liverpool played real madrid in the final of the ucl . before i write about the game let me tell you that even though these are premier league stars and playing at the highest level . they are making boyish mistakes . these are not tacitcal mistakes but technical mistakes . i had said earlier that little things in the game are the difference between winning and losing. the coaches job is not only coaching team the tactical aspect of the game but also making his players technical efficient as well so that when the need arises they can improvise . as i had before in this age coaches have the luxury of watching tapes they can watch live games as well they can go to opponent games and get a first hand experience of the game. i was surprized abput liverpools defense after the blunders that they had made in the last game . now nobody will write about that and i too had not written because the opposition wasnt that good and the tie was dead rubber . in the second game against villareal liverpools defense was badly exposed . i think that kloop should had looked at that and should had corrected the errors that his players are doing while on defense . the one mistakes that they were making was the difference between the winner and loser in this game. the other thing that i want to point is that kloop coaches his team nicely and has a good idea as to what they should do in the final third but they are one dimensional and can only play on counter attack . kloops team struggles when the opposition sits back and have players behind the ball .
real and liverpool both started the game with 4-3-3 formation . ancelotti must had studied liverpool and he just asked his team to sit back but at the same what he did was that he would press them a little to get them slow down and so real could get players behind the ball . liverpool played very well in the first 20 min. ancelotti was offering liverpool time and space on the ball and liverpool were able create some chances in the first 20 min. they had pinned real madrid in their own half . all through out the match liverpool forwards were space and time on the ball. one the liverpool forwards would come deep and he would have time and space on the ball but the trouble was that the other two forwards would remain wide . there was nobody who would go beyond the forward who would come deep . they were just stuck to their positions and they could derive the advantage that was offered to them . for first 20 min only real goal keeper kept the slate clean. in this match klopp tried play man vs man in the midfield . he knew that the real madrid midfielders are not that mobile and they can be pressed . so kloop had asked his midfielders henderson and thiago to press hard on modric and kroos . it also meant that real madrid had to go direct from back to front because they were getting closed down in the midfield . this startegy worked very well because real had to play 30-40 yard passed to find benzema and vinicius . this worked very well for liverpool since they could see the long balls coming and defend properly . this startegy woked nicely but then kloop couldnt reap the benefits of the ball possession that they had .the one complain that i have about liverpool is that they are one dimensional and that is klopp's shortcoming . when things are not going your way you try to change things because the players realize that the plan a that they executing is not working and they want to try something different and that is where the coach comes in. he should be there to spot the weak links in the opposition and should be able to improvise things . i really wanted to see origi instead of jota since he would added another dimension to the liverpool offense . he has the height to trouble the defenders and would tied the central defenders which would had created space for salah and mane to operate . after 20 min just as the game settled real started to come up the field and they started to have a bit higher backline since they knew that they were getting bogged down .
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| this was the direction of the back four when the ball was wide with valverde or carvajal. |
now real madrid's main threats are vinicius and benzema . real madrid just hijacked liverpool's plan and made them play possession football which they are not very good at . while they played there own game. even though real's main weapons are vinicius and benzema they are not complete without valverde and his hard work . he may not be the most talented but he is decently talented and his hard work is second to none and he will execute just coaches instruction to fore . in this game when vinicius wasnt able to create things you could see that valverde took on himself to create things for real . he was constantly troubling robertson and his pace was a constant trouble for robertson . before that goal too he had created a chance which benzema couldnt score .
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| this is how the right backs posture should while defending from opposite flank . |
the reason for me writing this piece was that the way liverpool back four performed . there were two instances in which the game changed . you play the game because you need to raise your concentration levels .defense isnot that easy . not only do you need to have a positional sense but also you need to have your bodily position correct so that you are able to see threats that are coming . after the villareal game i think that klopp may have worked his team on defense and would had corrected the defecencies that his team had on defense . in football you are thinking of defending while on offense atleast that what the defenders do and vice versa . you have to be constantly on your toes in football. the defensive positions requires some extra bit because a mistake from them can be fatal . as i had said that the back four always has to make reading as to from where the threat can come from and how they can stop it in the tracks or atleast not let it get to fruition . van dyk is considered on of the best central defenders in the premier league . i think in the last against villareal he was caught sleeping which led to the first villareal goal.the ball was in midfield and benzema was in between him and robertson and most importantly they were holding a high line . van dyk should had known that benzema could be released beyond him and he should had taken position in which he would either be close to benzema or he would try to catch benzema off side . he could direct robertson to get closer to him or mark him. instead he was caught ball watching and what happened afterwards was a farce .
the other incident which led to the goal was the one that is most important and it was the sole reason as to why i wanted to write this post . alexander-arnold the liverpool right back is very good at going forward but he lacks the concentration that is required to be a right back . now i had seen right backs who were not that good going forward but they were good at defending which is their primary concern . in the game against villareal alexander arnold was exposed his concentration level and his bodily position is very wrong . the ball is coming from the opposite flank and what the players do is that they get their body turned in that direction because of this they cannot look the threats that are their back. if instead of turning fully you just turn partially then you can see the ball that is coming but also the player that is making the run ( i will explain this in the digram .) even though these players are professional they make these mistakes and pay for it which is what liverpool paid .
