LFC NEWS

Jamie Carragher says what everyone is thinking after Liverpool players pull out of internationals

LiverpoolEcho.co.uk - Thu, 03/28/2024 - 11:19
Jamie Carragher hasn't enjoyed the March international break as Liverpool and other rivals see players pull out of international duty
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Jamie Carragher says what everyone is thinking after Liverpool players pull out of internationals

icLiverpool.co.uk - Thu, 03/28/2024 - 11:19
Jamie Carragher hasn't enjoyed the March international break as Liverpool and other rivals see players pull out of international duty
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Pepijn Lijnders could take Ajax job – he recommended Jordan Henderson transfer

ThisIsAnfield.com - Thu, 03/28/2024 - 11:00

Pepijn Lijnders is “under consideration” for the top job at Ajax having already ruled himself out of the race to be Jurgen Klopp‘s successor at Anfield.

“I’m excited to manage, I’m excited to go, to find the right club who really wants [me],” Lijnders recently explained of his future in the wake of Klopp’s departure news.

The 41-year-old has been linked to Ajax for some time now, bizarrely rumoured to another assistant role, but that was never to be on the cards.

And now, as per the likes of the Times‘ Paul Joyce and the Telegraph‘s Chris Bascombe, Lijnders is a “contender” for the vacant Ajax job.

The Dutch club currently have John van’t Schip as their interim manager, who was appointed in October, and are in a transitional period as they sit 31 points off leaders PSV.

And Ajax clearly value Lijnders’s opinion having consulted the Dutchman over the signing of Jordan Henderson in January, meaning a reunion could be on the cards in Amsterdam.

 Liverpool's Andreas Kornmayer, Vitor Matos, Jürgen Klopp, Pepijn Lijnders, Jack Robinson celebrate after the Football League Cup Final match between Chelsea FC and Liverpool FC at Wembley Stadium. Liverpool won 1-0 after extra-time. (Photo by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)

 Liverpool's Andreas Kornmayer, Vitor Matos, Jürgen Klopp, Pepijn Lijnders, Jack Robinson celebrate after the Football League Cup Final match between Chelsea FC and Liverpool FC at Wembley Stadium. Liverpool won 1-0 after extra-time. (Photo by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)

The former Liverpool captain has played nine games for Ajax to date and has worn the captain’s armband in six of them – though he has not escaped criticism during a bad run of results.

Lijnders has taken one senior management role in the past, with NEC Nijmegen in 2018, but it lasted less than five months after failing to secure promotion to the Eredivisie.

He has since established himself as Klopp’s right-hand man and has been loyal to seeing out the project alongside the German – he previously revealed he has rejected several job opportunities over the years.

The Ajax job would be a big one for Lijnders to take on as expectations will be incredibly high, but he has been insistent that his choice will be swayed by the club that “really wants” him.

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It is a decision he will make alongside his family as well as Vitor Matos, Liverpool’s elite development coach, who is expected to be named Lijnders’ assistant when the time comes.

Lijnders said back in February: “In a few months time I will sit down with my manager, now is not the time, but then I will see what kind of options I have, which club really wants [me].

“And in that moment, I will make a decision that is for me good, hopefully for Vitor what is good and hopefully for my family.”

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Joel Matip takes major step in injury recovery as Liverpool decision looms

ThisIsAnfield.com - Thu, 03/28/2024 - 10:31

Three-and-a-half months on from a nasty ACL injury, Joel Matip took a major step in his recovery during training – as a big decision looms over his Liverpool future.

Matip was dealt a miserable blow in December as he was forced off the pitch midway through the second half of the 4-3 win over Fulham at Anfield.

The centre-back was making his 12th start of the season, but it would be his last as scans on his knee discovered damage to his ACL which required surgery.

But after increasing his workload in the gym in recent weeks, he was cleared to run around the pitches at the AXA Training Centre for the first time in over three months.

Joel Matip is, today, running for the first time,” Jurgen Klopp told fans watching an open session on Wednesday.

“How many months? Three months? Crazy, absolutely crazy.”

 Liverpool's Joël Matip during a training session at the AXA Training Centre ahead of the UEFA Europa League Group E match between LASK and Liverpool FC. (Pic by Andrew Yeats/Propaganda)

 Liverpool's Joël Matip during a training session at the AXA Training Centre ahead of the UEFA Europa League Group E match between LASK and Liverpool FC. (Pic by Andrew Yeats/Propaganda)

There is still no sign that Matip will be fit to play a part in any of Liverpool’s games in the final two months of the season.

With his contract due to expire at the end of the campaign, he is facing the very real prospect that he has played his last game for the club.

That feeling was only magnified with the news of Klopp’s resignation, with the manager having previously suggested that he would push for a new deal for his No. 32.

Whether Klopp’s successor would look to retain Matip is obviously unclear, but there was at least good news for the 32-year-old this week.

 Liverpool's Joël Matip during the FA Premier League match between Liverpool FC and West Ham United FC at Anfield. (Pic by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)

 Liverpool's Joël Matip during the FA Premier League match between Liverpool FC and West Ham United FC at Anfield. (Pic by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)

Despite his injury problems, there would unlikely be a shortage of suitors if Liverpool opt against offering him a contract extension.

