We were booting it long to try and expose the high line and get the front 3 in behind them, had nothing to do with trying to create space in the middle.
Why would we be booting it long for this? One of our main strengths is exploiting space so why would we intentionally try and force them to get men behind the ball and sit deep? That leaves less space for us to exploit and tightens things up. Our 2nd goal probably wouldn't have happened if they just sat deep, it happened because they had a high line and were trying to pass it around, but we intercepted it and then exploited the space.
If there is one thing I'm confident about it's that we wouldn't try and force a team to drop deeper to create more space in the midle for our midfield given we focus so heavily on the play down the wings with Robbo and Trent bombing on. The opposition playing a higher line suits us better because we look to get the fullbacks in behind more than we look to be controlling the middle of the park. Largely the middle players aren't creative, they are their breaking the play up and trying to pick out the runs of the fullbacks.
But ultimately it's irrelevant because we got the all important win, I just think we happened to play better against Arsenal than we did Burnley, but then that's often a given because of the way the teams like Burnley set up and largely look to frustrate rather than anything else.
Klopp knows how to deal with teams that want to press high but aren't used to it, and we play more than one way.
He's not averse to using the long ball in the first 30 mins, as it also leads to a bit more tiredness in the opposition in the last 5 mins or so.
It's no accident that we scored so many goals late on last season.
Part of Klopps tactics include mkinng the opponents chase, react, and be in places they don't want to be.
Burnley wanted to play a high line, we didn't let them.
Pushing the defense back creates space between the defense and the midfield as they adjust.
It's not for very long, but we doon't need very long.
Kloop always does this.
It gifts us the area around the halfway line, allows us to press high, retain possession high and get more bodies in the box, it helps create overloads in the wide area's which means more space in the box.
He has spoken about doing it.
So I'll stick with what I posted originally, and you can view it your way.
Logged