Liverpool’s Tactical Evolution

AN ARTICLE BY MATTHEW

Embed from Getty Images

As football fans, we are living the dream. We’ve won a trophy already, are the favorites to win two more, and are still not yet out of the chase for a fourth trophy. In the last few games of the season, a quadruple is still possible. Just unprecedented for any club, even a club with the vast history of Liverpool FC. One of the main reasons we’ve been able to pull this off has been our strength in depth. We have so many world-class players, all of whom with their own unique skill set that makes us unpredictable and near unstoppable. But I would argue that our tactical evolution under Klopp this season is just as important. This isn’t to say our tactics weren’t as good in 2019/20, but to merely say that, with the squad being augmented, so too has our tactical profile. So what I look to do is compare tactics and see what we’re doing differently from 2019/20 and how that is successful. I hope you enjoy

The starting point of this tactical evolution came in the form of Thiago. A controller in a group of perceived workhorse midfielders, he provided a new creative outlet, not in terms of goals and assists, but in his passing range. Something that Liverpool did so successfully in 2019/20 was a tactical nugget taken from Pep’s tactical strategy: the positional overload. Put simply, the overload is when players bunch together on one side of the pitch, drawing defenders to those players. The crucial part of the overload is the ability to pass it to the other side of the field, where players on that side wouldn’t have as many defenders to deal with. Thiago’s expansive passing range allowed a midfielder to do that rather than the fullbacks, which frees up the fullbacks to do other things in this overload. However, this isn’t the main reason why we bought him, this is just a minor tactical benefit. He was brought in to help make us more comfortable in possession. If you noticed over the Klopp years, the teams that we would struggle with most were teams that parked the bus, that stifled the fullbacks. The midfield typically couldn’t provide that incisive pass from the middle of the field, their technique either wasn’t up to that world class standard or that just wasn’t a focus in those tactics. Now, however, Thiago’s press resistance gives us greater control of the game through possession while also helping create more options to break down the low block so that we do the most with that possession. He’s been the biggest part of this tactical evolution, but not the only part. This next evolution comes from a player that’s taken his creativity to another level this season: Trent.

Something that we noticed early in the season that has become normal this season is Trent moving into the half space between the opposition left back and midfield. He’s become more of a central creator while still maintaining the width and crossing ability that made him such a special creating fullback in the first place. The positional rotations between Salah, Trent, and that right sided midfielder actually started with Elliott in that midfield role, although Naby and Hendo have done a good job in that spot as well. There are two tactical evolutions in one: Trent operating more centrally and the positional rotations on that right side. So what is this half space and why is it so important? This half space would typically be occupied by Ox in the 2017/18 season: it would be the space where our most progressive midfielder would join the gegenpress, the space that Ox would then attack and create from. But, for someone slightly deeper back in this half space, such as Trent, it lets you see more passing angles, fully unleashing Trent’s passing range in ways we’ve never seen before from a right back. With Trent pushing up into this half space, Salah then moves out wide while the progressive midfielder, such as Naby in recent games, pushes further towards the opposition’s box (by the way, Naby is also fully unleashed in this half space so when Trent isn’t in this space, watch for Naby). This also allows Salah to take on the fullback and drift inside onto his left foot to find runners in the box (which is why he’s racked up the assists). Rotations on this right side also allow for Salah and Trent to continue with their usual roles as inside forward and wide fullback. We’ve added multiple different ways for the right side to flourish just by moving Trent inside a tiny bit. Once again, being able to attack in many different ways creates unpredictability, which in turn creates a team that defenses simply cannot stop.

Those are the two system changes that we’ve seen become more prominent parts of Liverpool’s style in recent times, but certain players have added other tactical wrinkles. For example, against Benfica, Naby’s positioning was more typical of a striker in a 4-2-2-2, he was constantly pressing high in the half space while Salah drifted wide and Trent played slightly deeper. Or think about Diaz versus City, his ability to carry the ball and dribble from one end of the pitch to the other gives us a different type of counterattacking move while also making use of his blistering pace. Jota has given us the tactical wrinkle of a more conventional target man, despite being relatively undersized for that type of role he has scored many headers this season. Matip creates an overload on the right side whenever he goes on one of his adventures, oftentimes springing one of Trent, Salah, or Hendo free. Depending on the players on the pitch, we’ve seen a 3-4-3 when Fabinho or Thiago drop back in between the CBs at the start of an attacking move, a 4-2-2-2 against Benfica, a 4-2-3-1 against Everton, the traditional 4-3-3. Even within the same game, players rotate between these formations or with each other to create different advantages in the attack. This type of attack comes from chemistry gained over time, as a lot of these players have played with each other over a number of years. But it also comes from Klopp being bold enough to try out different things even at the peak of our success. Even before 2019/20, our pressing systems had evolved in order to keep the team healthy through a full season. Based on a game-by-game basis, we would press more or less intensely on the opposition, although we’ve seen an uptick in the overall pressing numbers this season compared to the last two. This signals that Klopp is more comfortable with a more intense pressing system when he has a bigger squad that can do the job without the fear of having an issue with a replacement should injury strike. Overall, this Liverpool team has been at the forefront of the tactical evolution in football for years under Klopp and they keep finding new and different ways to innovate.

So what exactly was the purpose of these tactical shifts? In my opinion, the purpose was to diversify the way we attack. Too many times last season we saw the goals dry up, and even before then we had significantly outperformed our xG the year we won the league. But what does that mean? It means that our way of attack, while brutally effective at how direct it was, was a bit of a problem in that there wasn’t a truly effective alternative plan of attack if a team managed to shut down Trent and Robertson. There wasn’t a creator in the midfield that could fit the requirements of the engine room while adding enough offensive output to be that Plan B, and when we did have one of those guys in Keita or Ox, they would often get injured. So Thiago being brought in helped us a lot in that department, but the usage of Trent as a creator from the half space also opened up a lot as he became more of a central creator than a fullback. We are now more comfortable and incisive in possession with many forwards capable of producing goals in different ways. We can still be direct if we want, but we can now create those passing chains like we did at Anfield against United, the second goal being the result of 23 consecutive passes where everybody except Virgil got a touch in the buildup. With creativity now overflowing all over the pitch, it’s no surprise that we’ve broken the club record for most goals in a season. Throw in the high line that has become perfected over the course of the season, as well as the shot-stopping ability of the world’s best goalkeeper, and Liverpool are a menace that can hardly ever be stopped from achieving victory.