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I’ve been thinking for a while about how to structure this thread because I wanted to cover #Nyoni’s impact both in possession and out of possession.
There’s simply too much material to fit into one thread without making it exhausting to read, so I decided to split it into separate parts. Long tactical threads can be difficult to get through, and I don’t want this one to feel like a chore.
This part will focus on how Trey Nyoni leaves his mark on the team in possession - how he creates freedom for the full-backs, manipulates the opposition press, and facilitates ball progression through different variations and mechanisms.
Let’s get into it🧵#LFC
Exploiting the momentum of Brighton’s transition from man-marking to zonal marking, with excellent timing in taking advantage of the unfolding situation.
Liverpool disrupts Brighton’s defensive structure through coordinated movement. Isak drops deep to receive from Kerkez, drawing Vuskovic out of position. Gakpo makes an inward run, while Kerkez stretches Gomez horizontally. On the far side, Wirtz occupies two defenders, while Gravenberch pulls Pascal Groß away, preventing him from stepping into the newly opened space to cover it.
Crucially, Isak doesn’t return to his nominal position but stays on the same vertical line as Gakpo, exploiting the disruption. Gomez abandons Kerkez to compensate, but it’s already too late. Liverpool capitalises on the brief moment when Brighton’s defensive structure is caught between man-marking responsibilities and zonal assignments #LFC
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The games against Villarreal and Atlético de Madrid show that the only way to control the opposition with the ball is to defend man-to-man, forcing them into duels.
Against Brighton, top team, there was no last-call effect, so Liverpool opted to defend deeper in the second half.
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Iraola tiene en el Liverpool una papeleta importante. La presión no es su baza principal, de hecho es un punto débil. Solo yendo a pares y viéndose desesperado le ha sabido sacar beneficio.
Con el Bournemouth ya tuvo esta problemática según avanzaba el partido.
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Against Villarreal, I noticed some very concerning signs from Cody Gakpo out of possession, which resurfaced on Sunday against Brighton. While most of the team generally adapted to the opposition’s rotations and structural changes, Gakpo repeatedly failed to track his man in a man-oriented marking/pressing scheme.
A thread illustrating how poor execution of basic individual responsibilities can undermine the effectiveness of the entire team on the pitch. 🧵#LFC
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Deep runs. Brighton struggle to track late runners. I saw it against Arsenal, and on top of that, their organisation immediately after losing possession is poor. They rely on counter-pressing, but that’s exactly why we shouldn’t try to play through them with short passing combinations. Instead, we should look for long balls into space for the wingers. This is a game tailor-made for Barcola
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Macca has been an excellent signing overall for LFC. Very cheap in this day and age and has proved to be a valuable member of prem league winning squad. He was awful for one season where there was plenty of mitigation. But I struggle to see how ward and Co justify giving him a higher wage then he’s already on given his age and Milage in legs. I think we will sign a younger version in summer. I think Macca will see out his contract and we will be fine with it too. But then again I think a lot ..
#LFC
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[🚨] Breaking: Liverpool are preparing a formal offer to extend Alexis Mac Allister’s contract, despite reports suggesting they have no current plans to do so.
Andoni Iraola highly values the midfielder and considers him essential to his plans.
[@ismaeelmahmoudd] #LFC
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O Real Madrid utilizou algumas alternativas ofensivas interessantes para enfrentar a linha alta do Barcelona. A primeira alternativa aconteceu várias vezes, que foi o passe para o corredor lateral e movimentos de jogadores da linha média para a profundidade.
Esse movimento, para além de gerar vantagem visual para os jogadores que estão em amplitude, utiliza a trajetória da bola para fora, como maneira de atrair a atenção dos jogadores e abrir espaço na profundidade para quem infiltra.
Segue o fio 🧶
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too similar?
a 5000 word commentary on rhythms, skillsets & quantifying style.
— players are the tactics.
— mainoo & wharton: far from similar.
— a look into man utd’s recruitment through a data lens.
— football-fluent data analysis.
