Having finally got round to watching the game, first thing to do is issue
TomHotspur
a partial apology, siting there behind the goal on the night, it felt to me that Liverpool pressed higher and more relentlessly in that first half than they actually did, they did start the game pressing high, and did it intermittently throughout the half, but
RESPECT THE COCK
was probably more accurate when he called it a medium block, which was what there was more of that first half.
That video piece
RESPECT THE COCK
posted was pretty good, and definitely picks up on some valid tropes. I was adamant that the 4231 - and going with a double pivot against their 433 - with Sissoko (who's extremely uncomfortable under any kind of pressure) and Winks (who hadn't played any football for a few weeks - against being chucked into potential pressing opponents) - would be folly.
I think having watched the game again, and taking on board the theory posted in that vid, I stand by my view that matching up in a CM3 (or 1 + 2) format would still have made more sense to me, especially if one of that midfield is going to be Sissoko, but accept that the theory might have worked in concept - ie having the 2 CM's divide Firminho - if a) Sissoko wasn't one of them (as he just spent all game hiding and pointing) - even that vid analysis gives this as a reason why Poch's plan failed and b) if the AM's, especially Alli and Eriksen had provided better movement and dropped in to provide transitional links. And what I said in the match thread on the night, seemed to be born out watching it back, that there seemed to be a chasm between our 6 rear players and 4 forward players.
All of that said, the rare times we managed to get into good attacking situations were all pissed away carelessly, worst culprit was Son, closely followed by Alli.
A lot of the post match has focused on the selection of Kane, having watched it again now, I really don't think this was a major factor. I'd have preferred us to play a 433, get some extra football in the midfield and have Moura and Son either side of Kane.
At no point in that game was there any direction coming from the midfield. Sissoko has completed 28 passes in 84 minutes, none of them incisive. He's played one pass to his RB in 85 minutes. And spent the whole game hiding from the ball and pointing:
That vid piece highlighted Sissoko's poor movement, he's a couple more examples. In this first one a move has broken down and the ball ends up back with Lloris, TA want the ball but instead of reading what's happening and running back to take up a position in the great big void to give TA the next option in playing out, Sissoko just stands still and points for TA to whack it, the second frame you can see Eriksen (who was further away) starts to come toward TA and Trippier is offering himself (just out of shot) but Sissoko just continues to stand there doing nothing, even if TA plays to Trippier, Sissoko should be dropping back to make himself a next option:
And this just typifies why we struggled first half, despite Liverpool being passive aggressive, and us having so much ball (65%) why we struggled to construct much.
Here's another example first half, Winks on the ball, Sissoko in a great position to receive in a central, forward area, in space - but inexplicably points Winks backwards:
None of the forward players played well, Eriksen, Son, Alli and Kane failed to convert the rare situations we did manufacture into anything of tangible quality, poor decisions and poor executions. But a bigger problem, was how few of these situations arose in the first 80 minutes of this game, and that was largely down to our inability to play through Liverpool's lines. Yes, part of that is they are a defensively well drilled side this season, one of the best in Europe, but part of it was the complete and utter lack of wit, vision or drive that came from our midfield. Winks was better than Sissoko, but even he was less than stellar. I think Poch has once again got a big game wrong in terms of selections and tactical application fo those selections. The 4231 and splitting their forward central press might have worked if he'd played two dynamic and technically accomplished footballers as the pivot and made sure the AM's all dropped in and linked play. Neither of things happened and we spent the first half as two very divided groups, struggling to flow.
The second half Liverpool just sat deep, shelled and hit the odd long ball for Salah to chase, it was Burnley-esque stuff. It turned into one of those attack v defence grinds we see at WHL most weeks when playing the dross. With us having lots of ball but failing to break down a well drilled and obdurate oppo.
What Poch does get very right is his coached desire for us to be proactive. We didn't create anything of real tangible quality, but Liverpool created even less, and were so reactive, they certainly didn't deserve to win this game. They've done it all season, it's been very effective, but does it merit reward...meh...