Matip has already been linked with a return to Germany with Eintracht Frankfurt, for example, though the credibility of those claims can be questioned.

The likelihood is that if his recovery overlaps with the end of his current terms, Liverpool would at least oversee the remainder of his rehabilitation after eight seasons on Merseyside.

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How Klopp's curiosity has given Liverpool their edge

Liverpool FC on Sky Sports - Thu, 03/28/2024 - 10:00

As the Harvard Business Review puts it, one of the most difficult transitions for leaders to make is the shift from doing to leading. Jurgen Klopp is a fine coach. But he became an even better leader because of his willingness to embrace new people and new ideas.

His Liverpool side have evolved tactically, adjusting to the trends in the game, but what has made Klopp so successful extends beyond the action on the pitch. It is about the learning culture at Liverpool, the openness to improve. It might be his biggest legacy.

The Dunning-Kruger effect is a cognitive bias in which people with limited competence in a particular domain overestimate their ability. It is rife in football's insular world where the tendency is to avoid outsiders altogether. Klopp rose above this and reaped the benefits.

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Sky Sport News' Melissa Reddy breaks down why Michael Edwards has returned

Time and again he has shown himself willing to learn from experts. It is one thing to delegate coaching responsibility to someone who it is hoped will coach in a similar way. Introducing coaches who are going to change the way things are done is quite another.

Perhaps the most notorious example at Liverpool is the deployment of Thomas Gronnemark as a specialist throw-in coach. There were those in football who derided this decision - Richard Keys and Andy Gray chuckling like schoolboys at the mere notion of it.

Klopp had no interest in how things had always been done. His only concern was whether it could be done better. "When I heard about Thomas Gronnemark, it was clear to me I wanted to meet him. When I met him, it was 100 per cent clear I wanted to employ him."

Speaking to Gronnemark in 2020 about his role at Liverpool, the detail that went into his work was immediately obvious. The Dane explained in easy-to-understand language how he could improve a team's outcomes - and the input was tactical as well as technical.

He was used to being mocked. "Ever since I started in 2004, people have been laughing at the idea of throw-in coaching," Gronnemark told Sky Sports. "It is too weird for some people." But not Klopp. What does that tell us about him and people like him?

"They get in touch because they are innovative and they are open-minded," Gronnemark explained. "They are always thinking of new ways to improve." Liverpool went from third last for retaining the ball under pressure from throw-ins to the best in the Premier League.

 Coach Thomas Gronnemark speaks to the players of Liverpool during a training session at Melwood Training Ground on October 15, 2019 in Liverpool, England. Image: Thomas Gronnemark helped Liverpool to improve their throw-in performance

If the throw-in example is too granular, its impact on results not tangible enough, how about Klopp's decision to turn to Niklas Hausler and Patrick Hantschke of neuro11? He credits their work on penalty psychology for two of Liverpool's shoot-out wins at Wembley.

Klopp's team defeated Chelsea in the finals of both the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup in 2022, scoring 17 of their 18 penalties. It was the first season in which they had worked with neuro11, who gave the players the tools to focus in those high-pressure moments.

Speaking to Hausler later that year, he explained the process. "We can know what helps the player to get into this automatic state, into what is known by many people as the zone. We literally measure the brain waves and feed it back to the player," he told Sky Sports.

"We help the player to understand what things help them to optimise their routine. What is it that helps them and what is it that distracts them? I think that is unique. It is the first time in professional sports that this has been done. The results have been shown."

That work with Liverpool is ongoing. "They work for us," said Klopp before this season's Carabao Cup semi-final. "They were here last week because there was the potential of a penalty shootout against Fulham. We will definitely do something before the final."

How about something more abstract? A session with famed big-wave surfer Sebastian Steudtner is not necessarily going to win Liverpool a trophy. But Klopp still invited him to share his expertise in 2020, working on underwater breathing techniques with the players.

"It was absolutely incredible, we had players [holding their breath] for nearly three minutes," said Klopp of that experience with Steudtner. "Three minutes! After half an hour of teaching. That only means you can perform more than you ever imagined.

"I was very interested in what he had to say about how he deals with pressure. If he surfs the highest wave he ever saw, then he is waiting the whole year for the next one, maybe two years. It is just so obvious where the similarities are."

German big wave surfer Sebastian Steudtner poses for a photo on December 16, 2015 in Nazare, Portugal. Image: German big-wave surfer Sebastian Steudtner spoke to the Liverpool squad

Maybe it is just his mindset. Klopp's outlook extends beyond what could help Liverpool. In 2021, when speaking to now Borussia Monchengladbach goalkeeper coach Fabian Otte, he revealed a story about Klopp that provides an insight into his natural curiosity.

Otte was at Burnley, warming up the goalkeepers before a game against Liverpool. "He started smiling at me," he told Sky Sports. "Obviously, Jurgen Klopp is a big name, I have heard about him, read about him and watched him on TV for many years. I just waved back.

