{"id":6737,"date":"2017-10-24T16:00:52","date_gmt":"2017-10-24T15:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.friendsofliverpool.com\/?p=6737"},"modified":"2017-10-24T11:57:58","modified_gmt":"2017-10-24T10:57:58","slug":"tottenham-liverpool-4-1-tactical-analysis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.friendsofliverpool.com\/2017\/10\/tottenham-liverpool-4-1-tactical-analysis\/","title":{"rendered":"Tottenham – Liverpool 4 – 1 Tactical Analysis"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tottenham reached an easy win against Liverpool on Sunday afternoon, their third consecutive in Wembley, where they have finally started to feel like home.<\/p>\n

Harry Kane put another brick in his \u2018\u2019best striker in the world\u2019\u2019 wall with a brace and an assist, taking full advantage of yet another poor defensive display by the Reds.<\/p>\n

The final score pretty much sums up the game\u2019s narrative, but for one more time, Liverpool have only themselves to blame for some foolish efforts, especially from their defenders, which paved the way for Tottenham\u2019s either way super-efficient finishers.<\/p>\n

Line-ups<\/h3>\n

Tottenham \u2013 <\/strong>Lloris \/ Alderweireld – Sanchez – Vertonghen \/ Trippier \u2013 Eriksen \u2013 Winks \u2013 Alli \u2013 Aurier \/ Son \u2013 Kane.<\/p>\n

Liverpool \u2013 <\/strong>Mignolet \/ Gomez \u2013 Matip \u2013 Lovren \u2013 Moreno \/ Henderson \u2013 Can \u2013 Milner \/ Coutinho \u2013 Salah \u2013 Firmino.<\/p>\n

Pocchetino Used a 3 \u2013 5 \u2013 2, trying to control the midfield, while Jurgen Klopp once again fielded the Coutinho \u2013 Salah \u2013 Firmino trio up-front, but it didn\u2019t make much of an impact.<\/p>\n

We see here how Tottenham tried to build two zones of pressing in the midfield area, which made it really difficult for Liverpool to keep possession of the ball, considering that they were outnumbered in that part of the pitch more often than not.<\/p>\n

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Tottenham were lucky enough to score early their first of the afternoon with Harry Kane \u2013 7th<\/sup> of the season \u2013 after a throw-in and a mistake \u2013 not the only one in the game \u2013 by Lovren, who failed to reach the ball with his head and Kane found himself inside the box, passed Mignolet, who was unnecessarily far of his goal-posts and scored with the left foot.<\/p>\n

Another defensive error, another match that Liverpool had to trail from the very early stages.<\/p>\n

Now, we have talked in a previous piece of how Liverpool\u2019s struggles are not only due to their poor defensive performances: there is a problem up-front too. The lack of a classic striker, a strong, physical presence to occupy not only space, but also opposition players, is more than obvious in specific parts of the game.<\/p>\n

Here, Coutinho has the ball in a left-wing position, but there is no teammate inside the box to receive a cross or pass. Salah and Firmino are too far away from where a striker should be and Coutinho attempts a blocked cross.<\/p>\n

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Situations like this were common throughout the game and it comes as no surprise that Tottenham had 7 interceptions and 17 clearances more than their opponents.<\/p>\n

Winks was the player that usually tried to link defence with midfield for Spurs, so he would play in a deeper position than Eriksen and Alli.<\/p>\n

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Tottenham had a very solid defensive shape in the midfield, which gave them the chance to steal a lot of balls and spread forward with speed.<\/p>\n

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Once again they are forming a double zone of pressing, with Trippier marking Coutinho as soon as he receives the ball and Eriksen joining Son and Kane up-front. Later on, the Brazilian will eventually lose possession.<\/p>\n

Tottenham had a major advantage in midfield, often leaving Henderson as the only option there for his teammates to pass, which was again very difficult due to their good shape.<\/p>\n

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Tottenham\u2019s second goal exploited all of Liverpool\u2019s awry: Can has gone forward inside the box, trying to fill in the space left from the lack of a classic striker and claim a header after Milner\u2019s cross. Lloris collects the ball and throws it to the centre, in a position where Can should normally be. Lovren attempts to cover for him, but once again he misses a header, leaving Kane behind him with acres of space to move forward. Matip comes left to mark Kane, leaving the centre of the box empty for Son, who receives the ball from Kane just there and heads it home.<\/p>\n

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A little bit later, Trippier stole the ball once again from Coutinho \u2013 he lost the ball a good 8 times \u2013 won a foul resulting in Son hitting the woodwork after a brilliant pass from Eriksen, who found the South-Korean behind Liverpool\u2019s defenders.<\/p>\n

A third goal there would have sealed the victory for Spurs, but it didn\u2019t come and it remained to be seen if Liverpool could find a way to return to the match.<\/p>\n

Coutinho kept receiving the ball in relatively good positions for him to produce something good, but his teammates didn\u2019t provide him with decent choices,<\/p>\n

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which most of the times would end in familiar situations like this:<\/p>\n

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Since Liverpool were lucky enough not to concede a game-decisive third goal, they somehow managed to score and return to the match.<\/p>\n

Actually, for once they outnumbered their opponents in the midfield, managed a steal and produced a great through ball (Henderson) for Salah, who finally moved between Tottenham\u2019s defenders and scored with a clumsy shot to Lloris\u2019 right corner.<\/p>\n

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In a part of the game were Liverpool\u2019s players seem completely lost, they found a goal, which gave them the chance to claim something more than a goal of honour.<\/p>\n

Coutinho could have played a little more with Moreno, who used to overlap and ask for the ball, but the Brazilian would attempt doomed crosses instead.<\/p>\n

While Lovren kept struggling \u2013 he missed both Son and Kane within few minutes but they failed to score \u2013 Klopp made an unusual yet quite intriguing move: half an hour in the match he put the Croatian out of his misery by taking him off and bringing Chamberlain in.<\/p>\n

Now Liverpool\u2019s formation changed to 3 at the back as well. Gomez came close to Matip, Can moved in something close to a right-back position, while Chamberlain occupied the left wing, which meant that Coutinho now had to play in a more central position.<\/p>\n

Klopp wanted to match Tottenham\u2019s attack with a 3-man defence and also achieve better ball distribution in the midfield.<\/p>\n

What the German achieved by shaking things up, was that now:<\/p>\n