Relentless gegenpress, full-back chaos, and the Salah-Firmino-Mané rotations that melt defences
In 2018/19, Klopp’s Liverpool reached the greatest heights of European football, as they defeated Tottenham Hotspur in Madrid to win the UEFA Champions League for the sixth time in their history.
Despite this utmost success, one honour had alluded them for 30 long, long years: the Premier League. In the following season, 19/20, Klopp’s Liverpool would go one better than the campaign before by winning the Premier League title, securing 99 points after the greatest start to a league campaign ever! 27 games played; 26 wins; 1 draw; 0 defeats… until a scintillating Watford side ended their Invincible dreams.
Nevertheless, Klopp’s Liverpool were beyond sensational, and this is how they did it…
Heavy Metal Football
In the late 2010s, the tactical trend in football was clear for all to see: possession-based football within a positional play paradigm popularised by Pep Guardiola and his FC Barcelona, Bayern Munich, and Manchester City sides.
Klopp’s Liverpool, however, broke this mould. They were direct, risky, dynamic, and unpredictable. For Jürgen Klopp, he didn’t really care for ‘control’ – he desired an attacking game model that would enamour Liverpool’s fans.
A style of football that would entertain the masses, and a style of play that could erect a sense of unity between fans and players.
Liverpool’s Terrifying Trident
As aforementioned, sides across Europe, at this time, would prioritise structure over personnel. Players were often shoehorned into a specific system that would, often, take risk out of the equation, in favour of creating a unanimous atmosphere that prioritised complete control.
Klopp’s Liverpool – particularly their front three – was the antithesis of this. The players were maximised, and the system had to work around them. Mané, Firmino, and Salah were given complete licence to float, roam, and rotate with one another to create and attack space, dragging opposition defenders around at will. Most often, you would see Firmino drop off the frontline to create space for one of Salah or Mané to penetrate, or to receive the ball between the lines, as shown below:
Let’s Break Down the Tactic
In Possession:
From build-up, Alisson would typically distribute short to the centre-backs, of whom can initiate the team’s possession and attacks.
As the side progressed, they would typically focus play in wide areas, with Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold both linchpins of their in-possession game, as the pair would often exchange switches of play to keep the opposition constantly moving; Additionally, Liverpool’s full-backs – particularly the latter – would regularly pass into space for the attackers to chase. In the final third, Liverpool’s full-backs would whip a lot of crosses into the box, with the other-side full-back in an optimal position to retrieve any loose/overhit crosses.
In general, Liverpool played with a lot of pace and vigour, with players given license to converge to link-up with one another, adding another layer of unpredictability to their attacking game.
Finally, upon winning back possession, Liverpool would counter-attack immediately, looking to punish the opposition’s disoriented defensive line.
Out of Possession:
When Liverpool didn’t have the ball, they would sit in a high-block, pressing aggressively and constantly in order to either force the opposition long, force the opposition into a mistake, or, at the very least, force the opposition into wide areas.
To supplement their high-press, Klopp instructed his backline to hold as high a line as possible, compacting the space between the lines. If the opposition were able to break Liverpool’s press, their backline were more than happy to drop off to close any large space in-behind.
Finally, upon losing possession, Klopp instructed his team to work tirelessly to immediately win back possession through an intense counter-press.
Opposition Instructions
Player Roles
Goalkeeper | Sweeper Keeper:
In this system, Alisson was only really used as a secondary passing option in Liverpool’s build-up phase, despite certainly being adept with the ball at his feet. Instead, Alisson’s responsibilities were predominantly based around his sweeping and cross-claiming, of which he was very active in doing both.
(DR) Wing-Back | Full-Back:
Trent Alexander-Arnold was unplayable this season and was a crucial cog in the relentless Liverpool machine. Initially, he would be positioned slightly narrower to allow Salah to accommodate a wider position in an immediate 1v1 against the opposition left-back.
However, as the attack progressed, he would drift wider. Upon receiving the ball, Alexander-Arnold could showcase his elite passing range by going more direct and releasing Salah or Mané in-behind, or perhaps breaking the lines to find Firmino dropping off the frontline.
In the final third, Trent Alexander-Arnold would predominantly whip crosses in from a slightly deeper position, whilst Robertson would advance slightly higher on the opposite side.
Ball-Playing Centre-Back | Centre-Back:
In this position, whether it was Joel Matip or Joe Gomez, the centre-back was a lot more adventurous than their counterpart, Virgil van Dijk. From here, the right-sided centre-back would tend to carry the ball forward often, before laying off a simple pass or, alternatively, breaking the lines.
Centre-Back | Covering Centre-Back:
Virgil van Dijk was flawless this season, constantly breaking up opposition attacks, marshalling the Liverpool rearguard, and even coming up with a few important goals.
In this system, Van Dijk would tend to go more direct with his passing, aiming to find Salah in his initial 1v1 against the opposition left-back.