"When I got back to the changing room, the kitman said, 'Jurgen Klopp was just asking about you. He said he read this piece about you and was interested.' Afterwards, I spoke to him for quite a while and he was such a cool person. It was a very interesting experience.

Borussia Mnchengladbach goalkeeper coach Fabian Otte during the German Bundesliga match between Borussia Monchengladbach - Bayer 04 Leverkusen at Borussia- Park stadium on August 26, 2023 in Monchengladbach Image: Gladbach goalkeeper coach Fabian Otte highlights Jurgen Klopp's people skills

"This is the Liverpool manager. He could have a thousand better things to do than read about me but he knew so many details.

"This is a very German word but when there is someone people instantly like as a leader, they call him a Menschenfanger. Literally, it means someone who catches people in a very positive way, people just come towards him.

"It got me thinking. If he is interested in me that much, how interested would he be in the staff members who he hires and works with on a daily basis? Instantly, you could imagine following him. This is the trait of a very good leader."

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Jurgen Klopp gives his view on the return of Michael Edwards to Liverpool

As Klopp prepares to depart Liverpool, it is natural to wonder what the impact of his exit will be. With the return of Michael Edwards, the club has already acted to help ensure the culture continues. But when a leader leaves, there can be a vacuum.

History would suggest that it might be a problem. If there is hope, it comes not only from the recruitment decisions of Edwards and his colleagues but the environment that Klopp has worked to create at Liverpool. Curious players who are still open to learning.

When Trent Alexander-Arnold began trying to improve his peripheral vision with ophthalmologist Dr Daniel Laby, it was, ostensibly, a marketing project for Red Bull. But speaking to the Liverpool player about it, his approach to the challenge explained a lot.

Trent Alexander-Arnold's vision project with Dr Daniel Laby through Red Bull Image: Dr Daniel Laby worked with Trent Alexander-Arnold on his peripheral vision

"It is about the little one per cents. As an individual, you need to find something to put yourself ahead of the rest," Alexander-Arnold told Sky Sports. "The margins are fine. It might not make the difference day to day but it might just be the difference in one or two games this season where I have seen a pass and I have been able to play it because of the extra work that I have been putting in off the pitch."

It could have been Klopp talking that day.

His Liverpool legacy will be felt in many ways. Throw-in coaches and surfers will not be the first elements of his time at Anfield that spring to mind when the eulogies are delivered. But in their own way, they reveal plenty about the person - and the secrets of his success.

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Jamie Carragher delivers Jürgen Klopp vs Pep Guardiola verdict in Liverpool and Man City debate

Liverpool.com - Thu, 03/28/2024 - 08:10

Jamie Carragher has given his verdict on the greatest managers of all time, including an answer on the Jürgen Klopp vs Pep Guardiola debate.

The Liverpool and Manchester City managers have defined an era in the Premier League, with the pair regularly going head-to-head for the title in recent years. Guardiola just edges Klopp on that front, having won five to the German’s one.

There are mitigating factors though, with the City boss having spent more on his squad over the years. That has meant the debate has never been clear-cut, with Klopp’s influence since arriving at Liverpool earmarking him as Guardiola’s equal.

READ MORE: 'Not really' - Cody Gakpo delivers defiant message after Liverpool criticism

READ MORE: Liverpool fan who missed out on transfer 'dream' could be about to do Jürgen Klopp a huge favor

Carragher himself has sided with the Liverpool boss on previous occasions when asked which manager he would prefer. The former defender though has now given Guardiola the edge in the debate over the greatest managers.

Appearing alongside Thierry Henry in a video posted by Sky Sports, Carragher played a game of ‘winner stays on’ with football’s greatest managers. First up was Rafael Benítez vs Fabio Capello, with the latter going through.

Vicente del Bosque then got the nod over Capello, before the former Spain boss was knocked out by José Mourinho. Carragher then sided with Johan Cruyff, before Guardiola got the nod.

Then came the question everyone was waiting for, with Klopp pitted against Guardiola. Carragher though put his Liverpool allegiance to one side and picked the City boss.

Guardiola though wouldn’t claim the top crown of greatest manager. Instead, Carragher opted for Sir Alex Ferguson in the final match-up.

Liverpool.com says: When it comes to overall record, as much as we would like to say Klopp has the edge over Guardiola, the City boss is in something of a league of his own. That’s not the only metric by which a manager should be judged though, and the impact Klopp has had on Liverpool is almost incomparable. We would always side with the German for obvious reasons, but the debate will no doubt continue in the years to come.

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'Not really' - Cody Gakpo delivers defiant message after Liverpool criticism

Liverpool.com - Thu, 03/28/2024 - 07:30

Liverpool's Cody Gakpo has responded to recent criticism about his performances, saying he is "aware" of it but it doesn't bother him.

The forward has faced some tough questions this season about his ability to perform at the same level as other Liverpool stars like Mohamed Salah and Darwin Núñez.

