter-attack as they have men in positions to force the play out wide, delay, and intercept the ball.
With Liverpool adopting a counter-pressing approach in defensive transition, it is mostly the front five who are assigned with pressing and recovering the ball in advanced positions to win it as quickly and as close to the opponent’s goal as possible. However, with them occupying positions that are wide apart, it becomes a possibility that the first press is broken. This is where the importance of the 2-3 formation balance comes in. A closed structure behind the ball becomes the second defensive block, which stops opponents’ offensive transitions.
In the situation above, Manchester City, Liverpool’s opponents, are in a counter-attacking situation. Having beaten the first line of Liverpool pressure, they are faced with Liverpool’s second defensive block; the 2-3. As Kevin De Bruyne is running with the ball, he finds himself in a situation where he is outnumbered defensively due to Liverpool’s 2-3 balance. The tight unit force the play out wide and delay the attack until they are defensively organized and comfortably deal with the situation.
Counter-pressing (Gegenpressing)
Looking at Jurgen Klopp’s playing style throughout his managerial career, counter-pressing, known as gegenpressing in Germany, has been a basis on which he has built his footballing principles upon. It is the concept of immediate ball recovery by congesting the space around the ball in defensive transition. Liverpool use it as both a defensive tactic to stop opponents’ offensive transition as well as an attacking ploy to sustain the attack and keep possession in the advanced areas of the pitch. Jurgen Klopp believes that the optimum time to recover the ball is straight after the moment Liverpool have lost the ball for three reasons:
- As the opponent has just recovered the ball they are disoriented as they have not yet decided on where to make their next pass.
- The opponent has just expanded energy in recovering the ball, which makes them vulnerable and is an easy target to win the ball back from.
- The opposing team was in a moment of organized defending, so they do not have an organized shape to start their attack, which makes it easier to press and defend against.
Stopping Opponents’ Offensive Transition
Liverpool do not allow opponents to counter-attack them easily. With five players occupying the forward areas of the pitch, they essentially have five first defenders to stop the opponent from playing the first ball out of pressure. When they congest the space around the ball, it denies the opportunity for the opposition to set up a counter-attack.
This is an example of a situation vs. Leicester City, where Liverpool have committed 8 players in the opposition half, early on in the second half.
Having lost the ball close to the edge of the penalty area, Liverpool react quickly and decisively to hunt for the ball and regain possession as swiftly as possible to prevent Leicester City’s threatening counter-attacks.
They recover the ball within four seconds of losing it, close to the middle of the pitch, and are ready to restart their attack.
Sustaining the Attack
As a consequence of immediately preventing their opponents’ counter-attacks, Liverpool are able to move from defensive transition, straight into offensive organization, as they are already in positions to keep the ball. Recovering the ball as quickly as possible means that their front five of Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane, and especially Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson are already in their preferred offensive positions, avoiding the need for them to drop deeper, go into more defensive positions and restart their attacks closer to their own goal.
Against Everton (below), Liverpool lost the ball from a cross-field pass in their offensive final third. Everton headed the ball away, dropping to their midfielder.
As he runs with the ball trying to launch an attack, he is quickly surrounded by five Liverpool players, who make it difficult for him to progress up the pitch, and intercept the ball to sustain the attack.
With Everton moving their team positioning to a state of offensive transition, players start running forward and vacate their organized defensive positions, which allows Liverpool to launch a quick counter-attack and exploit the spaces left.
Counter-Attacking
Examining Liverpool’s squad and their individual abilities, speed and strength are the most prominent qualities in their players. They are a team built for counter-attacking football, with their pace upfront and their solid presence in the middle of the pitch. They have scored 10 goals in counter-attacking situations; most in the Premier League so far this season. Liverpool’s tactical plan for counter-attacking involves guiding the opposition’s play into specific areas where they can intercept the ball and immediately attack the spaces left by the opponent to create goal-scoring opportunities. Salah and Mane’s positioning is very important to Liverpool’s offensive transitions as they place themselves in the areas between the opposition full-backs and central defenders to make direct runs towards goal when the opportunity presents itself.
Counter-Pressing for Counter-Attack
Liverpool’s counter-attacking situations occasionally come after counter-pressing; where Liverpool lose the ball, regain it quickly, and launch a counter-attack. Liverpool’s defensive transition phase is the opposition’s offensive transition phase, which means they vacate their defensive positions as they look to exploit the spaces left by Liverpool. Because Liverpool counter-press very quickly and effectively, they rarely allow their opponents to complete their counter-attacks. Intercepting the ball in the middle of opponents’ counter-attacks means there are spaces left that can be attacked. In preparations for that, they leave their quickest players, Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane, in spaces where they can use their direct running ability to attack the space and threaten the opposition’s goal.
In the situation below, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain loses the ball close to the middle of the pitch, leaving an opportunity for opponents, Newcastle United, to launch a counter-attack.
In typical Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool style, the closest players to the ball congest the space around it and regain possession quickly. At the same time, Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane stay up the pitch and are not involved in defending, which is a gamble that usually pays off by Klopp.
After intercepting, Firmino is in possession and drives into space, having the two wide men moving inside ready to receive the ball in the area behind the defensive line for a chance to shoot on goal.
Liverpool’s Pressing
With their pressing, Liverpool force their opponents into areas where they have players ready to recover the ball and launch a quick counter-attack. They position their front three in areas to set traps for the opposition. When the opponents’ central defenders have the ball, Salah and Mane block their passes to the full-backs, so their only option is to pass inside, where Liverpool have Roberto Firmino stood close to the defensive midfielder, ready to pounce and intercept the ball. As they regain possession, Salah and Mane’s defensive position becomes an attacking threat in offensive transition as they are placed in spaces where they have a direct path to goal.
Early in the season, Burnley’s central defender was forced to play a ball in the middle as both his full-back options were closed by Salah and Mane. As Firmino was there, he was ready to intercept a misplaced pass directed towards the middle.
Firmino started his run with the ball, both Salah and Mane took off and started attacking the space ready for the ball to be played.
The ball is quickly passed into Mane’s path as he finished off the counter-attack in a clinical manner.
Let us know your thoughts on this analysis in the comments section below ahead of Part 2 focusing of Liverpool’s attacking setup…
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