Playing like Champions

[scientificred]

Time for me to take a summer break. Hopefully the transfer team and Jürgen get what they want. Maybe there will even be a new pm or Labour party leader (or both) when i return for the start of next season.
Have a good summer everyone!

[redebreck]

Agree with a lot of the ideas in this thread. My own personal issue is with our wingbacks, or others, no longer going to the bye-line and cutting the ball back into the six yard box. I've noticed Robbo in particular has stopped doing this, something that hasbeen effective in the past.

[LFC-DPG]

Agree with a lot of the ideas in this thread. My own personal issue is with our wingbacks, or others, no longer going to the bye-line and cutting the ball back into the six yard box. I've noticed Robbo in particular has stopped doing this, something that hasbeen effective in the past.

Probably because we’ve only ever got one player in the box

[Nineteenx]

Probably because we’ve only ever got one player in the box

That isn't strictly accurate, we often have a few in there, who fail to coordinate their runs with one another, often all making the same runs, it's why I made the 'playing the percentages' thread, because when we get in similar positions to those Redebreck is talking about, we often put a ball in blind instead of picking a pass that's on. or we'll try and force a pass that is never on, when because we often have 3 all taking up similar positions and making the same movements, a low driven shot across the keeper anyone of them might bundle in any parry off is our best course of action

[Nineteenx]

Bump, it's all still there, what needs to be done, pressing and counter pressing to the incredible levels we reached, those levels ensuring we won the vast majority of all second balls, creating new points of attack they weren't set for and couldn't legislate for trumps the tappy crappy possession game

Teams are doing to us now what we used to do to other teams still trying to fashion a passing game who weren't all that in the press, what we should have done is improved and added to what we were already doing, have 3 midfielders as brilliant at pressing and counter pressing but with the ability to play the switches and attempted balls over the top to release our forwards and full backs in isolation or in combination, giving us absolutely everything we needed to further develop, tweak and enhance the play of our full backs and forwards in combination

It was all there, and we threw it all away trying to adopt some fantasy Man City in the season we handed them their arse style possession game that our brilliant manager has zero track record in adopting - It's a real mess now, it's a long road to get back to where we were to do what should have been done in the first place

I think there's been a bit of confusion among our players as to what this actually means, since winning the league there has been a lot of fannying around attempted fancy flicks that never seem to come off and an foul smelling air of complacency, they've not been playing like Champions at all.

To me playing like Champions means first and foremost playing with the same intensity, hunger, desire, work ethic and absolute beligerance in doing all those things and having an unshakable resolute determination that you will NOT be beaten and nothing less than a win in every single game is good enough.

I feel it is incredibly important to not start with the fancy flicks, showboating, over playing and over complicating of things uneccessarily and to never lose sight of what made you Champions and look to improve on doing the things that made you Champions even better rather than trying to do different things.

For me what made us Champions was first and foremost an incredible hunger and desire and work ethic, an attitude that we will never be beaten and no game or situation was ever lost or beyond being won and an absolutely incredible press, never ever letting the opposition having the ball easy and never ever having time on it when they did get possession.

Play wise and why I don't like all the fancy flicks and over playing we've seen since we won the League, the press came first and foremost, we weren't and aren't an all singing all dancing expansive football side, but what we do is devastatingly effective.

We test teams in every imaginable way, switch balls to release or find our full backs and forwards on either side of the pitch in space are an absolutely essential part of our game, to find those players of the quality they are in isolation, in space or in a position in which the LCM RCM LB or RB will quickly be in support of them so we can play a ball they can chest or head or lay off to one of those other players first time before making their runs in behind is so so important to our continued success.

The other crucial part of our game in combination with our press is the constant runs in behind and playing those long balls over the top of opposition defences, even when they're camping on their 18 yard line and playing them to such a level of quality that we either find the forwards run or the ball is so near perfect the defender can only half clear it and we win any second balls and quickly form and attack form there or quickly work it to one of our full backs to put an early ball into the box with the oppositions line slightly disturbed and our forwards able to take positions to make their second runs escaping their markers attentions while their focus is on where the half cleared ball will go.

For me together with our set pieces and Trent's right to left switches to find Robbo making runs in advance of our midfield and forwards at times (Robbo needs to start returning that favour at times) they are all the things that made us Champions and I feel it is incredibly important we do not lose sight of that

[Insidious]

There will be solutions.

- Players will gradually re-integrate after their absences.
- Jota will bolster the attacking depth when back.
- Diaz will likely gradually learn to cut inside into the spaces between right-back and centre-back more akin to what Mane used to, rather than staying wide.
- Carvalho will get games soon enough as he has shown desire to run at defenders.
- Núñez will cause defenders a problem.
- There will be games where Van Dijk, Konate and Núñez are all on, which help help us when attacking and defending set pieces.
- We'll find a tactical tweak to ensure opposition getting in behind Trent isn't as overwhelming a problem.
- Firmino will get less games in time which (no disrespect to him) should make our attack feel more potent.
- Some players will enter spells of form again and give others a lift.
- 19 League games per season take place at Anfield and those inside the ground can up their game when the lads need it.
- Having Núñez or Jota on the pitch should give Salah more room to operate.