This came up again after the FA Cup quarter-final loss to Manchester United. Jamie Carragher said Gakpo seemed to be playing "in slow motion" at Old Trafford. Chris Sutton, a former Blackburn Rovers striker, also had harsh words, saying it looked like Gakpo "didn't have his boots on the right feet".

READ MORE: Liverpool fan who missed out on transfer 'dream' could be about to do Jürgen Klopp a huge favor

READ MORE: Bayer Leverkusen star makes Liverpool 'final' prediction during training with Virgil van Dijk

But Gakpo used the international break to prove his critics wrong. He provided two assists in the Netherlands' 4-0 victory over Scotland last Friday, playing alongside Virgil van Dijk.

When asked about his recent form and whether his move to Liverpool has been successful, Gakpo didn't take offense. Instead, he said his focus is on improving as a player.

"I personally wasn't that concerned," he told Voetbal International, referring to the criticism of his recent performances for Liverpool.

The former PSV Eindhoven star said: "I am aware of the situations that have occurred and that are occurring and the expectations. I am someone who always looks at, what can I do better and how can I develop myself? That is still the case today.

"There are things that are going well and things that are not going so well that I have to develop that can be developed and I am fully engaged in that, and I am not really concerned with whether that transition has been successful anymore."

Gakpo has played a total of 42 matches for Jürgen Klopp's side this season, scoring 13 goals and registering five assists in the process. The forward has found the back of the net five times in the Premier League this term, with his remaining successful strikes evenly split across the Carabao Cup and Europa League (four in each).

Liverpool.com says: It's good to hear that Gakpo isn't letting recent criticism get to him, but now he needs to come up with a response on the pitch with Liverpool. You can't get away from how disappointing his performance was against United, and he needs to make sure that was just an off-day.

With Diogo Jota set to return from injury soon, Gakpo will probably find himself falling down the pecking order again. He will have an important part to play in the remainder of the season though — it's up to him to make sure he takes his chance when it arrives.

* An AI tool was used to add an extra layer to the editing process for this story. You can read the original story in the Liverpool ECHO by clicking here.

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5 goals, 7 assists & 1,600+ minutes – Liverpool FC in March international break

ThisIsAnfield.com - Thu, 03/28/2024 - 07:00

Across the international break, Liverpool’s players clocked up a combined total of over 1600 minutes, with two left-backs returning to Merseyside injured.

Andy Robertson is the notable worry, having limped off in Scotland’s game against Northern Ireland with an ankle injury.

Loanee Owen Beck was the other player to return, as a groin injury prevented him from playing any part of Wales’ Euros-qualifying playoff matches.

Here is a quick look at how the Reds’ internationals got on throughout the March break.

Minutes played

2J1HGP2 Bucharest, Romania. 25th Mar, 2022. Kostas Tsimikas #21 of Greece and Pantelis Hatzidiakos #17 of Greece during the Friendly match between the national teams of Romania and Greece at Steaua Stadium in Bucharest, Romania. 25.03.2022. Photo: Copyright 2020, Credit: Cronos/Alamy Live News

2J1HGP2 Bucharest, Romania. 25th Mar, 2022. Kostas Tsimikas #21 of Greece and Pantelis Hatzidiakos #17 of Greece during the Friendly match between the national teams of Romania and Greece at Steaua Stadium in Bucharest, Romania. 25.03.2022. Photo: Copyright 2020, Credit: Cronos/Alamy Live News

Thankfully, there were just three Liverpool players who played the full amount of minutes possible for their national sides this break.

Kostas Tsimikas‘ two-legged Euros playoff ended in disappointment as his Greece team were upset on penalties by Georgia – the left-back didn’t take a spot-kick.

Tsimikas – 210
Van Dijk – 180
Szoboszlai – 180
Bradley – 173
Diaz – 156
Robertson – 127
Gomez – 103
Kelly – 99
Gakpo – 97
Konate – 90
Kelleher – 90
Mac Allister – 77
Endo – 32
Jaros – 0

Under 21s:
Elliott – 164
Koumas – 115
Miles – 90
Quansah – 90
Morton – 90

Under 20s:
Chambers – 102
Gordon – 65
Clark – 34

Under 18s:
Danns – 209
Nallo – 192
Nyoni – 77

Goals

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Conor Bradley managed his first senior international goal with this brilliant effort against Scotland, the only goal of the game. Whisper it quietly but this may have taken a deflection – we’re giving Bradley credit, though.

Szoboszlai – 2
Mac Allister – 1
Bradley – 1
Koumas – 1

Assists

That pass from Harvey Elliott was pure filth. #EnglandU21 #England #Luxembourg pic.twitter.com/93VBQeSP0r

— David Randall? (@DavidJRandall) March 26, 2024

Cody Gakpo put in a strong performance, setting up former-Red Gini Wijnaldum for his second assist in a 4-0 win over Scotland.

Luis Diaz‘s dribble and cross for Colombia’s winner against Spain was special and showed the immense talent he possesses on the ball.

