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Watching the #Spurs game for the second time, and I’m doubling down on my take: Trey Nyoni is a £100m player, and I genuinely believe he could transform Liverpool’s season.
His performance from Tuesday will probably feature in the thread as well. What a player. Absolutely phenomenal talent, with an incredible understanding of the pivot role #Nyoni
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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: 👇👇👇
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He stood in a mid block on the left and wasn't arsed to defend either on the front or the back end.
I was gonna do a thread on it, but it pissed me off so much when I watched the game again I couldn't.
It was horrendous.
Tomorrow, a thread will be posted about some concerning off-the-ball symptoms from Cody Gakpo. I noticed it against Villarreal and initially thought it was just a temporary issue, given that he had only just returned from injury and might need a game to get back up to speed. However, the same issue cropped up twice in quick succession early in Sunday’s match #LFC
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Gakpo says Liverpool were willing to defend one-v-one against Brighton.
Iraola's press relies on defenders winning the duels it leaves behind. Their willingness to accept those situations allows the rest of the team to squeeze the pitch and attack the ball.
Every player who presses needs to trust the team-mate behind him. Gakpo's words suggest that belief is growing: players are accepting the risks that allow the whole system to work.
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1.4.3.3. with a back line of Araujo – Jacquet – Virgil – Kerkez. At St James’ Park, matches often resemble basketball games, and it’s easy to get carried away by the unstable emotions of the stadium. Given Iraola’s nature, that is highly likely, which is why I’d like to use a hybrid RB who, in the attacking phase, would tuck inside and narrow his position, while Jacquet would be given the freedom to step up higher after we lose possession. This would give us an extra layer of protection against Newcastle’s quick transitions and fast attacks, while also buying the team some time to recover its shape. His higher positioning would serve a similar purpose to the role of a No. 6 - in general, I believe he could play there in many situations.
What’s more, we don’t yet know how mentally stable the team has become when falling behind, because last season we often completely fell apart in those moments. So, at the start of the season, I’d rather try to avoid putting ourselves in those situations, rather than adding more problems to the already long list of things Iraola has to rebuild and establish in order for the boys to function as one cohesive unit.
It may be a somewhat naïve approach, especially knowing Andoni, but it could also be the first sign of an internal change in him - showing a touch of pragmatism and an ability to adapt quickly depending on the opponent #LFC
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Szoboszlai should become Iraola’s nominal and long-term RB; it’s the coach’s job to convince him of that. Generally, I had a slightly different plan for the game today
1.4.3.3. with a back line of Araujo – Jacquet – Virgil – Kerkez. At St James’ Park, matches often resemble basketball games, and it’s easy to get carried away by the unstable emotions of the stadium. Given Iraola’s nature, that is highly likely, which is why I’d like to use a hybrid RB who, in the attacking phase, would tuck inside and narrow his position, while Jacquet would be given the freedom to step up higher after we lose possession. This would give us an extra layer of protection against Newcastle’s quick transitions and fast attacks, while also buying the team some time to recover its shape. His higher positioning would serve a similar purpose to the role of a No. 6 - in general, I believe he could play there in many situations.
What’s more, we don’t yet know how mentally stable the team has become when falling behind, because last season we often completely fell apart in those moments. So, at the start of the season, I’d rather try to avoid putting ourselves in those situations, rather than adding more problems to the already long list of things Iraola has to rebuild and establish in order for the boys to function as one cohesive unit.
It may be a somewhat naïve approach, especially knowing Andoni, but it could also be the first sign of an internal change in him - showing a touch of pragmatism and an ability to adapt quickly depending on the opponent #LFC
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Jacquet & Araujo understand their roles and the range of behaviours required in a high press. That allows them to eliminate gaps and maintain cohesion. That’s exactly what I expected from these signings #LFC
Regardless of how high up the pitch they press, pressing teams will always look for players with certain profiles - qualities that are essential for defensive structures to function properly:
identify the trigger → leave your reference zone → take away passing options → apply pressure - either win the ball back or, at the very least, buy time for your teammates to recover and restore the team’s shape.
His long legs and considerable height make him extremely difficult to escape from once he closes an opponent down. He can make the player on the ball feel completely trapped, with very few, if any, ways out. And when necessary, #Araujo is also willing to use a tactical foul, which is another important part of good defensive play.
The ability of a centre-back to delay an attack after the first or second line of pressure has been beaten can be easy to overlook, but it is incredibly important. Sometimes the centre-back’s job is not to win the ball at all - it is simply to slow the attack down and give his teammates those extra few seconds they need to recover their positions and rebuild the defensive structure
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I’d like to see Nyoni come on, because we need a few more players who can handle pressure and control the tempo of the game. It’s clearly turned into a proper basketball game now, and Gakpo’s decision-making in transition has been a little poor. I think Rio and Nioni could both be good options to bring on at this stage to help us manage the game better and ultimately close it out #LFC