Below is a screenshot image (45:32) of less than 40 seconds into the second half:
You can clearly see that TAA's position after Ederson's goal kick was very aggressive. Some fans might think that this was TAA's own "wishful thinking", but in fact, given Klopp's stubbornness in executing tactics (which we all should have learned very well, right?), it was clearly a very aggressive tactical setup. However, given Klopp's stubbornness in play execution (something we all know very well, right?), and the frontcourt's defensive alignment, it's clearly a very aggressive tactical setup.
Looking at the matchups above, Elliott's need to guard both backs with Gakpo means that Ake needs to be ready to press (so that Klopp's high defense can be established), and even though we haven't been able to execute the high-frequency pressing that we used to be good at in the past this season, Klopp almost always has his team sprinting in the opening half. This is the part you should all agree on (and did in the first half) before gradually slowing down the tempo and starting to move in the direction of Mid Block's defense.
And the choice to have TAA do this (against Ake) isn't really that big of a deal, after all, the opening phase stamina is full of blood to run a section of a pattern we're good at, and there's more room to play with TAA being further forward. Also if we start with
Manchester City football club
The overall standings for this round (Attachment 2, close to 334 or 3214) look like this:
closure
Manchester City football club
The short pass option in the middle of the field forces a long pass, and if it's in the direction of Mahrez or Grealish, we have enough time to get back on the ball (even though we're in a three-on-four defense at this point), and if it's in the middle of the field, we're in a position of numerical superiority in the midfield area where we can do a better job of shifting the ball around and protecting it, which in fact is exactly what the opponent does with the ball. Fabinho's head.
It was only slightly unfortunate that Fabinho's first point header control didn't allow TAA to get comfortable possession:
TAA didn't manage to make the first point to finish the steal after the ball was at Ake's feet (btw there's really no excuse for that):
Personally, I think what really deserves to be noticed and discussed is the next few seconds of footage.
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Finding big gaps that can penetrate our offside traps on simple passes:
It's not really too much of a problem to get here, as Klopp's tactical system would have been unavoidable to take that kind of toll, and this kind of picture is not a good one for the
Liverpool (England)
It should be commonplace for fans as well.
The question then becomes, in the moment when Alvarez passes into the slot behind Robertson for Mahrez to go after, the space and distance between the pass and Mahrez getting the puck:
Shouldn't Alisson have actually had to anticipate his opponent's intentions early enough to complete the strike to clear the ball? I've done a little math, and it's probably almost five seconds from the time Alvarez passes the ball to the time Mahrez gets it, so at least I'm thinking that Alisson could have had plenty of time to kill the suspense of the round early.
Of course, this isn't to criticize our patron saint, after all, even if we manage to survive this wave, we don't know if we can really hold on to the suspense until the last moment. The main point of this discussion is that with Klopp's own style of play being high risk, what we're facing in the midst of this season's downturn is
Manchester City football club
Not to mention the fact that this season we are only behind the basic GG, the margin for error is so low that it can't be any lower, and even one less than "perfect" decision in execution is likely to result in a loss.
Then it's easy to go back to a "clichéd" topic, that is, why Klopp insisted on such a tactic with such a low margin of error in such a background (or to put it in a worse way, why he was so stubborn)? Well, I would say it's right but not right, Klopp is indeed very stubborn, but in fact, this season, the "compromises" and "resilience" are still obvious, and the choice of not compromising or being stubborn against such a strong opponent can't be ruled out, perhaps knowing that it's better to let go and fight anyway. Klopp is indeed stubborn, but this season has shown "compromise" and "resilience", and he chose not to compromise or be stubborn in front of such a strong opponent, in fact, we can't rule out the possibility that he knows that he won't be able to beat the opponent anyway.
In all conscience.
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In the first half, we had a clear advantage, especially when Grealish and Mahrez were surrounded by a bunch of players on both sides of the field (3-4 of them at that) and could still move the ball around, so it was really hard to keep the ball until the last minute. What's more, in the first half, we scored first because Klopp dared to play offense and defense at a disadvantage, and that's what made the connection between TAA and the attackers in front of the goal possible.
