Liverpool 4-1 Cardiff City: In game and Post Match discussion

While everyone would say they value that, I  see a lot of poor decision-making, including from teams who spend good money on transfers. Think Hodgson, Roy as a counter-example. ☺️

I guess some have a keener eye than others.

There's a more in depth piece here, which focus's on Guardiola, but you can clearly see that Klopp uses the same principles, but also adds in his own requirements.
The key is creating lines of pressure to create numerical superiority, which in turn creates space.
It was noticeable against Cardiff, that when the ball was wide, both Wijnaldum and Fabinho took up support roles to try and gain numerical superiority, with Shaqiri also helping by attacking the (central) space left by the defenders moving wide to try and snuff out our extra numbers.
There's lots of other stuff out there as well, about our "geggenpress" etc, but it really comes down to the same thing, which I think the article explains quite well.
The fascinating part for me regarding intelligent players is when Klopp states that a player who finds himself in a position takes on the responsibility of that position.
So for instance, Firmino might find himself in an inside right position, midfield, inside left, centre forward, and he needs to immediately adapt and take the responsibility for that "zone".
I find it all very interesting.

http://spielverlagerung.com/2014/12/25/juego-de-posicion-under-pep-guardiola/

Phew! That article is not an easy read, but very interesting.  Players ofnours that come to mind on reading about interiores are Bobby (especially), Lallana from 2 seasons ago, and (gets ready to duck), Jordan Henderson  their ability to adapt to the concepts surely has led to their being favored. players who maybe haven't gotten it as well include Christian Benteke, maybe Emre Can and, believe it or not, Phil Coutinho. Not doubting the skill, but the acumen to adapt. This also explains why some of the holdovers have risen in prominence under a new manager rather than him simply discarding players en masse.

Can't help but wonder if some tweak or another is what led to Buvac leaving.

Thanks for sharing the links, I have read them, but the thing is, I see this pattern from a lot of teams. I watch around 9-11 games (mostly the big teams) a week and I don't particular see anything unique , I just assumed it's normal?

I think a lot of managers are allowing their players more flexibility (some more so than others) since Pep arrived and took Barca to different level.

But isn't that pretty much the same for all managers at top clubs? Fortunately for us, we have the money and pulling power to recruit the very best.

I think what you are seeing is variations of zonal systems, like the one BR used to play, and in Italian football a combination of fairly rigid zonal systems.

Some of the big teams play various variations on the basic system, but as pointed out in the articles, unless it is combined with other systems, it's actually quite rigid, as can be seen when man u play.
In fact I'd argue that maureen has been trying to get this system right for years, but always ends up going back to a rigid 4231.

It's the variations that are the important part, and this is where a certain type of player is important; they need to be good enough, tactically astute enough to recognise danger/opportunity and aware enough to take advantage of opportunity, and on top of that, highly adaptable to changes in the flow of the game meaning they have to take up a different role.

The way Mo links and plays with Shaq could be a big deal for us. It takes a bit of heat off Mo in that Shaq, when he gets high in support he demand attention from defenders. What with Mane coming into form, and Mane being Mane, he won't accept 2nd or 3rd fiddle, so he will get extra motivation from Mo and Shaq ripping it up. Add in Bob popping up along the front line and it becomes a real attacking force.

But we must have urgency from midfield, get it forward quickly, that is key to this new dynamic with Shaq as part of the attack. Think Klopp has recognised Shaq demands a place.Can't be ignored or benched, he has to play Shaq. He could be the catalyst to a new attacking goal glut.

For me the midfield should be one DM, one central and one attacking within a 433 as below.

                        ↑
                    ATM     ↑
         DM         ↓     CM
           ↓                     ↓

You see the ATM starts a bit forward.
The CM and ATM both should run up and down the field, but the DM only should track back.

ATM? It's not a bank machine.

6, 8 & 10 will do.
It's not anything new that you're suggesting, it's the standard for a 4-2-3-1, which Klopp has played.

I've been saying I rate Shaqiri to be in first xi. Other people have disagreed, now I'm being called a troll and a pr**k for it. Are you guys serious? Just f*ck off will you. Also there was no bickering, just a healthy debate until you and Robby poked your stupid noses in. Do you really think I would have +1 him if we were arguing?

No need for this, this is what instigated a negative feeling, not the debate about Shaqiri, in which I'm pro Shaqiri.

We must have won 4-1, lads. Wtf is "pro-Shaqiri"?

6 months ago, he was staring down the drop zone. Now he's been Kloppered and is playing well with a team top of the league.

We did what we had to do. It was comfortable enough. If we win next week, we'll have sent another message to City and the rest of the league.

It's a well formed opinion so I +1 that, I have seen Lallana get stuck in and Keita is a very big guy, I don't think Shaqiri is as bad defensively as people make out though and he is better at carving open defenses. It's opinion based anyway.. it's early days and we'll see I guess. When Coutinho was playing in the middle I didn't like it for the defensive frailties and as a forward he seemed more like a scorer of great goals rather than a great goalscorer... so I so see Shaqiri as an upgrade on some respects.

Ribz,

Keita is 5' 6" tall and weighs 10 stone and 1 pound.

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