- 7 hours ago
Liverpool have gone from 'crisis club' one week to back to back wins against Villa and Real Madrid the next. While it's still early days, it looks like Arne Slot may have found a solution to the problems that plagued their early season form. Adam Clery looks at how they dismantled Xabi Alonso's Madrid, and one player in particular who epitomizes everything good about their football.
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00:00Right, hello everybody, welcome to the Adam McCleary Football Channel and we've got a lot to get through here, so
00:04I shall just get straight into it.
00:07Liverpool last night beat Real Madrid, which is no small accomplishment, and whisper it, but it looks like Arna Slott
00:15might already have fixed the many things that were wrong with this team.
00:20What we had in this game was one of those very rare examples of both teams looking to be really
00:26direct when they had the ball and really aggressive when they did not have the ball.
00:31So we did not see a lot of considered build-up through the thirds, we did not see a lot
00:36of clever little rotations or intricate bits of play designed to open up space, we did not have a lot
00:42of what your dad would call fannying on.
00:45And of course, what's interesting about that is that Liverpool's Achilles heel this season has been getting counter-pressed, has
00:52been getting counter-attacked, has been having to face loads of long balls, and despite Real Madrid doing all that
00:58pretty well last night, they offered absolutely nothing in attack.
01:03So the question then, my dear friend, is how has Arna Slott gone and fixed Liverpool's biggest problems and got
01:10them a massive win all in one night?
01:13Well, I'll show you.
01:18Right, so the answer is obviously a lot more complicated than this, hence why the run time is considerably longer
01:23than wherever we are now.
01:24But in basic terms, you look at the XI and you can see that Arna Slott has got Liverpool back
01:30to basics.
01:31There was no Frimpong or Kerkhez who both have undeniable ability on the ball, but do cause Liverpool quite a
01:38lot of structural problems when they're all trying to jump up as a team.
01:41And worse, do occasionally look completely disconnected from their teammates when they lose the ball and have to get back
01:48into a shape.
01:48Instead, you had Andy Robertson and Connor Bradley, two players who, yes, they have their critics, but undeniably know this
01:56system inside out and have very good relationships with all the players in front and beside them.
02:03Then you had Graven Birch and McAllister sitting in midfield, a combination we know works really well, and Dominic Sabozlai
02:09sitting in front of them.
02:11And it is with this handsome bugger that we shall start.
02:15Now what we're going to show you in this video is first, why Sabozlai being in this team makes Liverpool
02:21so much harder to play against, which has been obviously their biggest problem all season.
02:26But then after that, the game plan Arna Slott used that went and won Liverpool this game, because it was
02:32maybe, in my opinion, the smartest thing he's done all season.
02:36So yes, first, Dominic Sabozlai, right?
02:38This season, he has primarily not played in this position.
02:41He started five games for Liverpool in the pivot, he started four games for them at right back, and those
02:47are just the starting positions.
02:49Even when he is here or here, you will know when Liverpool are chasing a game, Arna Slott loads the
02:55pitch with attacking players, and it normally ends up with him finishing the game here.
03:00And just to be blunt, right, the Venn diagram of him being shifted out of this area, and Liverpool looking
03:06not quite right, is basically a circle.
03:10But of course, in this game, he was back in this position, and his assist for the goal is obviously
03:15wonderful, but it's the stuff, it's much harder to see, that was a lot more important.
03:20In fact, it's actually really hard to illustrate his importance in things like stats and graphs, because, like, these are
03:26all of his defensive contributions across the 90 minutes, and it's genuinely not that much.
03:32In fact, only one of them is even a tackle or an interception, this one, I think I'm pointing at
03:36the right place, I obviously can't see it, and the rest are just, like, recovering loose balls.
03:41If you're looking at this, you wouldn't think he was doing a lot off the ball.
03:44And as well, if we look at all his jewels from the game, his record looks absolutely terrible.
03:49He was involved in nine, and only won two, which, for context, Cody Gakpo also won two, and he played
03:55about 12 minutes of this match, so statistically looking at it, it doesn't really jump out at you.
