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Tactical analysis of probably one of the best games of premier League in the last few years or so:Manchester City2:1Liverpool(18-19 season). The game which city had to win at all costs to close the gap.
Both lined up in their preferred 433 formation:
City were playing at home and had to absolutely win this game as they were trailing by 7 points.The game started with city pressing very high and trying to unsettle Liverpool.
But their pressing scheme was different to their usual pressing system. Usually their standard press is:
But their pressing scheme was different to their usual pressing system. Usually their standard press is:
Aguero(striker) presses one of the cb and one of the 8's push up to press the other centre back. While fernadinho (no.6) pushes up to cover up the space left by the 8.But this could create a gap between the defensive and the midfield lines and if the defensive line pushes up then
It creates space behind the defensive line. And this was smartly exploited by Liverpool in their 4-3 win at anfield(pl) and their 3-0 win(cl home leg). So pep adapted his pressing system for this game:
4312.
4312.
In this system aguero presses one cb while the other cb is pressed by David silva(8) and bernando silva(7) presses Henderson(6) but instead the wingers pushing onto the wingbacks sane(11) and sterling(9) tuck in centrally alongside fernandinho to cover the central spaces:
As you can clearly see from here city is in a 4312 pressing shape with wingers tucked inside covering up the central spaces and encouraging Liverpool to play out wide and then jumping out on to the fullbacks to limit their space.
LIVERPOOL'S BUILD UP PLAY:
Liverpool for the most of the first half struggled to find spaces due to city's change in pressing system. Although they started dropping winjaldum to rcb to create numerical superioty in the build up and also to push trent and Robertson high.
Liverpool for the most of the first half struggled to find spaces due to city's change in pressing system. Although they started dropping winjaldum to rcb to create numerical superioty in the build up and also to push trent and Robertson high.
They were able to create a very good chance(although not directly a result of some advantage in their build up but rather due to some excellent combination play) :
CITY'S BUILDUP PLAY AND LIVERPOOL PRESSING:
Manchester City played out from the back and tried to create their infamous 'wide overloads' particularly down the left:
Manchester City played out from the back and tried to create their infamous 'wide overloads' particularly down the left:
Liverpool high pressed city with mane and salah(also covershadowing laporte) on stones and kompany, firmino on fernandinho, Henderson would also push up from midfield to press bernando silva who would often drop deep during the build up while wijnaldum marked silva who pushed
high in the left halfspace. Aguero would also drop deep and wide behind Liverpool's midfield(particularly down the left) to create wide overloads alongside David Silva and Sane. Their goal also started down the left side ending with a stunning finish from Aguero.
City would also look to play into sterling who stayed high and wide on the right particularly through Fernandinho whenever they could find him free.This action also led to their best chance of the first half:
City went into the break 1-0 up. Liverpool needed to respond in the second half, but city continued their dominance for the first 10 mins, their intensity(particularly of Bernado Silva was quite impressive).This forced Klopp to change his system.
He brought on Fabinho for Milner and changed to a 4231 with hendo and fabinho as the double pivot mane on the right, wijnaldum on the left, firmino as a 10 and Salah as the striker.The front 3 behind Salah was quite narrow which also allowed Liverpool to unlock their main weapon
their fullbacks.This also led to their equaliser.
The game then opened up and city were able to take advantage and score the winning goal on one of these transitions.
City could have put the game to bed with a few more chances arising after the winning goal on offensive transitions but were unable to finish their chances. In the end they were able to hold on to the lead.
CONCLUSION:
This was one of the best matches tactically that the PL has witnessed in the past few years. It was particularly interesting how pep adopted his pressing system from his previous games to nullify liverpool's offensive threat. Equally impressive was Klopp's adaptation
This was one of the best matches tactically that the PL has witnessed in the past few years. It was particularly interesting how pep adopted his pressing system from his previous games to nullify liverpool's offensive threat. Equally impressive was Klopp's adaptation
in the second half where the change in shape and introduction of Fabinho caused city problems.
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