LIVERPOOL VS MANCHESTER CITY.
Forget about the North West Derby, forget about the Merseyside Derby, Manchester City are LIverpool biggest rival kwasasa, and imekuwa hivyo kwa kipindi cha miaka 5-6, game ya juzi ni moja kati ya games chache sana ambazo Liverpool imekutana na Manchester City na haijawa viewed kama Title decider, but again ilikuwa ni moja kati ya game, if not, game bora zaidi mpaka sasa kwa msimu huu.
I wont highlight Pep tactical views and how he approached the game, but tangu dakika ya kwanza ya mchezo, Klopp tayari alikuwa na clear plan, it was up to players ku-execute it, na uzuri zaidi ni kuwa players waliifanyia kazi vilivyo..
It seems, Klopp amei-abandon 433, well, atleast for now, but ni good signs, maji yalikuwa yameshafika shingoni, maana kwa Klopp kui-abandon 433, ambayo ameitumia for more than 4 years at Liverpool, ilikuwa siyo jambo dogo, but kwa jinsi msimu ulivyokuwa unaelekea, ilikuwa ni lazima abadilishe mfumo, ingawa si muumini wa kubadilisha mfumo wakati msimu tayari umeshaanza, but it was clear kuwa hatukuwa na personnel ya kucheza 433.
433 ya Klopp huwa inabebwa na athletic/strong & active runners/press resistants/Counter-pressers/tactically secured MFs/Ball carriers/good & strong tacklers etc, hizi elements unazipata kwa 2018-2020 Henderson, Wijnaldum, Fabinho, Thiago, Keita, Ox and even Milner (when he was a little bit younger), but Wijnaldum is gone, Henderson cant even run anymore, Fabinho is fatigued and he's struggling phsycally, Thiago is more than capable but he needs extra care because he's injury prone, Keita + Ox are injury prone too etc, so kwa maana hii huwezi ku-implement 433 to the fullest, ni lazima kutakuwa na gaps, ili kui-sustain, you need energetic MFs with good & strong legs & bodies, na kibaya zaidi hatukufanya hivyo in the summer, so Klopp aliamua kuwa naive, kuendelea na 433 akijua kuwa his MF is bad physically, especially eneo muhimu sana la RCM ambalo lina-effect the whole system, Henderson msimu wote huu amekuwa aki-struggle at RCM, because he cant run anymore, he cant press for the whole 90 minutes, we needed a young RCM, but we chose to be naive in the summer, so 433 ilikuwa flat, holes kila sehem, na opponents were able to cut us open kiurahisi sana, tangu msimu uanze our whole defense imekuwa targeted kwa bad reviews & blames, especially Trent & VVD, which is laughable, because ukiachana na formation kuwa tweaked kidogo at RHS, pia mtu yeyote anayejua mpira hata kidogo tu, angeona kuwa 433 ya Klopp & Lijnders ilikuwa haifanyi kazi.
So Klopp decided to try 442, the formation worked against Rangers (both ties), and it worked perfectly against City.
At Arsenal, we tried 4231, he went with formation because he wanted Nunez upfront, which wasnt a bad idea, but we failed to execute it perfectly because of Henderson & Trent being short of confidence, again, Henderson played very well against Rangers kwenye tie zote (in a PIVOT) his best performances this season, but playing him against Arsenal was a mistake, Rangers hawakuwa na viungo ambao wako kwenye good form kama Partey, Xhaka & ødegaard, so ilikuwa ni lazima tuwe over-loaded kwenye MF na kwenye our RHS, haikuwa suprise kuwa Arteta ni lazima ange-target our RHS, hence he started Tomiyasu to stay compact with Salah, ili kupunguza defense burden kwa Xhaka, na kuwarushu Xhaka na Martinell ku-attack our RHS at ease, na kwa bahati mbaya Salah akiwa hana madhara, it means inakuwa rahisi kwa Xhaka kupandisha/kutengeneza nafasi za mipira kwa urahisi sana kwa Martinell, na our supposed runner, siku hizi akishapanda kurudi inakuwa ngumu sana, na akirudi hawezi ku-mark behind runs za Martnell, kwasababu hana burst anymore, so it was so easy kwa Arsenal ku-target void ya our RHS, Trent got exposed, na ukichangia yeye kuwa out of form, ilikuwa rahisi zaidi, and Arsenal game was Klopp worst in-game management this season, his 2nd half subs handed Arsenal the win, forget about ref & VAR woes, Klopp threw that game away, one of our easiest fixtures, akaigeuza kuwa ngumu sana,