04:00Like, neither this nor this are any good at all, but when you actually sit down and you watch him
04:06play, you can see he's probably the most important player for what it is Liverpool are trying to do.
04:12Like, he made some massive contribution in every single phase of play.
04:17Like, I'll show you what I mean, right, Madrid's only real method of getting the ball up the pitch was
04:21this, and it might be slightly hard to see, right, but this is Dean Housen's pass map from that match.
04:27Now, he's obviously brilliant on the ball, and his job for Madrid is to either play it into the centre
04:31or just carry it there himself, but when you look at it, so many of these balls are driven out
04:37into this left-hand side.
04:39There's obviously a lot of sideways stuff when Liverpool were sitting off, but by and large, when he's got the
04:43ball in this area, when they're building up, he's having to go out here, almost like there's some sort of
04:49brick wall in his way that's stopping him connecting with Tushimeni and Kamavinga and Goula and all the players who
04:55would be in the centre.
04:56And that brick wall is literally Dominic Sobber's lie.
04:59Liverpool went back to pressing in their 4-2-4, and you kept seeing him close off the passing lanes
05:06in front of the defenders.
05:08He would stop them getting turned on the ball, he would close gaps whenever they appeared, he was putting pressure
05:13on the ball.
05:15Anything you needed out of possession, he was doing.
05:18Like this bit here, right, Madrid to have a corner, it's cleared, and just look at the intensity in him
05:23to get out and first stop Kamavinga turning with the ball, forcing him to play it backwards,
05:30and then rushing house in again to stop him playing it forwards.
05:34And so all he can do with it is just knock it back out to the side, by which point
05:38the rest of the Liverpool team have caught up with play,
05:41and you've now got Wurtz and Gravenberch locking down that side of the pitch.
05:46If nobody makes that run out, if nobody takes responsibility for that, Madrid can do whatever they want.
05:51That ball's already back in the box.
05:53Like, just to be completely clear about this, when you do not play him in this position, Liverpool do not
05:58have somebody who does this.
06:00Because if he's in the pivot or he's at right back, he can't go charging out like that.
06:04He is responsible for screening areas of the pitch.
06:08So what happens is, Liverpool just get passed around, they get played through, the pressure stays on.
06:13But when he is there, doing this, wah-wah-wee-wah!
06:17Likewise, in more settled possession, you can see here that Hausson wants to play this ball penetratively.
06:23Penetrative, penetratively, penetratively.
06:26He wants to penetrate with the ball.
06:28I'm so immature, but Sobber's like jumps to Tushimeni, stops that being an option.
06:32The thing is, he doesn't stop there.
06:34He jumps past him, keeping the passing lane closed off, and pressing the defender himself,
06:39which rushes him, which panics him, which forces him into a pass he doesn't want to make, and they lose
06:44it.
06:45Again, just a few minutes later, he is marking Tushimeni entirely out of the game,
06:49jumps off him to put pressure on the ball, which forces them out wide,
06:53and this, right here, is what makes him so much more than just somebody who is doing this.
07:00As Goula runs off him here, 99% of players would quite rightly spot the danger of this pass and
07:08run with him.
07:09But, if he does that, then there is only Salah putting any pressure on the back four and Tushimeni,
07:16which would take the entire team really deep, a lot deeper than they want to be.
07:22The thing is, if you are that deep, then it sort of implies that this area is where your numbers
07:27are.
07:27So, without really looking, he instinctively realises Goula will be going into traffic that way,
07:34so he jumps the other way, because it's probably where the smarter pass would go.
07:40That is unbelievable reading of a situation.
07:44And it actually pays off for him.
07:46He intercepts this ball and very nearly gets Eketike in.
07:50And what you're looking at there is the sort of moment that is the difference between being good off the
07:55ball
07:56and being great off the ball.
07:58And I do just think it's worth pointing this out, right, because he is brilliant at this.
08:01He sets the entire mentality for Liverpool when they don't have possession.
08:05But what's really important, and why this represents them looking a lot better as a team,
08:10is that so many of the other players seem to just get it.
