[…]All Content © 2020 Total Football Analysis MagazineWe use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. In this illustration, we see Liverpool’s offensive structure, with one of the midfield three dropping alongside the centre backs. Thomas Lemar had a habit of dropping deep looking to protect the full-back, but this can be exploited if the midfield is stretched.Liverpool also need to look to get between that first and second line more, in order to engage the midfielders and look to open up gaps through the centre.
You can’t always be as compact as shown on the illustration of course, but football is about getting that balance between maximising how expansive you are, yet also maximising how compact you are simultaneously.We can see another example of this here, with Joe Gomez completing the counter-press by pushing extremely high. UEFA Champions League 2019/20: Liverpool vs Atletico Madrid – tactical analysis. As the game went on and Liverpool pushed more men forwards, Llorente could drop deeper accordingly and offer great flexibility to Simeone’s system.
This would allow him in to create space and exploit Lodi’s poor positioning and eagerness to press.This approach was key to Liverpool’s game plan and it was no surprise that both of the Reds’ goals came from attacks down the right flank which would then be centred almost from the byline. UEFA Champions League 2019/20: Liverpool vs Atletico Madrid- tactical preview. This would drag Renan Lodi out, leaving a gap in the left-back position which Oxlade-Chamberlain would use his intelligence and pace to get there before either of the Atleti midfielders.
The only thing missing from this structure is Firmino’s role on the far centre back, but not every situation can show the ideal positions.We can see a variation, of this here, where Liverpool struggle to progress with these principles not met. Thomas Lemar had a habit of dropping deep looking to protect the full-back, but this can be exploited if the midfield is stretched.Liverpool also need to look to get between that first and second line more, in order to engage the midfielders and look to open up gaps through the centre. He, more than any other player, attempted many crosses from deep. This role is a relatively new one, not used often by the Argentinian, but it has worked well with the former Real Madrid midfielder who has the stamina and fitness to do it. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain got the nod ahead of Fabinho whilst Jordan Henderson returned in midfield to provide a boost to the Reds, who went with their first-choice front three.Atlético’s biggest surprise in the team selection was the decision to field Diego Costa in attack. Whilst typically playing as a central midfielder, recent weeks have seen Simeone experimenting with the role that Llorente takes up, giving him more offensive responsibilities and that was again the case at Anfield.Llorente took up the most advanced of the midfield roles, whilst also allowing Ángel Correa to step up from midfield to join Félix in the front line. We can see an example here where Mo Salah ends up in that central midfielder’s role in applying direct pressure from the front, while Trent Alexander Arnold beside him plays the role of the covering central midfielder. Many people seemed to point to Liverpool’s UEFA Champions League first-leg defeat to Atletico Madrid as the beginning of their poor form, and while their form since then has been poor, I would dispute the statement that it began in the first leg.
Goalkeeper Adrián’s poor distribution allowed Marcos Llorente to score a crucial away goal for the visitors, then adding a second with Liverpool vulnerable on the counter andLiverpool lined up as expected with Adrián taking the spot of Alisson Becker in goal. His impact at Anfield was clear and could bring a whole new element to this Atlético Madrid side.Whilst some pundits claimed that this was no “masterclass” from Simeone, he set his team up to frustrate Liverpool perfectly. Instead, the team desperately turned to launching crosses into the box, an approach which equally failed to prove effective. Pressure is applied directly from the front, which helps to prevent forward passes, while there is also cover available in the wide areas to prevent lateral passes. This would drag Renan Lodi out, leaving a gap in the left-back position which Oxlade-Chamberlain would use his intelligence and pace to get there before either of the Atleti midfielders.