Gakpo – 2
Elliott – 2
Morton – 2
Diaz – 1

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Alan Shearer shares 'intriguing' claim over Liverpool new manager search as Xabi Alonso links continue

LiverpoolEcho.co.uk - Thu, 03/28/2024 - 07:00
Liverpool have been strongly linked with a move for Xabi Alonso as the club searches for a Jurgen Klopp successor
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Alan Shearer shares 'intriguing' claim over Liverpool new manager search as Xabi Alonso links continue

icLiverpool.co.uk - Thu, 03/28/2024 - 07:00
Liverpool have been strongly linked with a move for Xabi Alonso as the club searches for a Jurgen Klopp successor
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Liverpool fan who missed out on transfer 'dream' could be about to do Jürgen Klopp a huge favor

Liverpool.com - Thu, 03/28/2024 - 06:45

Liverpool resumes its push for the Premier League title this weekend following the international break. The Reds will know that, as they long as they do the business against Brighton, there’s a good chance they’ll top the table on Sunday night.

While Jürgen Klopp will of course be focused on his own side’s game, once the full-time whistle blows at Anfield, his attention will surely turn to events at the Etihad Stadium. With Manchester City hosting Arsenal, it could be a pivotal weekend in the title race.

Mikel Arteta’s side currently leads the way, sitting above Liverpool only on goal difference, but City lies just a point further back. The ideal situation for the Reds would see the two sides draw when they meet, perhaps closely followed by a win for the hosts.

READ MORE: Bayer Leverkusen star makes Liverpool 'final' prediction during training with Virgil van Dijk

READ MORE: Jürgen Klopp has given Liverpool star exactly what he needed and Xherdan Shaqiri just proved it

Either scenario would send Liverpool top, as long as it picks up three points against Brighton. Seeing two City stars pick up injuries in the past few days then might not have been as welcome a sight as some might imagine.

Pep Guardiola is facing major doubts over both Kyle Walker and John Stones after they both limped off on England duty. Walker was forced off after just 20 minutes against Brazil, while Stones lasted just 10 against Belgium on Tuesday.

It’s not like Guardiola is short of options though. In fact, he spent $98m (£77m/€90m) on someone who should be a pretty handy backup.

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Joško Gvardiol could well come into the reckoning to face Arsenal if Walker and Stones can’t make it. The former RB Leipzig defender hasn’t quite found his feet in the Premier League yet, and it was telling that he remained sat on the bench when City visited Anfield earlier this month.

He might be needed against the Gunners though. If so, he has the chance to do a huge favor for the team he supports.

Gvardiol revealed his affinity for Liverpool last year while discussing a possible move away from Leipzig. Speaking to Croatian TV channel RTLDanas (via TNT Sports), he said: "My dream club? That would definitely be Liverpool.

“Since I was little, I watched a lot of their matches with my dad. We covered every season in detail. It is a club that has remained in my heart."

Of course, that dream wasn’t realized when City instead swooped for the Croatian international last summer. Against Arsenal though, he might well be able to help Liverpool go a step closer to the league title.

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The signature passing moves that explain why the Premier League title race is so close

the Athletic - Thu, 03/28/2024 - 06:30

What if the story of the Premier League title race could be told in two passes?

Not two particular passes. Any pair of passes. Every pair, in fact.

That’s impossible to do just by watching the games. Passes wash over you hundreds at a time, week in and week out, with the non-stop ping-ping-ping of an overcaffeinated groupchat. You skim past most of them, pay attention to a few, and probably don’t remember much later except a few zingers here and there. No offence to Pep Guardiola, Jurgen Klopp and Mikel Arteta, but if you got a notification for every Premier League pass you would have muted these guys years ago.

Over time, though, the passes acquire a shape. Players start to vibe with each other. Rapports develop. Patterns proliferate like inside jokes. Lines of attack become as familiar as well-worn arguments. The basic unit of exchange is the passing pair, like a call and response: receive here like this, pass there like that. Tactics are a conversation.

Thanks to mountains of football data, we can scroll through the pass log and take the measure of the entire season, one pair of passes at a time, until the personality of each team emerges from the deluge of details. Whoever wins this very tight Premier League race — and at this point, frankly, your bet is as good as anyone’s — it will go down as a contest not just of wills but of contrasting styles of play.

But we’re already getting ahead of ourselves. Let’s start with how Arsenal became boring — and scary good.

Arsenal

The last time we saw the current Premier League leaders in league play, they were slowly squashing Brentford like one of those hydraulic press videos.

For minutes on end, Arsenal would win the ball in the opposing half, swing it out to the wing, combine, attack, counter-press, repeat. In the rare moments they didn’t have possession, they weren’t so much defending as tapping their toes and checking their watches, waiting for the ball to fall out of the sky so they could run the whole thing back again.

Maybe this sort of football is fun for you. For the colour commentator on TV, it seemed to offend some sense of fairness, though he dressed it up as a tactical concern.

“Sometimes they’ve got to try and let Brentford out a little bit in order to find a bit of space,” he complained as Arsenal squeezed ever closer to Brentford’s goal. “When you pen a team in for long periods, there’s very little room to get behind them.”