08:14Like, you go back to this moment, and just as he's about to leave Goula,
08:17that should be the trigger for McAllister to jump in here.
08:21But he can't, because Robertson and Wurtz have left Camavinga,
08:25so he's pointing and shouting at them to get their shit together.
08:30And what you're sort of looking at in this moment is a good illustration of why Liverpool's new signings,
08:35in particular, Wurtz, are struggling in this team.
08:38Because I thought, again, Wurtz was absolutely brilliant last night coming in off the left.
08:43He caused Real Madrid all sorts of problems.
08:46But off the ball, Liverpool are such a well-oiled machine,
08:49and right now, he's currently not very well-oiled.
08:54He's, like, maybe had one blast of WD-40.
08:58He smells vaguely of, like, one-calorie cooking spray.
09:01Like, Robertson jumps here to stop Valverde getting turned.
09:04Brilliant, great idea.
09:05And Wurtz, whose man he really is, sees this and does not know what to do.
09:12So he just sort of stands there and doesn't do anything.
09:15But if he was on the same page as everyone else,
09:17he would see Camavinga moving into this space and go with him,
09:21thus allowing Alexis McAllister to jump.
09:24And if Sobber's Lie had read that wrong, which obviously he hadn't,
09:28McAllister would have been straight into Goula,
09:29and they would have went back that way.
09:31So it would have worked perfectly whatever happened.
09:34But yes, just to circle back to what my original point was,
09:37Liverpool look almost back to their best, at least off the ball.
09:41And I mean, this fucking specimen in number 10 is pretty much the entire reason.
09:47Um, sorry to interrupt, but as we have been editing this video,
09:52I have just found out the channel has been nominated for Social Media of the Year
09:57at the Football Supporters Association Awards 2025, which is, uh, mad.
10:03Now we are on this shortlist here, and yeah, I'm thinking the exact same thing.
10:08I'm thinking no idea what business we have being on a list with such unbelievable creators like this,
10:14but it is apparently a vote-based thing.
10:16So we're going to put the link in the description if you would like to vote.
10:20And don't get me wrong, out of these six here,
10:23I would consider coming sixth an unbelievable result.
10:27Like, I've already won there, uh, as far as I'm concerned.
10:29But what the hell? We might as well give it a shot.
10:32And I've got no idea who to thank for this right now,
10:34so instead I will just thank all of you for watching the channel
10:37and making us at least credible enough that someone thought they could stick us on this list
10:41and it not, uh, look ridiculous.
10:44I will give you more information about this as and when I get it.
10:47I have literally just found it out right now.
10:49So, yes. Thank you. Love you. Enjoy the video. Bye.
10:52Anyway, though, I did also promise to show you how they actually went and won, uh, this game of football.
10:58And what's interesting about that is it's not a million miles away
11:02from what Man Utd did to them just the other week.
11:06So Madrid press you man-to-man.
11:08You can see that here, right?
11:10This is the first goal kick Liverpool have
11:12and that front four are all locked on to the back four
11:15with Tuchemeni here practically checking Gravenberch for any swelling in his prostate.
11:21The others are out of shot here, but trust me,
11:23Wirtz and Sabaslai can also feel some breath on the back of their neck.
11:28So, obviously, rather than mess about with it in that sort of situation,
11:31it's incredibly precarious,
11:33Marmadashvili goes long and...
11:36absolutely nothing comes of it.
11:38Uh-oh, I am thinking watching this game sitting on the sofa at home
11:42could be a long night for Liverpool here,
11:44but as it went on,
11:46this exact thing began to bear fruit.
11:50This is the goalie's pass map in this game
11:53and if we have a look at it,
11:53you can see that he went really long from open play
11:58seven times in this match,
12:00which is a lot for him, right?
12:02And if we also look at Virgil van Dijk's pass map from this game,
12:05you'll see, obviously, he's deep and he keeps it in a lot,
12:07but there are also a lot of long balls here.
12:11And these were pretty clever.
12:14Late in the first half,
12:15Liverpool have one of about seven really good chances
12:18that Thibaut Courtois had to go full Adam Cleary
12:24to save.