— scouting nathan saliba.
link below!
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Barcelona’s Poor High Press: Thread🧵
Barcelona find themselves in the exact same situation as City. This current City team has a lack of athleticism in the middle to jump vertically to go man-to-man, therefore they do it horizontally by jumping the winger onto a CB, and then City jump their FB to the oppositions FB.
Barcelona do the exact same thing. They play both Pedri + Rodri, who both can’t consistently jump vertically, especially in such a high intensity game. So they jump horizontally, but on such a big pitch, especially with the opposition wingers high and FBs low, the jump distance for Barcelona’s FB is too large. This allows Valverde more than enough time to take a touch and then make a decision which, in turn, undid the whole press.
Cont.
New Article out on Substack - Analysis of El Clasico
- Barcelona's High Press - Issues with it + Impacts of it
- Solutions to Improve their High Press
- Rodri's Struggles against Bellingham
- Rodri's Struggles to Cover the Half Spaces
- Similarities to 2011 Copa Del Rey Final - Both Defensively and Offensively
- Overall Thoughts
Link Below: 👇👇👇
Against Villarreal, I noticed some very concerning signs from Cody Gakpo out of possession, which resurfaced on Sunday against Brighton. While most of the team generally adapted to the opposition’s rotations and structural changes, Gakpo repeatedly failed to track his man in a man-oriented marking/pressing scheme.
A thread illustrating how poor execution of basic individual responsibilities can undermine the effectiveness of the entire team on the pitch. 🧵#LFC
And finally, one last example from the Villarreal game, where they employed an almost identical pattern to Brighton, with the wingers and one of the full-backs inverting in rotation.
Notice how Gakpo’s marker literally runs straight past him, yet he shows absolutely no interest in tracking the movement.
Van Dijk is responsible for Saliba, Kerkez for Buchanan, and Jacquet for Mikautadze - a classic man-oriented defensive approach, whether implemented within a zonal structure or through full-pitch man-marking. In any case, this is nothing unusual for an Iraola side, as I discussed in my analysis of the Manchester City game.
Interestingly, when everyone fulfilled their defensive responsibilities in that match, Manchester City - arguably a stronger side than Villarreal - managed just 0.08 xG in the first half. Whether or not the two situations are directly correlated, I’m not entirely sure, but I can see a potential connection between them.
The result is yet another situation in which the opposition gains a numerical advantage in a highly dangerous area, creating a valuable opportunity to attack our goal
Liverpool defended in a 1.4.4.2 mid-block, combining man-oriented and position-oriented principles. The wide midfielders tracked their direct opponents across the pitch, while the rest of the structure remained position-oriented.
Liverpool dealt relatively well with deep runs by the full-backs into the attacking half-spaces, maintaining horizontal and vertical compactness, good spatial relationships and coordinated shifts towards the ball. The players stayed connected, ready to aggressively press and compress the space around the ball.
This was reflected in Man City’s first-half xG of just 0.08, highlighting the effectiveness of Liverpool’s defensive organisation. Barcola still needs to improve his perceptual-cognitive processing to avoid reacting too late, but the overall direction is promising.
Some really good work from Iraola #LFC
Let’s move on to the conclusion, although this is more of a personal reflection than a definitive summary.
Before accusing me of bias or jumping in to argue that he’s our best attacking player, let’s be clear about one thing: even 50+ goals do not excuse any player from neglecting his off-ball responsibilities so glaringly. I hardly need to remind anyone of the criticism Salah faced last year. In modern football, players are not exempt from defensive work in systems like these. Quite the opposite - it’s fundamental, especially when facing high-quality opposition.
This discussion is not intended to offend anyone or discredit a player so that you can start berating him. That is not the purpose of this analysis. The objective is to explain, identify problems and understand how they can be addressed.
I believe Cody can improve in this regard because he’s an intelligent player, and doing so would benefit both him and the team as a whole. Ultimately, we all want the same thing: a team that functions as a cohesive unit.
“Understand in order to recognise; recognise in order to improve”