Why Liverpool Need to Rediscover Their Aggressive Identity
While Arne Slot has shown tactical flexibility, his commitment to a passive mid-block contradicts everything that made this Liverpool team successful, and only a return to aggressive pressing will unlock our full potential.
Adaptability and Tactical Philosophy
I would say that one plus point over Arne Slot that Xabi Alonso has is his adaptability. He isn't wedded to one formation and has shown that he tries to mould a style of playing that suits the players that he has. Slot also exhibited the same adaptability last year, and to be fair he has made a lot of adjustments game by game this year to try and get results. But like I've said again and again on here, my biggest problem with him doesn't have to do with the way he likes to build up, because I think part of that problem can be solved with an addition of personnel, but mostly has to do with his off the ball approach.
This mid-block is just alien to how we've played for years, and just doesn't suit the players we have, their instincts and their skill set. By sticking with his obsession with having a plus one at the back, we have a useless front press with two players chasing shadows. Since our midfielders don't have defensive instincts and are tasked with marking their men and not spaces, once they get bypassed it's a free run at our defenders. We routinely allow dangerous players the time and space to pick a pass around the midfield and get runners free in space.
The Evidence for a High Press
Every single time that we've had a high press or allowed our defenders to jump into midfield to help our midfielders, we have looked like a very good and very dangerous team. We have the highest number of goals in the Premier League from high press situations this year, despite our customary lack of a high press. Konate is so much better of a defender when he is allowed to be aggressive and on the front foot, coming up the field to pressure the opposition. Surely Slot can see this, but why he doesn't change it is beyond me.
We have always been a team that thrives on creating chaos rather than a team that patiently tries to create chances around a low block. Not that we are absolutely useless at doing that. We have technical players like Wirtz and Jones, but that should only be one of the ways we score rather than the only way. An aggressive press is still the best creator of goals in this league. I understand that given the trauma we've been through with the results, Slot is hesitant to commit too much to a press for fear of leaving space in behind. But clearly our players are built to do this. It's not something foreign to them, whereas this passive mid-block, while designed to limit teams playing through us, is not really doing what it sets out to achieve.
The On-Ball Problem
On the ball, our problem is that we lack a midfielder or a creator from deep who can find runners in behind. Every game I watch forwards making runs in behind, but the players we have just don't have it in their locker to hit that ball early and accurately. Sometimes they just don't even see it. Szoboszlai has it in him to make those passes, but he often isn't the one receiving the ball in those situations. Macca or Grav are, because Szobo isn't playing in the pivot with the game ahead of him in central positions.
The Path Forward
If Slot fixes the press, has us playing brave and aggressive man to man football off the ball, and we get a centre-half who can progress the ball and a playmaker from deep to share the pivot with Grav, we will become a top team again. I've said this so many times on here, but I'm confident that it's true.
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