Problems require solutions. We can find some, for sure. There will be opportunities for several individuals to "step up" this season and at least a couple of them should manage to do so, even if it's inconsistently at times.

Focus on ourselves. The rest is noise for quite some time yet. If we were 10 points off the Champion's League spots with 10 games to go it's a much bigger problem.

35 League games left - let's get a positive result at the weekend and go from there.

[Nineteenx]

I think there's been a bit of confusion among our players as to what this actually means, since winning the league there has been a lot of fannying around attempted fancy flicks that never seem to come off and an foul smelling air of complacency, they've not been playing like Champions at all.

To me playing like Champions means first and foremost playing with the same intensity, hunger, desire, work ethic and absolute beligerance in doing all those things and having an unshakable resolute determination that you will NOT be beaten and nothing less than a win in every single game is good enough.

I feel it is incredibly important to not start with the fancy flicks, showboating, over playing and over complicating of things uneccessarily and to never lose sight of what made you Champions and look to improve on doing the things that made you Champions even better rather than trying to do different things.

For me what made us Champions was first and foremost an incredible hunger and desire and work ethic, an attitude that we will never be beaten and no game or situation was ever lost or beyond being won and an absolutely incredible press, never ever letting the opposition having the ball easy and never ever having time on it when they did get possession.

Play wise and why I don't like all the fancy flicks and over playing we've seen since we won the League, the press came first and foremost, we weren't and aren't an all singing all dancing expansive football side, but what we do is devastatingly effective.

We test teams in every imaginable way, switch balls to release or find our full backs and forwards on either side of the pitch in space are an absolutely essential part of our game, to find those players of the quality they are in isolation, in space or in a position in which the LCM RCM LB or RB will quickly be in support of them so we can play a ball they can chest or head or lay off to one of those other players first time before making their runs in behind is so so important to our continued success.

The other crucial part of our game in combination with our press is the constant runs in behind and playing those long balls over the top of opposition defences, even when they're camping on their 18 yard line and playing them to such a level of quality that we either find the forwards run or the ball is so near perfect the defender can only half clear it and we win any second balls and quickly form and attack form there or quickly work it to one of our full backs to put an early ball into the box with the oppositions line slightly disturbed and our forwards able to take positions to make their second runs escaping their markers attentions while their focus is on where the half cleared ball will go.

For me together with our set pieces and Trent's right to left switches to find Robbo making runs in advance of our midfield and forwards at times (Robbo needs to start returning that favour at times) they are all the things that made us Champions and I feel it is incredibly important we do not lose sight of that

Well, although Jurgen and his coaching staff broke down and laid to waste a hell of a lot of the brilliant automation and direct play that was so integral to our being so brilliant in pursuit of something, an ideal, none of them have any track record of success with and this group of players don't have the skill sets to play, so far tonight looks a decent start at trying to get some of what Jurgen laid to waste working for us again

[justme]

applauded you were right again

[Nineteenx]

Bump, well, posted in 2020, it's all in here

[Nineteenx]

I’ve never lost site if this

I think there's been a bit of confusion among our players as to what this actually means, since winning the league there has been a lot of fannying around attempted fancy flicks that never seem to come off and an foul smelling air of complacency, they've not been playing like Champions at all.

To me playing like Champions means first and foremost playing with the same intensity, hunger, desire, work ethic and absolute beligerance in doing all those things and having an unshakable resolute determination that you will NOT be beaten and nothing less than a win in every single game is good enough.

I feel it is incredibly important to not start with the fancy flicks, showboating, over playing and over complicating of things uneccessarily and to never lose sight of what made you Champions and look to improve on doing the things that made you Champions even better rather than trying to do different things.

For me what made us Champions was first and foremost an incredible hunger and desire and work ethic, an attitude that we will never be beaten and no game or situation was ever lost or beyond being won and an absolutely incredible press, never ever letting the opposition having the ball easy and never ever having time on it when they did get possession.

Play wise and why I don't like all the fancy flicks and over playing we've seen since we won the League, the press came first and foremost, we weren't and aren't an all singing all dancing expansive football side, but what we do is devastatingly effective.

We test teams in every imaginable way, switch balls to release or find our full backs and forwards on either side of the pitch in space are an absolutely essential part of our game, to find those players of the quality they are in isolation, in space or in a position in which the LCM RCM LB or RB will quickly be in support of them so we can play a ball they can chest or head or lay off to one of those other players first time before making their runs in behind is so so important to our continued success.

The other crucial part of our game in combination with our press is the constant runs in behind and playing those long balls over the top of opposition defences, even when they're camping on their 18 yard line and playing them to such a level of quality that we either find the forwards run or the ball is so near perfect the defender can only half clear it and we win any second balls and quickly form and attack form there or quickly work it to one of our full backs to put an early ball into the box with the oppositions line slightly disturbed and our forwards able to take positions to make their second runs escaping their markers attentions while their focus is on where the half cleared ball will go.

For me together with our set pieces and Trent's right to left switches to find Robbo making runs in advance of our midfield and forwards at times (Robbo needs to start returning that favour at times) they are all the things that made us Champions and I feel it is incredibly important we do not lose sight of that