October 8, 2015, was a special day in the history of Liverpool. It was the day Jurgen Klopp was unveiled as the new manager. The flamboyant German took over the reins from a struggling Brendan Rodgers. Having tasted success with Borussia Dortmund while playing an attractive style of football, the Liverpool faithful believed they had got the perfect manager and the glory days would be back soon.
Klopp had a tough first game in charge as he had to travel to North London to face Tottenham Hotspur. There was evidence of change as Klopp’s Liverpool managed to garner a point in a 0-0 away draw at White Hart Lane.
Klopp’s Gegenpressing style is something the German wanted to build on and the process had already started. He showed belief in his players and gave them confidence to express themselves. He had given them new roles and wanted them to press high up the pitch. The philosophy saw Roberto Firmino take a more central role with Philippe Coutinho and Adam Lallana on either wing.
Early on in his life at Liverpool, Klopp faced Jose Mourinho’s struggling Chelsea away. Liverpool went down 0-1 in the game, but struck thrice after that to win. A couple of weeks later in the league, Liverpool were away to Manchester City and handed them a 4-1 routing.
Klopp’s reign had begun really well as Liverpool managed to thrash the top sides in the league. With Klopp prompting the fans to rally behind the players and pushing the players to put their bodies on the line, there wasn’t much of a surprise in the kind of results the team were managing to get.
Banana skin
Just as Liverpool were going strong against top guns in the Premier League, a struggling Manchester United under Louis Van Gaal beat them by a solitary goal to hand Klopp his first defeat against a big opposition. Liverpool though made things even and Klopp avenged the defeat as his side got the better of United by an aggregate of 3-1 in the Europa League round of 16, beating them 2-0 at home and drawing 1-1 in the return leg. Liverpool managed to draw level with Arsenal as well in a nail biting game that ended 3-3.
Now came the new season; Liverpool’s first full season under Klopp and what better test than to start off against Arsenal. Liverpool had a smashing start, going 4-1 up only to provide room for Arsenal to come back, but defended well in the last 10 minutes to nick a 4-3 win. Soon, Klopp went on to draw the game with Tottenham away, only to beat them 2-1 in the EFL Cup a couple of months later.
Liverpool then drew their home game against their biggest rivals, Manchester United, 0-0. A deep-lying United side managed to shrug off any threat posed by Liverpool, who failed to break.
Liverpool then got the better of Chelsea and beat Manchester City on New Year’s Day to continue with Klopp’s amazing run against the big teams, the best for a top-six side. Under Klopp, Liverpool had won seven, drawn seven and lost just one of their clashes with the others in the top six.
The Reds were now going into the second round of games with one of the big guns. Up first were none other than their arch rivals Manchester United, who were on a fine run. Liverpool went ahead through James Milner’s penalty, only to concede late and share the spoils. With this, Klopp failed to mark his maiden league win over United, having drawn three and lost one. Was this a mere coincidence or is there more to it than what meets the eye?
Not a coincidence
Unlike any of the other top six teams, United play a bit deeper and narrower in defence, especially against their title rivals. They deploy an extra midfielder and pack the centre of the park to avoid any fluid movement, something what Liverpool thrive on. Liverpool’s struggles against teams defending deep isn’t a secret, with sides like Burnley getting points off them, not allowing them any space in the middle of the park.
Liverpool’s game is pretty uni-dimensional with very few attacks coming in from out wide. The Reds do not have a target man and do not thrive on crosses coming in from the wings. Most of the Liverpool attacks are built through the centre, where they exploit gaps in the middle. With Manchester United, that comes at a premium and Liverpool struggle to score.
With the other top teams, most of the play happens through the centre. None of those teams have a target man barring Manchester United, who play differently and look to attack through the wings and make the most of Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s height. Liverpool’s weakness against crosses has been exploited many-a-time as they do not have good headers in the side.
Looking at the United team that played against Liverpool last Sunday, they started off with a 4-3-3, with none of the front three being wingers. While Anthony Martial is a striker and likes to cut inside and shoot, Henrikh Mkhitaryan has mostly played as a No.10 and few times as a striker; he loves playing through the middle. This is where United played to the strength of Liverpool.
But things did change in the second half with United throwing in another target man in Marouane Fellaini and a winger in Juan Mata to put in the crosses. They eventually managed to score, thanks to Fellaini and Ibrahimovic, and yes, it was the cross that came to their rescue.
Mourinho and, previously, Van Gaal played more to Liverpool’s weakness by not giving them space. They tried to exploit Liverpool’s weakness by playing wide and, hence, breaking Klopp’s code.
