spursfan77
Well-Known Member
- Aug 13, 2005
- 46,680
- 104,957
Reading this article and it makes it look like Poch didn’t even prepare for liverpool’s Biggest threat effectively. Choosing a counter tactic that is weak and would only tire out our players. I’ll post the opening paragraphs of the article but it goes on and on in the same vein.
Michael Cox: Pochettino’s perplexing approach left Spurs vulnerable to Liverpool’s biggest threat
https://theathletic.com/1331347/201...erpools-biggest-threat/?source=shared-article
You could be forgiven for thinking that someone had sabotaged the scouting report handed to Mauricio Pochettino.
The common theme of big matches involving Liverpool this season has been simple – nullifying the full-backs is vital.
Unai Emery was brave — or foolish — when travelling to Anfield, using a midfield diamond with two strikers. Although Arsenal found some joy on the break, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson were allowed too much space, which helped Liverpool pile on the pressure, and Alexander-Arnold was crucial in two of Liverpool’s three goals.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer used a different approach last weekend, playing a 3-5-2 and seeking to press Liverpool’s full-backs with Manchester United’s wing-backs, while keeping strikers in the channels to dissuade them from advancing. It was the first time Liverpool had been denied all three points in the Premier League this season.
Pochettino’s approach on Sunday, then, was somewhat curious. Tottenham used a 4-3-3 system, which usually looks like 4-5-1 without the ball. But Pochettino’s interpretation involved Christian Eriksen and Son Heung-min, the two wide players (at least on paper) tucking inside very narrow, often in front of Spurs’ central midfielders in more of a 4-3-2-1-ish formation. The result was inevitable: Liverpool constantly switched play between their two full-backs.
This has been an obvious part of Liverpool’s approach play over the last year, so it shouldn’t have come as a surprise to Tottenham.
Michael Cox: Pochettino’s perplexing approach left Spurs vulnerable to Liverpool’s biggest threat
https://theathletic.com/1331347/201...erpools-biggest-threat/?source=shared-article
You could be forgiven for thinking that someone had sabotaged the scouting report handed to Mauricio Pochettino.
The common theme of big matches involving Liverpool this season has been simple – nullifying the full-backs is vital.
Unai Emery was brave — or foolish — when travelling to Anfield, using a midfield diamond with two strikers. Although Arsenal found some joy on the break, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson were allowed too much space, which helped Liverpool pile on the pressure, and Alexander-Arnold was crucial in two of Liverpool’s three goals.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer used a different approach last weekend, playing a 3-5-2 and seeking to press Liverpool’s full-backs with Manchester United’s wing-backs, while keeping strikers in the channels to dissuade them from advancing. It was the first time Liverpool had been denied all three points in the Premier League this season.
Pochettino’s approach on Sunday, then, was somewhat curious. Tottenham used a 4-3-3 system, which usually looks like 4-5-1 without the ball. But Pochettino’s interpretation involved Christian Eriksen and Son Heung-min, the two wide players (at least on paper) tucking inside very narrow, often in front of Spurs’ central midfielders in more of a 4-3-2-1-ish formation. The result was inevitable: Liverpool constantly switched play between their two full-backs.
This has been an obvious part of Liverpool’s approach play over the last year, so it shouldn’t have come as a surprise to Tottenham.