Even as he spoke, Arsenal were doing their thing again. The ball swung from left to right around their high back line, making its way to Ben White in the right half-space. He shovelled a diagonal pass out to Bukayo Saka on the wing, jogged forward 10 yards or so, and got the ball back in space after Saka had drawn a double-team on the wing.

White didn’t launch it into the box right away. Instead he waited for Martin Odegaard and Kai Havertz to twist around each other, scrambling their markers, then slipped a short pass straight ahead to Havertz, who tapped it back to Odegaard a few yards away. Arsenal were bunched together in close quarters now, playing piggy-in-the-middle at the corner of the penalty area.

Still they refused to cross it. They played low and short and fast, always at the edge of the box. After a few more passes and rotations, Odegaard shook free and split the defence with a dagger to Havertz, whose first-time shot was blocked. No problem. All that combination play had shrunk Brentford down until Arsenal’s centre-backs had crept all the way up to the final third. They won the ball back again, combined on the wings again, and kept the routine up for several breathless minutes until, finally, White found Declan Rice for a goal.

This is who Arsenal are now. They’ll strangle the life out of you. Arteta likes to talk about “suffocating” opponents with one of the world’s best high presses. “More than control, I want dominance,” the manager said. “Dominance in the right area and not allowing the opponent to breathe. This is what we do.”

Weird as it sounds given their total of 33 goals in eight games this year, Arsenal are a defensive team these days. Their 0.64 non-penalty expected goals allowed per game are the best by any team other than Man City in Europe’s big five leagues in at least the last seven seasons. It’s stingier than even City themselves have been in the last two. But just like Pep Guardiola’s side, whose meticulous possession play is really about defensive structure, Arsenal’s stranglehold on the game starts with how they pass.

That innocuous one-two out to the winger and back? That tiny third-man pattern at the corner of the box? These are the subtle hallmarks of Arsenal’s suffocating new style.

This is the part of the story where pass pairs come in. By clustering every two consecutive passes in the same possession from the last six seasons — more than a million pairs in total — into 300 broadly similar types, we can break teams’ possession patterns down to tiny fragments to take their tactical fingerprint.

Out of the 300 types, Arsenal have done some version of the short up-and-back pattern near the right corner of the box 110 times this season, for 0.9 per cent of their total pass pairs. That’s not all that much in the grand scheme of things, only about four times a game, but it’s way, way more than most teams — over five standard deviations from the Premier League average.

If you had to forge Arsenal’s signature from pure passing data, it would look like a cramped little scribble on the right wing.

Arteta’s team didn’t play like this a couple years ago. As recently as 2021-22, Arsenal were pretty good at passing the ball but not so great at “dominance in the right area.” Their field tilt, or share of both teams’ attacking-third touches, was just 57 per cent back in those faster, looser days, far less than the 71 per cent now. They used to let you breathe.

The dominance that Arteta craved began on the wings. As Saka and Odegaard matured into one of the world’s best attacking partnerships, White started slinking up the sideline to support them. The trio aren’t just the heartbeat of Arsenal’s chance creation. While their patient combinations nibble away at the edge of the opposition, the centre-backs and Rice inch forward behind them to tighten the noose in rest defence. When they lose the ball, Arsenal are right on top of it, ready to recycle it to the wings. It’s a virtuous — and sometimes virtually endless — cycle.

For years, Arsenal’s scattered pass pairs betrayed a team in search of a style. This season, all those tight exchanges at the corner of the box look like nothing so much as fingers wrapped around a throat.

While Arsenal are busy slowing the game down, Liverpool are stomping on the gas.

Even though they’ve never been as patient as City, Jurgen Klopp’s team used to be England’s second-most circulating side. You may remember their glory days of 2019-20 for the flurry of long-range balls that took defences by storm — and they certainly did plenty of that, at least compared to Guardiola’s short-passing machine — but their signature pass pairs back then involved a lot of sideways play at the halfway line as they poked around for an opening to rain down fire.

Lately they’ve become something else entirely.

In 2021-22, when Thiago Alcantara shifted to his favoured left side and took over the team, Liverpool began passing through midfield much more than they had before. Last season the squad underwent an awkward, injury-riddled rebuild and sat deeper, sometimes struggling to get out of their half.

This season’s edition of Liverpool split the difference: they still play through the middle, but they go fast.

Why go through midfield? Because that’s where Trent Alexander-Arnold, who remains Liverpool’s most important ball progressor, hangs out these days.

Over the last couple of years, Alexander-Arnold and Mohamed Salah have swapped channels. Salah has moved from the right half-space out to the wing, where he can find more space to play facing goal, while Alexander-Arnold has tucked in to access more of the pitch as an inside full-back, or half-back.

To some extent they’ve even traded signature passing pairs. From 2018 to 2021, the narrower Salah loved to receive a short pass from left to right in the centre of the attacking third and stab a finishing ball into the left side of the box. That’s an Alexander-Arnold special now.

