this video shows what you need to know about pressing. Look at the players on show v villa on the weekend in a training game and the intensity put in. ignore the williams freak goal. look at the system.
Below chart shows the players who make a positive contribution with their possession (i.e. getting the ball up the field and into dangerous locations) and who receives that possession (this is just for the 1st league game across the {PL): Not that anyone one needs reminding but Salah is by far our best attacker. Not only is he so good on the ball in terms of carrying the ball and passing into dangerous areas, but he is also the one who is in the great areas to receive the ball ... please log in to view this image
It always makes me laugh when rivals fan or pundits used to think that pressing is just about running around like a mad man, chasing the ball, trying to win it back as quick as possible and that's it. There is so much more to it than that - it's about timing when to press, who to target, when to press by yourself or as a group, where to press etc etc. So much structure and discipline involved.
so a striker who scores goals should be high left, a no 10 should be one the right side and high. Interestingly richarilson is in a finishers position but plays wide so it makes him look bad. antonio, son etc all make sense. Azpi and tierneys positions are massively impressive for players who might be called back 3 or wing backs. the likes of fernandes and grealish is interesting, not doing enough? The bottom right could be called deep lying playmakers. xhaka for example but theres a few names missing there so you couldn't tell. Really my point would be who is "out of position" in terms of contributing over and above what their role in their side dictates. Azpi as a RCB/RWB is contributing to cheslea massively, yet someone like fernandes is basically getting passed to but as a supposedly creative player is actually not creating. (utd fans don't mind when he is flat track bullying sides) Explains why cheslea could win a CL but utd flopped in big games i suppose
It is such a complex system, It really is a massively impressive preseason for us. It only take one player (like origi) to break the effectiveness. In that goal alone you see minamino left, origi and jones central and elliott too. Jones hassles two guys and this means a ball goes to a player with back to goal and this triggers williams to go for it big time. these are the triggers we look for and then we hit them. We don't hit the first guy we close the lane of the passing options and make it harder and harder until a player is in a bad place and then bang! If one player sits back or doesn't close down and an easy outball is left it doesn't work.
Jota's shot map since he joined LFC ... the guy is so good in the box. All this talk about buying a CF but he could be that guy. His movement and instinct in the box is brilliant please log in to view this image
he’s massively surprised me since he joined. Thought he was alright at wolves but nothing special. But he’s clicked with the team, his movement is very good, he’s surprisingly good in the air like mane and being able to play anywhere and use both feet has made him a valuable asset. Brilliant piece of business, value seemed steep at the time but looks a relative bargain now
yeah, wolves fans liked him but said that price was far above the value. certainly it looks a good deal and an example of how our system can unlock something in a player another one wouldn't i suppose?
That's how I feel about Salah, the murmurs of him going to Spain each transfer window... He could go, and he could play well for them, but he's not going to have the same impact with them as he does with us. He fits our system perfectly.
Pressing stats vs Burnley: - Very slow start to the game where Burnley looked pretty decent - We got the goal against the run of play and then we stepped up and controlled the rest of the match - Tailed off again towards the end of the game, where we conceded some big chances please log in to view this image
His pressing was good but his positioning needs to improve a lot (which will come with time). Trent was massively exposed down that right side.
so was tsimikas down the left. keita didn't hel him too much. Mane did actually less than salah did on the right.
Agree. Elliott was working almost too hard and getting involved too much, I noticed he was getting dragged out of position a lot. Too much youthful enthusiasm at time and desire to be involved. Still, got the right work ethic it appears and there is a definite hunger, be is only going to get better. If he's doing this well after one or two games, by the end of the season he could be truly incredible. The last break through players in that position from the academy? Sterling and Ibe right? He seems to have way more intelligence than Ibe or Sterling at this same stage in their careers. They both looked like they had the raw skill at this point, but would end up running themselves into trouble. Elliott seems to have more intelligence and knows when to pass or get himself out of trouble. Probably the difference of a different manager. Much better work rate too.
he is not form the academy though. he is a signing. probably a huge bargain when the final figure is done by tribunal. you are right though a lot more awareness. We got sterling at about 14 and he was very much head down type for a couple years.
