Liverpool’s impressive positioning and Pochettino’s insistence on not changing his system costs him the game
Spurs travelled to Anfield on Saturday night to face a Liverpool side whose last win in the league came against Manchester City on New Year’s Eve. The Reds who found it difficult going into the new year always had the upper hand against Spurs, with Spurs’ last win at Anfield dating back to the 2010–11 season. A win for Pochettino’s side would have increased their chances in chasing the title contenders Chelsea who were yet to play on Sunday against Burnley. Meanwhile, Liverpool needed a win to energise the side and get them back into the lot who are chasing Chelsea.
Both teams started with their normal systems with Rose, Vertonghen and Lamela missing for Spurs and Lovren the only major absentee for Liverpool. Liverpool’s off ball positioning affected Spurs’ build up heavily with Lallana, Coutinho, Firmino and Mane containing Spurs’ back four, Wanyama and Dembele.
The four Liverpool players mentioned above positioned brilliantly to block the passing option to any of the other five Spurs players, while also maintaining their distances to effectively press Spurs’ players. All of the previous disrupted Spurs’ possession game and forced them into an unorganised buildup, through which Liverpool thrived. Liverpool targeted Ben Davies heavily as the Welshman was the weak link in this Spurs side, him being late in terms of anticipation and reaction resulted in the opener with Firmino dropping deep to leave space for Sadio Mane who slotted it home. Liverpool’s game plan continued to make its mark on the game, with Mane nicking the ball off Dier to score again after Lallana and Firmino missed their chances. On the other hand, Spurs couldn’t damage Liverpool as Milner and Clyne were heavily instructed not to progress as much to help with Son and Alli’s inside runs. Also, Liverpool minimised their passing in the back to bypass any chance of Spurs pressing, and to put them into the position where they exactly wanted to.
Come the end of the first half, Mauricio Pochettino changed his system into a 4–3–1–2 with Eriksen tucking inside to support Wanyama and Dembele, with Alli behind Son and Kane. This change could have come in handy if it was earlier — after the first 10 minutes — but the damage was already done.
Jürgen Klopp and Liverpool prove once again their brilliance in the head to head matches against the top 6 teams. However their performances against second half of the table teams is the reason why they are eleven points behind Chelsea and possibly won’t win the title. Meanwhile, Spurs’ loss drifts them away from Chelsea whose only concern could now be injuries and themselves.
