The fact leeds could only hoof it was down to our cutting of of the lanes of passing and a lot of hard work closing down. Their wingers were nullified by hard running and our fullbacks esp trent put a right shift in sprinting back closing down. thats the point, plain stats don't tell the whole story. The system is extremely high end complex team patterns
i didn't say it was about that game. Per what I just said. Look at the amount of work done to nullify leeds wingers totally.
One of the best goal scoring wingers of all time. His numbers as a winger is phenomenal and up there (even better) than actual strikers. please log in to view this image
Without Gini, we now have two options on the left side who contribute to our build up play (Thiago and Naby) - don't think it's a coincidence that we look far more fluid.
51 (shots from set plays in 6 matches this season for #lfc, 8.5 per match. All 3 goals vs Palace. The most by any PL team in a season is 180, 4.8 per match. Shots from set plays (EPL 21/22): 11 VVD 9 Salah 8 Matip, Mane 5 Fabinho 4 Jota Leicester have 3 all season, Chelsea only 11
absolutely no coincidence. no coincidence the full backs look a small bit more exposed either. Our mate windy was the most frustrating player going in holding the ball too long. turning around demonstrating how had it is to take it off him, then carry it within 2 yards of whoever he might pass it to and make sure they are closed down etc!
its all about the second ball. we have not scored too many direct but VVD makes a huge difference in there. Our guys are well drilled this year and are getting the second balls.
Out of van Dijk's 8 PL losses in 100 games for Liverpool, 4 came in games when Lovren partnered him, one where Adrian was in goal, and 2 were after Liverpool mathematically won the PL title in 2020...
Pressing charts for Milan and Palace: As expected, we started like a house on fire vs Milan but we maintained a high level all throughout. Palace wasn't as good please log in to view this image please log in to view this image
Its like as if i said nothing last time. Pressing is more than stats. We applied a totally different tactic v palace. We focused on nullifying their wingers. We didnt "do worse" at all IMO. We swapped players and played a different style of game thats all.
The pressing numbers above include all types of pressing - group pressing, individual pressing, forcing opposition back without winning the ball, turnovers etc. It's not just about winning the ball back, it's about closing passing lanes, stopping the opposition from progressing. The charts include all of that. And we definitely did do worse because our pressing efficiency was far poorer - Crystal Palace bypassed our press a number of times.
Hooooof. No seriously though when you change players and philosophy the games are not comparible really. It's like apples and pears really
Pressing numbers vs Milan - volume and efficiency was very good: please log in to view this image Pressing numbers vs Palace - total volume of presses down vs Milan but the efficiency was a lot lower .. please log in to view this image
Palace did try and play football though ... Also - the charts are adjusted to factor in possession. Unlucky MITO ... you will be forced to like these charts.
When does that bit not happen? If thanks that park that bus try to stop the opposition from progressing, just from a deeper position
any chart than includes XG simply won't be anything like the true detail. Its all subjective. however simply put, no two oppositions are the same. to compare what the team needs to do against them is as pointless as comparing sheep and goats. You simply cannot say the press was "worse" in one game over the other purely on a set of numbers. you simply have to take into account the opposition reaction to the press and all that good stuff. For example guiata kicked the ball out of play at least 6 times, straight out under the press, in contrast milan were shell shocked and we were encouraged higher press trying to knock it about at the back.