It’s a sign of strength that each and every one of Liverpool’s victories under Arne looks a little different. This is due to his preference for adaptability over pragmatism and inheriting an established team from Jurgen Klopp, meaning tactical changes are less difficult to implement with established players. relations.
Away from Tottenham Hotspur, for Win No. 21 in the 25th slot game, he took Liverpool to a 4-2-3-1, having recently played a 4-3-3 with a No. 6. Badó 6-3.
More important than the structure, though, was the roles.
Instead of a functional rear of three, where the left side Andy Robertson goes back and the right side Trent Alexander-Arnold is licensed to advance or move to the midfield, the Slot sides gave the appropriate amplitude.
The No. 6 of Liverpool, Alexis Mac Allister and Ryan Gravenberch, had to take more danger in the preparation to get under pressure, which was for the first purpose of Tottenham (when Mac Allister was dispossessed), but in general the plan worked .
Robertson, who played a high role for the position, sets up Cody Gakpo (and stayed deeper when Gakpo played on the wing), while Alexander -Arnold made 10 crosses – his most for almost a year, for thirteen Against Newcastle United The New Year’s Day of the year.
Even without a recognised number 9, Luis Diaz playing as a false nine, Liverpool were devastating in crosses. He finished off 10 of his 16 open crosses (62. 5%) and created five chances. From 2018-2019, there has only been one At the same time, they have organized a single-game feature in the Premier League for either metric: away to Brighton.
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The technique made sense: Tottenham were the first choice center Micky Van de Ven and Cristian Romero, Filming Radu Dragusin and 18-year-old Archie Gray (central midfielder). Similarly, second-choice goalkeeper Fraser Forster stops at less than Guglielmo Vicario’s No. 1 injury rate.
There were signs of caution before Liverpool scored twice in thirteen first-half minutes. Tottenham’s direct technique diverted the ball in midfield and, after a miss, Liverpool took the lead before the hosts could take shape. Joe Gomez approaches Ryan Gravenberch and the midfielder spots Alexander-Arnold’s advance.
Liverpool patiently worked the ball out to the left and created a two-v-one on right-back Pedro Porro, with Diaz close to Gakpo. That prevented Porro from engaging Gakpo immediately and, in this attack, the Netherlands forward dribbled on the outside before crossing.
The movement of other Liverpool players is vital here. They still had 3 men attacking the crosses, with the wide end (Mohamed Salah in this sequence) blocking the recoil and a number 6 coming from deeper. The result is a not unusual 3 V-3 scenarios in the box, or 3 V-Twos when Liverpool had central runners overloading Tottenham’s central defenders. Tottenham have never had more of them.
Here, Gakpo’s cross goes between Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai, reaching Salah. He has two, one-touch left-footed shots, which Djed Spence blocks and Tottenham escape, though the pattern for success was established.
Two minutes later, Liverpool had abandoned the attack. Szoboszlai is the link between Robertson and Gakpo, with the total touched the end.
They create the two-v-one on Porro again, this time through Robertson’s overlap.
Once again, Liverpool had 3 attacking the cross, Tottenham’s two, for Robertson to knock down the cross. Alexander-Arnold is in a competitive enough position that he can muster the loose ball and his cross is locked for a corner.
This style took a position for the opening of Liverpool, only in the other aspect, because they worked a bait and change attack. After running in short passes to the left and attracting Tottenham, Liverpool temporarily hit the ball to the right. Consequently, the son Heung-Min and Spence (the players in the left aspect of Tottenham) were too narrow to exercise a long tension in Alexander-Arnold.
The back-back takes a touch and a moment to cross. Liverpool have another three against two and even though Dragusin and Gray know Szoboszlai and Salah, no one gives Diaz back.
The Colombian striker attacked the center, threw himself into the second area from six meters and perfectly contorted himself to beat Forster with his head, without opposition.
Liverpool’s timing is an even bigger decision. They prime Tottenham to press their 4-4-2 block through Gómez returning to Virgil Van Dijk (out of fire).
As the blockade progressed, the central fields closed, but neither of the two central defenders was completed to Szoboszlai. Gomez divided the first six of Tottenham with a feet pass and played diverted to Díaz to use both opposites.
This time, Dejan Kulusevski recovers to support Porro. Gakpo recognises this and plays back to Robertson. Meanwhile, Mac Allister starts his run into the box.
Kulusevski is too far from Robertson to stop the cross and Liverpool have a four-v-four attacking the ball. Really, Tottenham should clear this, but Gray and Spence jump against Szoboszlai and the ball comes off Spence’s shoulder and leaves Mac Allister unmarked to head past Forster.
“If you look at the targets, it’s especially about central defenders or full-backs,” Slot said in the post-match press conference. “Every advance towards a goal was, I think, several passes. So, it’s not just (roughly) the ones who score, but also the ones who help create. “”
Liverpool making box at the crosses is nothing new. A Statsbomb’s article of April 2023 placed the Liverpool Cuarto in the Premier League in terms of maximum number of bodies in the area, on average, when performing shots.
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What has changed is their use of crosses. This season, they are only attempting 10.8 per game, down by almost three from 2023-24 and way below a peak of 17.7 and 16.3 per match in their peak seasons under Klopp: 2019-20 and 2020-21. However, their open-play cross-completion this season, at 25.4 per cent, is higher than any of the last six campaigns. Liverpool’s style might not be predicated on crosses any more, though it’s a weapon they can — and do — draw when they need it.
They showed adaptability in the second part with a phenomenal counterattack risk and better controlled the game, which allowed Tottenham to trace a 5-1 against with a poor area to defend.
For this reason, Slot said, that even though the score is six, it is only “perhaps our most productive feature away from home. “
Regardless, this is the 9th time this season that Liverpool have led at half-time of a league game and they have won them all – the maximum in the league and a league mark. The next victory will be other again.