Additionally, he could break the lines to find Firmino dropping between the lines. When Liverpool didn’t have the ball, Van Dijk would always drop a yard or two deeper to try and interrogate any attackers who escaped in-behind the high Liverpool backline.
(DL) Wing-Back | Full-Back:
Whilst Trent Alexander-Arnold was the more progressive of the two full-backs in his passing, Andy Robertson was definitely the more progressive in his positioning and carrying.
In order to receive the switch of play from Alexander-Arnold, Robertson would move wider, wherefrom, upon receiving the ball, he could carry forward aggressively to get into an optimal crossing position.
Defensive Midfielder | Defensive Midfielder:
Fabinho was the side’s water-carrier, who would focus almost entirely on his defensive responsibilities. As such, his role was pretty simple.
(MCR) Wide Central Midfielder | Central Midfielder:
From this position, Jordan Henderson would typically drift wider to support Salah on the right; he could exchange his central positioning for Salah’s wide positioning, allowing the Egyptian to sit narrower and escape the opposition left-back.
Another way Henderson could support Salah would be through providing an overlapping run to create a situational 2v1 against the opposition left-back.
(MCL) Wide Central Midfielder | Central Midfielder:
Whilst performing a similar role to his central midfield partner, Henderson, Wijnaldum’s movements would differ slightly. First of all, his positioning was not as fixed as his partner’s, as he could drop deeper to form a situational back-three for Liverpool in-possession.
Additionally, he could drift higher and attack the box as a late, unmarked crossing target: this particular facet of his game led to a few massive goals for him in this season.
Inside Forward | Inside Outlet Winger:
In this system, Salah’s role was incredibly flexible. Initially, he would hold a wider position on the right to occupy the opposition left-back. However, as the attack progressed, he would move narrower to attack closer to goal.
Despite this, his positioning was a lot more fluid: he could interchange positions with Firmino and Mané, before attacking space in-behind to devastating effect.
Upon receiving the ball, Salah would usually look to cut inside, before creating for a team-mate or unleashing a shot on goal. When Liverpool didn’t have the ball, Salah would typically remain higher next to Firmino, as Liverpool often depicted a slanted 4-4-2 shape out-of-possession.
This higher positioning gave Salah an optimal starting position to spearhead the Liverpool counter-attack should they have won the ball back.
Inside Forward | Winger:
On the other side, Mané enjoyed a fine campaign. Unlike Salah, Mané’s positioning was generally more fixed to an inverted position – although, he could still roam and interchange positions with his attacking team-mates.
From here, Mané wasn’t as selfish as Salah, and could look to tee up team-mates and/or attack space in-behind himself.
False Nine | Centre Forward:
Firmino was the glue that stuck most of Liverpool’s attacking moves together. His strategic dropping movements off the opposition backline would create space in-behind for the likes of Salah or Mané to attack, whilst he could also receive between the lines, wherefrom he could link play or turn and create for the wingers ahead of him.
Results
Premier League:
In testing with Liverpool on FM26, we would go one point better in the league than Liverpool did in real life, as we amassed 100 points from our 38 league games, as we won 32 games, drew 4 games, and lost just 2 games all season. Across our 38 league games, we scored 117 goals (3.07 goals per game) and conceded just 20 goals (0.52 goals per game) – the league’s best for each.
Domestic Cups:
We began our season as we meant to go on by defeating Crystal Palace 0-3 in the season’s curtain raiser to secure the Community Shield. We would find success again at Wembley in March, as we beat Brighton 1-4 to win the Carabao Cup!
On our way to the Final, we beat the likes of Man Utd (6-0 AGG), Arsenal (1-1 P), and Nottingham Forest (1-5). We made it a treble of successes at Wembley for the season, as we beat fierce, local rivals Everton 0-3 to win the FA Cup, making it four trophies out of four! On our way to FA Cup success, we overcame the likes of Arsenal (1-3) and Man Utd (2-1).
UEFA Champions League:
It was seventh heaven for Liverpool in the UEFA Champions League in testing, as we beat Real Madrid 0-2 in the Final to win a QUINTUPLE!
On our way to the Final, we bypassed Marseille (0-11 AGG!!!), Spurs (5-1 AGG), and Atletico Madrid (9-0 AGG) after topping the League Phase! What a run… what a season!
Read Also
- FM26 Tactics Hub
- FM26 Best Youth Academies
- FM26 Wonderkids by PA, Price & Position
- FM26 Transfer Budgets
Conclusion
There’s been fine starts to a season in football before, but it can almost be guaranteed that we will never see a greater start to a season than that Liverpool endured in their first 27 league games of the 19/20 season.
They were scintillating… truly scintillating, and they will, no doubt, go down in history as one of the best sides to ever grace the sport.
If you want a taste of this beautiful tactic, make sure to download the tactic using the link attached to this article and make sure to follow FM Blog (@fmbIog) and myself (@AshtonGgmu) on our respective socials.
I hope you have enjoyed this article, and I wish you much success with this tactic on your saves!
Thanks for reading!
