Thread by @vybhavbadri

A LATE ANALYSIS OF LIVERPOOL MAN CITY:
A potentially key match in the title picture, this was a battle that showcased Pep and Klopp at their very best, making numerous ingame tactical tweaks to turn the tide.
DISCLAIMER: APOLOGIES FOR VIDEO QUALITY, SEEMS TO BE A METTRICA ISSUE,

Both Liverpool and Man City had issues while pressing from a structural perspective, resulting in them losing the control of the game before tweaking mid game.
In this thread we will look at
1. The line ups
2. The initial set ups
3. The issues with those set ups
4. The changes

1. Line ups:
Both teams lined up in their usual 4-3-3’s. Liverpool had Jota up front and Milner took the place of TAA who was unavailable.
City lined up with Foden and Jesus on either wing and Grealish up front, unlike the game in midweek vs PSG where Sterling and Mahrez featured

2. The initial Set ups:
Liverpool played with their usual 4-3-3 in relation to line up and structure. They typically involved Fabinho+1 8 in build up and did so, with that 8 usually Curtis.
Liverpool would then keep Mo salad and Sadio Mane higher up to pin the CITY fbs back.

City had a 4-3-3 press akin to Liverpool’s normal 4-3-3, with Grealish marking Fabinho and Foden and Jesus making curved pressing runs to the CB’s while cutting off passes to the FB’s.
City defended in a 4-5-1 mid block, with Grealish staying near Fabinho.

City built with a normal 4-3-3. Fb’s wide, kdb and silva higher up but looking to drop to receive, them+ Grealish gave CITY 3 options Btl.
LIV had a 4-3-3 off the ball shape, it was the 9s duty, to press the cb.
NOTE: Mane wide to cover FB, Curtis narrow (imp. for later)

3. System Flaws:
Now, Liverpools off the ball structure was flawed and this Interview from Jurgen Klopp perfectly highlighted it.
Liverpool struggled to deal with City BTL, which meant that Henderson and Curtis were unsure of when to press.

This meant that the 9 of Liverpool’s press was consistently 1v2 and Hendo & Curtis were perennially unsure. They left City’s Cbs and Fbs with a lot of time and space on the ball due to worry of the 3 BTL options behind them.

https://twitter.com/Vybhav_Videos/status/1447248132400549889?s=20

Liverpool had massive issues at cutting off the Half spaces, with Laporte and Dias able to easily play through the lines. City had often 3/4 players looking to receive who were allowed to turn and play forward with ease.

https://twitter.com/Vybhav_Videos/status/1447248166357651461?s=20

Both these issues, as Klopp explained so well, the back four not pushing up to cut off the half spaces.
Klopp emphasises the importance of an aggressive back pushing up to keep the block compact, and thats been a feature of his teams from Dortmund.

LIV didn’t do so, letting City could play through the lines. It also caused them to be too passive and get forced back.
LIV lacked composure, playing dozens and dozens of long balls to Mane off little use.
This was changed at ht with Klopp asking them to “play an extra pass”

City’s press wasn’t flawless, they pressed in a 4-3-3 LIV esque press. Rodri pushed up to press the opp 6, like Fabinho so often does.
However, neither the midfield 3 nor the FBs pushed up to press LIV’s Fb,resulting in the winger being 2v1.

https://twitter.com/Vybhav_Videos/status/1447248223005855752?s=20

This was easily exploitable, for LIV but wasn’t, mainly due to the second part of Klopp’s interview.. where he talks about not feeling and hence playing right.
Pep changed his press midway through the 1st half, realising that it needed correcting.

They switched to a 4-4-2 press and off the ball shape. KDB pushed up alongside Jack grealish (later Sterling).

This was way more effective with City covering each option and hence exerting greater tactical control.

https://twitter.com/Vybhav_Videos/status/1447248278014214148?s=20

Klopp changed things up at half time, with Liverpool’s backline being significantly more aggressive in the second half.
Milner, Matip etc. stepped up well to support the press, mitigating the time on the ball that City’s CBs and FBs had first half.

https://twitter.com/Vybhav_Videos/status/1447248328266186756?s=20

Klopp also made 1 more tweak, with Mane tucking in more forming a psuedo 4-4-2, in order to prevent Dias passing to KDB as Mane now pressed Dias cutting off that pass as well. This also allowed LIV to press Walker, as Curtis could do so.

https://twitter.com/Vybhav_Videos/status/1447248384599883777?s=20

Guardiola, Not to be outdone, made a tweak of his own with Sterling coming on for Grealish.
Sterling was capable of fulfilling the exact same pressing and BTL role that Grealish did while offering a significantly greater threat in counters and transitions.

https://twitter.com/Vybhav_Videos/status/1447248443512999937?s=20

ALL IN ALL, this was a fascinating tactical battle which was enhanced by the sublime individuals. It was a match of possibly the 2 best teams in Europe & the 2 best coaches in Europe.
Over the 90 mins, id say City got the better result, but LIV can take a lot from that match

Thank you all for reading this piece.
If u like it, do make sure to Like, rt, qt or just generally share as it would help me a lot.
Do give me any feedback u have too!
Stick around for Pl/Cl related analysis in the future!
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I should add,
I decided to focus on a couple of the main themes here...
Their was ofcourse detail regarding final third etc. which I chose not to add due to length.

These are just the main tactical themes and tweaks which I thought affected the passage of play the most.