On the other hand, for each of the previous five seasons, one of Alexander-Arnold’s trademark patterns involved receiving a lateral pass out on the right wing and launching a diagonal cross into the box for a striker or box-crashing left winger to run onto. Now Salah does that exact same pass pair nearly as often as Alexander-Arnold used to. (Not coincidentally, his expected assists per 90 minutes are at an all-time high, more than double last season’s average.)

But Liverpool’s need for speed isn’t just about the players on the ball — it’s also about the runners.

In the old days, Roberto Firmino would drop into midfield from the centre-forward slot while Salah and Sadio Mane ran in behind from the wings, forming a sort of narrow V-shape up top.

This season, with human cannonball Darwin Nunez at striker and the snaky Luis Diaz out on the left, that V has flipped upside-down to become an arrow aimed straight at goal.

Unlike Firmino, Nunez is a tireless depth runner who loves to stretch the back line to its snapping point. Diaz plays wider than Mane used to and prefers the ball to his feet so he can dribble at defenders. Together they open space between the lines for Liverpool’s rotating cast of young attacking midfielders to push the tempo through the middle.

The result is a very good team that doesn’t play much like other elite sides. When algorithmically sorted by their passing pair preferences, teams tend to gather into six or so general styles of play: those that circulate in the attacking half like Arsenal or Manchester City, those that launch it up the wings like Brentford or Everton, and so on. Then there’s Liverpool, whose deep passing and fast attacks have more in common with Chelsea or even Burnley than the high-control group that usually wins titles — a group Liverpool themselves were in last time they won the league.

(Suhaimi Abdullah/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Not many teams can play direct and still dominate games, but that’s what the last, latest draft of Klopp’s Liverpool manage to do. By direct speed, a measure of vertical yards gained per second in open play, they’re the ninth-fastest team in the Premier League. That’s almost unheard of from a title contender in the era of positional play.

The glue that holds Liverpool’s game together is that they still find a way to press effectively — not a slow, compact, suffocating defence like Arsenal’s, but a high-speed barrage of bodies chasing after the ball, a sort of youthful tribute act to Klopp’s old heavy metal days.

This frantic Slinky-down-the-stairs style — stretching the game vertically, then squishing from behind — is exhausting and sometimes porous, but it works. This season’s defending, Klopp says, “is much clearer again. Offensive line, the way it starts, the high press, the midfield press, everywhere, it is clearer they are all in. That makes a difference.”

If Liverpool can keep having their cake and eating it — demolishing opponents with long balls to a line-stretching striker and spiky progressive passing pairs through their box midfield, all backed up by a relentless press — Klopp might just go out in one last blaze of glory.

Manchester City

Man City are still Man City. What’s left to say about a team that have been the best in the world for what feels like half a lifetime?

They still smother opponents high up the pitch. They still pass and move majestically, as if all eleven players are programmed in some secret mathematical language no mortal has managed to crack. They still have Erling Haaland stamping around the box like a cranky T. Rex with a man bun, gobbling up Premier League centre-backs for brunch.

Except, for some reason, it’s not working quite as well as it used to.

Compared to 2021-22, the last year Before the Haaland Era (BHE), City’s points per game rate has slipped from 2.45 to 2.25, their goal difference from +1.92 per game to +1.25, their expected goal difference from +1.68 per game to a downright pedestrian +1.04. It’s enough to make a perfectionist like Guardiola tear his hair out.

Along the way, City cast off old and unwanted players, signed a platoon of new talents and retooled to become bigger, faster, stronger and dribblier than ever. They’ve still become measurably worse.

The pass pair data doesn’t offer many hints as to where a screw or two may have wriggled loose. City’s signature patterns still show the same high circulation that’s always made Guardiola’s side a surefire winner. So why aren’t they — you know — winning quite as much as they used to?

One easy answer is that the players doing the circulating have changed.

City have spent most of this season without an injured Kevin De Bruyne — a massive loss, obviously — but he’s been capably backed up by Julian Alvarez and Phil Foden, who’s in the form of his life. Jack Grealish, a key figure in the treble run a year ago, has been injured a lot and often relegated to the bench, but only because Jeremy Doku hit the ground running past every defender in sight. John Stones has been in and out of the lineup, too, although this kind of thing happens all the time in Guardiola world without seeming to dent the team much.

(Alex Livesey/Getty Images)

There’s been no seismic shift in the stylistic data, no single easy explanation to make the decline make sense. A lot of piecemeal changes have left this team just a little bit creakier at both ends of the pitch — enough, in this season of small margins, to keep things very interesting.

And yet one key data point hasn’t changed: even now, one point behind two very good teams with 10 games to go, City remain comfortable favourites for the title, just as they’ve been all along.

Maybe pass pair data doesn’t hold all the secrets to football. But what else outside Pep Guardiola’s brain possibly could?

(Header photos: Getty Images)

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De Zerbi's Anfield audition: Are Liverpool daring enough to hire him?

Liverpool FC on Sky Sports - Wed, 03/27/2024 - 17:00

The style with which Roberto De Zerbi has established Brighton in the top half of the Premier League table, this season and last, demands that the 44-year-old coach be considered for the biggest jobs. This weekend, live on Super Sunday, he takes the stage for what could be his Anfield audition.