And, Klopp benching Fabinho against Arsenal because he didnt want to listen to his instructions kwenye game ya Brighton, ilikuwa ni stupid idea, nilisema hapa, WC players ndiyo huwa wanakuwa ku-turn on the manager, na nikasema kuwa wont be suprised kuona kina Fabinho, VVD, Trent, Salah, Thiago etc, waki-turn on Klopp, kwa kuendelea kukumbatia his average mates au kutobadili mfumo na kuokoa msimu., kwenye game ya Brighton tuliona wenyewe ile exchange ya Klopp & Fabinho, Fabinho alikuwa anakataa kupokea instructions za Klopp, why? ni kwasababu alikuwa haziamini tena, na ikifika hatua ni kuwa wachezaji wanakuwa wanapoteza imani na wewe, na tangu lini Fabinho akawa na tabia ile? it means alikuwa amechoka, sasa kama ni vile, imagine kwenye dressing room? na tunakumbuka Klopp decided to drop Fabinho at OT for no reason, the same Fabinho ambaye ali-demand MFs kwenye medias in the summer, so it wasnt a wise choice to drop Fabinho aganst Emirate, YES, ukiachana na ile bust up yake na Klopp kwenye game ya Brighton, pia its safe to say he's been struggling with form this season, but siyo kosa lake, ni sababu za poor squad planning ya Klopp, na hata kama yupo out of form, you cant drop our best DM kwenye big games, Fabinho angecheza ile game ya Arsenal, naamini matokeo yangekuwa tofauti kabisa, it took Klopp months kum-badilisha Fabinho kutoka kwenye his "pivot" game kwenda kwenye lone DM game, now amerudi kwenye pivot ambayo ndiyo strength ya Fabinho, anamueka bench, tena against Arsenal.
Sas, against Manchester City, we played with 442, (Alisson/Robertson-VVD-Gomez-Milner/Jota-Thiago-Fabinho-Elliott/Salah-Firmino), sasa swali why the formation succeeded, in the MF we had Thiago & Fabinho, both tactically secured MFs, with strong ability to control, press, counter press & recycile possesion at ease, having Thiago+fabinho in the MFs, allowed Jota & Elliot to room/attack/defend our our Left & Right channel kwa ufanisi zaidi.
Harvey Elliot, was deployed as RM, his main job was to help Milner & nullfy any form ya attacking threat kutoka kwa Foden, hence it was so easy for Milner (36 year old) to deal with Foden, and pia ikampa room kubwa zaidi Gomez ya ku-deal na Haaland, bila pressure ya ku-cover kwa kila mara for Milner, as Elliott was already doing the dirty work, akiwa hana mpira, kama Klopp angemuanzisha Henderson as RM, ingekuwa ni disaster, you can say i hate Henderson, but sometimes unatakiwa uone ni kwa kiasi gani anai-cost team akianza, na kuwa muda wake wa kucheza as RCM/RM umeisha, he's 32, na strength zake zote zimeisha, kwasasa anaweza ku-perform agaist team ambazo zinakuwa zinampa a lot of space (mf ni rangers), but angeanza at RM or in a pivot, eneo lote la kulia lingekuwa ni disaster, you see Fabinho hana pace, but ni tactically secured MF, anajua wapi awepo, na anajua ku-anticipate counters/second balls, so rahisi sana ku-cover spaces/yards anazoacha Elliott akiwa na mpira au akiwa anashambulia, na kwa hii inter-change, ilikuwa rahisi sana kwa Fabinho kupunguza threats za KDB from deep areas, for the last 8 games in the league, tuli-fail kumpa Trent hii protection, na kama Klopp angeamua ku-switch mapema tusingekuwa na points 13 now, na pia kwenye large parts, form yetu ya mwanzo wa msimu imeharibu confidence ya Trent kabisa, so it will take time.
So, 442 is the way forward now, Salah kucheza kwenye touchline ilikuwa ni BAD IDEA, so kwenye hii formation tunamruhusu kukaa central. against City, alikuwa ni yeye na Bobby upfront, but Bobby alikuwa ana-drop as an inverted 10, tukiwa tunashambulia tukiwa tunakaba alikuwa anacheza kama 3rd number 8, behind Fabinho+Thiago, but main role ilikuwa ni ku-link our MFs and attack, na kuzuia City transitions from their zones, hence B silva & Gundogan walikuwa nullified the whole game.
In a 442, Salah can start with Nunez upfront in a 2, Salah can start with Firmino upfront in a 2, or Firmino & Nunez can start together upfront in a 2.