Cracking the code behind Liverpool’s defence, the Enigma.
Alisson’s save against Napoli embodied Liverpool’s defensive transformation this season. The save itself wasn’t a miraculous top corner save or quick reflex action, rather a steady reassuring save. Fleet footwork and good anticipation from the Brazilian keeper kept Liverpool in the Champions League, and gave them a chance to face Bayern Munich in the round of 16.
7 goals conceded in 17 league games see Liverpool top of the table, and the best defence across the top five European leagues. Only Juventus come close with 8 goals conceded, however having played a game less. Out of the 7 goals conceded, 4 affected the state of the game. Goals conceded against Leicester, Spurs and Cardiff came after Liverpool were ahead, and despite Leicester’s goal coming at the 63rd minute from an Alisson error Leicester didn’t create much after.
Liverpool’s first bug appeared when they faced Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. The excellent pressing scheme controlled Jorginho and co but Liverpool were caught in a transition phase when their pressing system was out of shape. Hazard scored after quick combinations between him, Kovacic and Jorginho. Against Arsenal, it was Iwobi’s line splitting pass from left back into the channel that found Lacazette in the box. Lacazette’s clinical execution denied Liverpool two points and the game ended in a draw.
Further tests were reran but only two more teams in the league were able to get past the firewall. Their methods weren’t concrete though, more of ‘trial and error’. Burnley’s dubious opener in their 3–1 loss to the Reds came after a goalmouth scramble. Tarkowski’s header from a corner was saved by Alisson, but Ashley Barnes nicked the ball of the keeper’s hands for the ball to finally fall for Jack Cork in-front of an empty net. Manchester United’s equalizer last Sunday was more of a compilation error as Alisson spilled Lukaku’s cross. Lingard followed and scored the equalizer.
English hackers weren’t fortunate enough to break the code. However, their European counterparts found snippets that could be further enhanced to finally break it. Liverpool’s trip to Naples resulted in their second loss of the season after their exit from the League Cup. Ancelotti played a hybrid 4–4–2/3–5–2 system, without the ball Napoli switched to a back four to contain Liverpool’s full backs. In possession Mario Rui and Jose Callejon stretched the pitch and acted as wing backs. The interesting part was how Callejon kept his width until it was the right time to attack, contrary to what he normally does. His far post goals are a feature of this Napoli side, but most of these goals originate from a midfield run rather than a run from the wing area. Against Liverpool he kept his width and made the runs from the wing area, these runs caused Andy Robertson problems. Firstly, Alisson and a wrong offside call saved the Scottish defender as Callejon flashed behind him. Minutes after, Callejon attacked Koulibaly’s cross from a wider position in the penalty box, but he was denied again. This time by a Joe Gomez’s goal line clearance. Robertson’s positioning in both attacks was to maintain horizontal compactness and ironically Napoli’s winner occurred as a result of Robertson going wide to track Callejon, thus losing the horizontal compactness. Callejon dropped deeper on the right wing attracting Robertson, then Mertens moved to the right wing followed by Van Dijk. A huge gap now appeared in the Liverpool defence, and it only took a one-two between Callejon and Mertens to exploit it. Callejon burst forward after collecting the ball and crossed it for Insigne to score the 90th minute winner.
Callejon’s runs from wide rather than from midfield mesmerized Robertson, and the glitch reoccurred but from the other side. In their trip to Paris, Liverpool again faced a hybrid 4–4–2/3–1–4–2 system. Bernat’s run was untracked as Gomez moved inwards to maintain compactness when Lovren moved slightly out of position. The ball fell to Bernat after a poor clearance from Van Dijk, and the Spanish wing back gave PSG the lead. It wasn’t runs from wide that gave PSG the upper hand though, the 3–1–4–2 in possession meant that for Liverpool to press Verratti using a midfield player, they would leave the other two midfielders in a 1 v 1 situation against Neymar and Di Maria. The full backs couldn’t help as they were marking PSG’s wing backs. Liverpool were left in an infinite loop, giving Verratti freedom to dictate play or giving Neymar the opportunity of a 1 v 1. This situation also occurred in the Napoli game as Liverpool’s right midfielder wanted to press Hamsik, leaving spaces in the left channel for Fabian Ruiz.
Liverpool’s next opponents are Wolves. The side which consistently fielded a back three this season, earlier a 3–4–3 and currently a 3–4–1–2 system as Morgan Gibbs-White impressed in the position behind the forwards. Combinations between the forwards and the wing backs has been a huge feature in Wolves’ games this season, most significantly from the right side where Matt Doherty resides. The right defender has been arguably the league’s best in that position, his attacks from wide whether aerially or from low crosses increased his contribution to 3 goals and 3 assists. Furthermore, Gibbs-White’s induction has provided the team with more creativity, and more flexibility for the forwards as they can now attack the vacant space in the center. This Wolves team matches the template presented by Napoli and PSG, runs from wide and creativity sandwiching the Liverpool midfield. The question is whether they can apply that while containing Liverpool’s rampant attack.
The cryptography of this Liverpool defence has been coded by a crazy German programmer. Many have tried to crack the code, few presented templates. Yet none have found the cipher.
