Watching last night champions league game between Liverpool and Man City I couldnt help thinking about Fulham and the similarities between us and Manchester city, at least in the way we set out to play. Im not suggesting that we are as good as them but somewhere along the line we have similar strengths,.... and weaknesses.
Manchester City have ´dominated`just about all opponents in the premier league and are walking away with the title. Guardiaolla ,like Jokanovic ,wont accept players committing the cardinal sin of losing posession of the ball. A fundamental requirement for players to succeed in being constructive with the ball in most situations is to be calm on the ball , and able to resolve even the tightest of situations when under pressure ,in the form of onrushing opponents , in order to be able to pass the ball through the gaps create by their attempts to win the ball back.
Klopp was the first to point out in his post-match press conference , that Man citys movement off the ball is their biggest strength ,but also their foremost weakness as players widen the play using the whole pitch, which can be a recipe for disaster if opposing teams nick the ball off you ,particularly in your own half and are able to counter attack or transition quickly into attack the final third before you have time to reorganise. This is exactly the sort of number that Liverpool did on City last night. Given that the reds have so many individually talented players they were able to make the most of a game pattern where they were able to restrict City s attacking play and win most of the 50 /50 s ,due to their work ethic and aggressive press as well as a number of players very able to run with the ball having turned City over.
I dont think Man City were lethargic or wanted to win any less than their hosts , but were trying to balance the the frenetic atmosphere of the game with the usual coolness expected of them in the approach required of them in order to play the superb football that they have shown all season. Now it strikes me that City are the better team ,indeed the league table proves this point, but in a one off game such as a quarter final of the champions league (or a play off match ) its possible to lose belief when things arent going according to plan. Guardiolla pointed out before yesterdays clash that his team were perfect opponents for Liverpool and brought out their strengths.
Liverpool were able to produce this amazing high -octane performance for a cup game but have been less sucessful against teams sitting deep aginst them , and indeed not been able to play this way week in week out. The form the game took at anfield created many quick breaks in that all-action first half ,creating many one against one situations which Liverpool won time and again.
Im not suggesting that if we have to play in the play-offs that any of the sides playing there are good enough to do a Liverpool on us .However last season we were clearly better than Reading but that counted for little in a two match lottery.
The key to our play,like manchester City is ball tempo and fluidity as well as good movement off the ball. If we can fix these elemnets of our play then i dont believe anyone can touch us , but Im pretty sure that Guardiolla was thinking the same thing before yesterdays encounter. It will be interesting in the reurn leg to see if Liverpool can maintain their lower than normal defensive shape,without conceding and if City can resolve their lack of a focal point in attack.
We now have Mitrovic which has actually given us a balance which the soon to be league champions lacked. By balance ,I mean that we now have the option to play to Mitrovics feet and by-pass our midfield if the backs dont have any other options ,even if the serb has a man up his bakside. Lets hope that we can learn the lessons of the light-blue team from manchester and keep our coolness as well as being able to play at a high tempo for the remaing games of the season and in particular the play-offs ,if we are forced to go down that route.
