Real Madrid vs Slot Machine, Liverpool’s mutation will scare Europe again

He Real Madrid visits Anfield at the decisive moment. The Whites need to confirm the change of face after the failures with Barcelona and Milan and not lose the opportunity to enter the top eight, which gives direct access to the 1/8 finals of the Champions League. Liverpool will be a good thermometersince he comes to the meeting at the top of the standings in both the Premier League and the Champions League (before the start of the fifth round)showcasing a game that once again surprises Europe.

There was uncertainty about what he was capable of. Arne Slot after Jurgen Klopp’s triumphant cycle. And the truth is that until now exceeded expectations thanks to seamless and precise football. At MARCA we have already spoken about what Slott has to offer in contrast to Klopp and how he preserves the essence of German football. when he was going to become his new coach. and Dutch brought his own philosophy to once again create an unstoppable car that captivates at Anfield. In fact, their fans have already named their “new” team. From “Rock and Klopp” we moved on to “Slot Machine”. (a play on words in English between its literal definition, which means slot machines, and its metaphorical definition, which means “Slot Machine”, due to how good its equipment is).

After almost a third of the Premier League competition and half of the early stages of the Champions League, against high-level opponents such as Arsenal, Chelsea and Bayer Leverkusen, it can be said that this Liverpool team’s performance is not up to par. this is the best of one day. What did Slott change to make Liverpool a formidable team again?

New tactical and flexible scheme.

He played in every Premier League match. according to the 4-2-3-1 scheme and in the Champions League he maintained it in two more matches. Only against Leipzig and Leverkusen did he start with Klopp’s classic 4-3-3 formation. However, this initial schema is not the one that is then maintained during meetings. Liverpool are mutating to a 4-2-4 formation, especially in defense.. Two good examples were in fights against such important opponents as Arsenal And Chelsea.

In both cases It is the playmaker who ultimately becomes the more offensive player.. In the match with Arsenal it was Curtis Jones and against Chelsea, Szoboszlai.

Here we give an example of a match against Arsenal where this structure is clearly visible.

The advantage of this scheme is thatoffers many tactical options throughout the match, for example return 4-2-3-1 (the scheme he used at Feyenoord) simply let the pointer hover; still 4-4-2 if both strikers retreat his position to help make the double turn in center field; or to yourself 4-3-3Yeah one of the two strikers drops to the middle of the field. This chameleon-like scenario helps create imbalance in the opponent.

The importance of extremes

In this scheme, extremes play a very important role. They must be good at one-on-one play, able to attract or overpower opponents before deciding on their next move.be it a cross, a shot or a combination inside. And they have a lot of it Luis Diaz and Salah. The proof of this is that they belong greatest effective contribution for 90 minutes and that’s most expected goals generate from command.

They also those who touch the ball most in the opponent’s zone. 8.5 touches from Salah every 90 minutes is the highest in the lineup, followed by Luis Diaz, 6.6. According to Slote, his forwards, represented primarily by the Egyptian, should be positioned high and open. The idea is that when the defensive linemen have the ball, they jump over the middle of the field to shoot. straight play to extremesas in the following example against Arsenal.

Van Dyck, there is time to think defines the career of Luis Diaz behind your marker.

Good marking and better passing create a dangerous situation for the Colombian to penetrate into the opponent’s zone.

Less aggressive and vertical

If Liverpool have changed anything with Slot, it’s the intensityboth without the ball and with it. On the one hand, the team He is no longer as aggressive in pressing. Last campaign with Klopp their average PPDA was 8.28. And This year there are about 12.3.. That is, they missed on average eight passes from the opponent before taking defensive actions, being one of the most intense teams in Europe. They are now allowing four more passes.

They don’t make it that high either.. passed be the team with the highest percentage of high defensive actions (taken in the last 40 meters of the field) of the five major leagues will become the thirtieth this campaign.

This does not mean that he defends worse, just a different approach. This is more calculated care. Actually the team for now. allows fewer shots against and with lower overall quality which were translated to fewer goals conceded than last season. The slot tries to apply pressure more carefully.

Looking a little deeper, thanks to data from Kognia Sports, we can see various tactical situations that show the strength of Liverpool’s defence. The Slot team is the best team in the Premier when it comes to both neutralizing the opposition’s advantages when faced with imbalances that can arise in the defensive line, as well as neutralizing opponents trying to enter the penalty area with the ball under control.

This means that they pull in well and on timewith excellent defensive coordination, maintaining a compact block and waiting to be able to adjust before the opponent penetrates the penalty area with an advantage and scores a goal. This way, players are not exposed to transitions or offensive moves by the opponent.

At the same time, it reflects an excellent ability to stop dangerous shots before they can strike, thanks to his reading of the game and defensive positioning.

More controlled play

On the other side, The slot wants a game with slower possessions. If in the case of Klopp his hallmark was fast transitions in search of a shot, then in the case of the Dutch more is being done. Salah himself sees it this way: “Now we try to control the ball all the time. Under Klopp, the most important thing was to counter-attack or counter-press to get the ball back as high as possible.”

This is observed in a number of data. For example, in reduction in the number of auctionsWhat’s happened from almost 20 every 90 minutes last year to 14. Or increasing the number of passes per shot. Or the least number of touches in the opponent’s zone. Under Klopp, quantity was important, but under Slot quality is preferred. Thus, his expected goals rates remain essentially the same, suggesting that Although there are fewer opportunities, they are of the same quality..

Once again, Konya offers us a more complete tactical insight into the attacking strengths of this Liverpool side.

The movements they make behind the defensive line are constant. And They know how to identify the advantages created by their opponents’ imbalances in the rearguard.which makes it easier for them to create opportunities for greater danger. There is no team in the Premier League that does it better and better.

This reflects excellent ability of players to attack open spaces inside the opponent’s zone, which is a crucial aspect for creating scoring opportunities, as well as for creating movement behind the back, which shows ability to use filtered passes or deep breaks.

In this shot from the match against Brentford, thanks to the overload in the central part, both Salah How Diogo Jota They take advantage of poor defensive balance to remain undetected when they receive LouisDiaz. As a result, the Colombian served the ball to the Egyptian, who was left alone and hit the net.

all this doesn’t mean that the team abandoned counterattacks or direct play and therefore don’t be vertical. He does them, but is more selective. Just take advantage of the game situations to complete them. This is withability to increase the pace if necessary.

For example, in the following sequence in the match against Bournemouth. Before the ball reaches Mac Allister after an aerial duel won by Luis Diaz, Salah (above) reacts to the start of the race, knowing the Argentine has a long journey into space ahead of him.

Mac Allister’s pass is perfect, but it all starts with the pass. good identification of Salah space and him correct anticipation of the start of the race. All this combined creates a clear opportunity to score a goal with just three touches.

However, Liverpool This is a slightly less dominant position than in previous years.. He continues to have the ball, but if you look at the situation field slopewhich gives us an idea of How much attack do you have in the final third of the field compared to what your opponents have?now he does it in lower share. It went from sixth of the top five leagues with the highest proportion of attacks in the final third (65%) to 16th with 62.1%. This tells us that He continues to touch the ball more often in threatening areas than his opponents, but they have increased their presence in front of the Reds’ goal, albeit marginally.. Perhaps this is clearly visible in the match against Madrid.

The performance this new Liverpool put in surprised everyone, especially due to the speed at which the team adapted to the new style to create a competitive team that will go for everything this year. Although he has faced strong opponents, there is no better opponent than the European champion to gauge his potential. Real Madrid arrived forewarned.