12:25But you wind it back and it's a direct ball up from the goalkeeper
12:29contested by Eketike
12:31with the second ball picked up by a Liverpool player.
12:34And throughout the game,
12:35there were loads of situations just like that.
12:39This time it's van Dijk,
12:40he doesn't even look,
12:41he just hits the right area,
12:42Eketike competes for that first ball
12:45and is immediately joined by his teammates
12:48who crash the second ball,
12:50win it and nearly flash in a chance.
12:52And the thing about a game plan like this, right,
12:54is that even when it doesn't work,
12:56it still does sort of work.
12:58It's another van Dijk pass long into the right area,
13:01but it misses everyone
13:03and Madrid get it back.
13:04However, there are so many players in this area,
13:07like literally five of them all contesting this ball,
13:11that Madrid cannot get out
13:13and it's only a foul that bails them out of it.
13:16And I know exactly what you're thinking, right?
13:18This had nothing to do with how the goal was created.
13:22So it's a bit of a stretch, isn't it,
13:23to say this idea of going long from the back
13:26and scrapping loose balls
13:27is what won Liverpool the game.
13:29But, and you might have to humor me like
13:32five to ten percent here,
13:35I think it did.
13:37Madrid's only solution to this directness
13:40in the second half was to sit off Liverpool,
13:42to make sure they had numbers
13:44in those areas where Liverpool
13:46were dominating the second balls,
13:47to not press them so aggressively,
13:49to actually step back about 10 or 15 yards.
13:52Thus, Ryan Gravenberch picks up the ball here
13:55and just look at the lack of pressure on him
13:58comparative to the first half.
14:00Madrid are trying to make sure
14:02that he can't just tip a pass onto the head.
14:05So they inadvertently invite him on,
14:07which he gleefully obliges them.
14:09And by the time anyone takes responsibility for that,
14:12he's in the final third,
14:13he's nearly into the box,
14:14and they end up fouling him.
14:16And one kick of the ball later,
14:18very fittingly, in my opinion,
14:19from Dominic Soberslay,
14:21and it is headed in
14:21by a man of the same height as me.
14:24And that must,
14:26that must really sting.
14:28And I'll be honest,
14:29I was expecting some sort of a rousing response
14:31from Madrid.
14:32I thought that goal might wake them up a little bit,
14:34but it really didn't.
14:36Liverpool were so comfortable in this structure
14:38as the match went on,
14:39there was not one question
14:41from the bench that Alonso asked
14:43that they just did not have an easy answer for.
14:46And you combine that with the Aston Villa performance,
14:48which was similarly back to basics,
14:50even had Gakpo in there instead of Wurt,
14:52so it was more like last season.
14:54And yeah, it does look like Arna Slott
14:57has addressed a great many
14:59of the problems they've been having.
15:00I don't think we can definitively say
15:02it's all been fixed,
15:04even though I probably used that word in the headline.
15:06Forgive me until Liverpool go on a run
15:08of like five, six, seven games
15:10of looking this comfortable,
15:11and ideally with at least one or two
15:14of the new signings,
15:16looking like they get exactly
15:17what is going on here.
15:19So avoiding little moments like this.
15:22Like I think Eketike has been brilliant
15:24in this team,
15:24and Florian Wurtz has been so much better
15:27than like hate-watch Twitter accounts
15:29would have you believe.
15:31But regardless,
15:32if you were picking Liverpool's best 11
15:34for a massive game tomorrow,
15:36you would probably be leaving
15:37an awful lot of summer spending
15:39just sitting on the bench.
15:41And like it or not,
15:42that is a problem
15:43he's going to have to address.
15:45But yes, that's all hypothetical, isn't it?
15:46In the real world,
15:47Liverpool have now won two
15:48absolutely massive games
15:50and have a third on the horizon,
15:52which feels now like they'd be favourites for,
15:55whereas in two weeks back in the past,
15:57it did not feel like that at all.
15:58So it's definitely progress.
16:00Well done on a slot.
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