Pep Guardiola has called De Zerbi "one of the most influential managers in the last 20 years" because of his brand of football. The three-time Champions League-winning coach said: "There is no team playing the way they play. It is unique."

With De Zerbi, there is an unusual trajectory in his career path though. Big clubs haven't come knocking. Yet.

When Sam Allardyce and Sean Dyche took unfashionable teams into the upper reaches of the Premier League, the concern was that their approach would not be ambitious enough for the very best.

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In De Zerbi's case, could it be too ambitious for cautious owners?

The good news for Brighton is that those are the whispers following reports that he is under consideration for the soon-to-be vacant role at Liverpool when Jurgen Klopp departs. Xabi Alonso has less coaching experience but it is De Zerbi whose fascinating football is seen as a risk.

In full flow, his teams find angles that others do not, triangles all over the pitch, controlling the rhythm in possession and pressing man-to-man out of it. At its very best, watching his Brighton side can feel like watching the future of the sport, evolution in action. Brighton put down the feather dusters used under Graham Potter and replaced them with battering rams under De Zerbi.

xxx

When Brighton are hot, they are hot.

From January 2023 to the end of last season, Brighton led the way for expected goals (51.3) in the Premier League, bettering Manchester City's tally of 46.18 for the same period. No team had more shots (605) or shots on target (228) than the scintillating Seagulls. It took them to Europe for the first time.

De Zerbi's courageous and exciting attacking style does lend itself to his defence being exposed but even if including their expected goals against record, their overall expected goals difference (expected goals - expected goals against) of 21.6 ranked them second only to Pep Guardiola's team during that period last season. Brighton's process was frighteningly impressive.

De Zerbi speaking on his future in February...

"When I listen that the big teams are interested in me, it is an honour and makes me proud My focus is the work day by day. About the future, I'm going to speak with the owner and the club because I want to compete in the best way I can. I want to understand their plan and then it is not a problem to work in a big, big team. I would like, in my career, to compete to win the Premier League, Serie A, Bundesliga, LaLiga, Champions League."

Perhaps there are parallels here with Marcelo Bielsa, the celebrated Argentine coach who has inspired so many but been overlooked for Europe's biggest jobs. He too is regarded as a maverick who changed the way coaches think with his interpretation of the game.

De Zerbi's own vertical approach focuses more on possession than pressing but it is similarly eye-catching when it works and alarming when it does not. Naturally, surrendering the ball in your own defensive third of the pitch is more likely to result in conceding.

The dark side of De Zerbi's football has been more of the narrative this campaign, where Brighton have struggled with their added workload of European football. Tired minds are leading to more mistakes.

Brighton have made eight errors leading to goals this season, the joint-most by any team in the Premier League along with bottom club Sheffield United. No team have faced more shots from individual errors either (18). That commitment to playing out from the back comes at a price.

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De Zerbi's admirers would argue, with some justification, that the risky football it is worth it.

When Brighton play through the opposition, it is both beautiful and brilliantly effective. However, the facts are this: Brighton are having a mediocre season. De Zerbi's stock has fallen.

Out of all cup competitions and work still to do to nab a European qualification spot in the Premier League, De Zerbi's intense style and himself admitting the club weren't ready for European football has led to Brighton's squad being decimated by injuries at various points of the season.

Brighton will be without Kaoru Mitoma and Solly March at Anfield on Sunday, while Joao Pedro - pictured at training on Wednesday to boost hopes of a return - has been out with a hamstring injury. No club would be expected to thrive shorn of a starting front three.

There will always be doubts whether a coach can adapt to the demands of a bigger job. Klopp and Xavi Hernandez are walking away from Liverpool and Barcelona respectively in the summer, citing their energy levels. The pressures are vast.

De Zerbi has an aura though - one you associate with top managers. He plays off emotions on the touchline. And he treats his players like family. When he talks, you can see that determination. He makes you want to follow.

As Sky Sports' Melissa Reddy writes in her in-depth column about who could replace Klopp, "De Zerbi's ability to innovate and communicate unique concepts to his players, who absorb it so quickly and effectively, is a core weapon."

Roberto De Zerbi

The spotlight at Liverpool tests character, the profile of player challenges man-management. These are factors worthy of consideration. The odd thing about the De Zerbi conundrum for football's risk-averse super clubs is that they know the football that he plays is beautiful.

They just have not yet seen anyone try it - and win.

De Zerbi has a chance to impress the decision makers on Sunday.

His Anfield audition awaits.

Liverpool's next six fixtures

March 31: Brighton (H), Premier League, live on Sky Sports, kick-off 2pm

April 4: Sheffield United (H), Premier League, kick-off 7:30pm

April 7: Manchester United (A), Premier League, live on Sky Sports, kick-off 3:30pm

April 11: Atalanta (H), Europa League, kick-off 8pm

April 14: Crystal Palace (H), Premier League, live on Sky Sports, kick-off 2pm

April 18: Atalanta (A), Europa League, kick-off 8pm

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