Before the EFL Cup final kicked off, Liverpool's goal was to win the trophy for the second year in a row. But against a Chelsea side with a new manager, Klopp had to come up with a way to stop Sarri's possession-based football.
"Everyone outside is saying Sarri's possession tactics aren't extreme enough. Sometimes they don't even look much like possession football. And that's exactly why it's so tricky for us to set up defensively."
"How are we supposed to design a defensive plan around the defining traits of a tactical system that doesn't even have any defining traits?"
The thing giving Zubizarreta the biggest headache was that Sarri's tactics did not have any especially clear characteristics.
"In that case, we won't target them. We'll make them become the ones being targeted by us!"
After Klopp finished speaking, Krawietz, standing beside him, felt as though he understood, and also as though he did not.
"Boss, unless I heard wrong, did you just say a load of nonsense?"
Klopp immediately clapped a hand over Krawietz's mouth.
"Anyway, the general idea is that we use a more aggressive tactic to deal with them."
"Giroud is injured, and Sarri has had Hazard playing as a striker for three straight matches."
"Hazard, Kovačić in midfield, and Rüdiger at the back form a spine for Chelsea. We need to break that spine!"
"Once Chelsea's spine is broken, their whole lineup will lose its power!"
As for how to break it, the three of them studied the problem and created a brand-new tactic, naming it the herding-style running press.
After the EFL Cup final began, Chelsea relied on the ability of their front line and took the initiative to keep the ball on the ground, using a not-quite-complete possession system to create chances for their attackers to break through. The effect was actually fairly good.
But in the 29th minute, Leo Lin began driving Liverpool's shape, showing a pressing tactic they had never revealed before.
"Liverpool's players aren't sticking a foot in, tackling, or intercepting when they press. There doesn't seem to be much intensity to their pressure, and the Chelsea players look pretty comfortable."
"Jorginho, there's clear passing space on the right!"
Jorginho quickly noticed the huge amount of space available on his right, so he immediately passed to Willian to continue the attack.
The moment Willian received the ball, Robertson stepped up to press him. This time, it was only Robertson increasing the defensive intensity in his individual duel.
To make sure he did not lose the ball, Willian passed it back to Jorginho.
Jorginho suddenly realized there was also a large space on his left that he could use, so he moved the ball to Hudson-Odoi.
At that moment, Rodri, who had shifted wide to defend, immediately raised his individual defensive intensity as well. But it was only Rodri pressing harder. The rest of Liverpool's players still kept a relatively relaxed defensive shape.
To avoid losing possession, Hudson-Odoi passed it back to Jorginho again.
After receiving the ball, Jorginho had already tried both sides, while the middle was blocked off by Leo Lin. So he played the ball backward, and Chelsea continued using their possession game in their own half.
Up to this point, no problem had appeared. But after Jorginho passed it back, Rodri rushed to his side and began defending him off the ball.
Leo Lin charged toward Christensen!
Firmino and his teammates on both flanks stood along the edge of the penalty area. It was like catching a chick. Three people worked together to herd the chick little by little into a corner, then spread out one by one, using the wall behind the chick to form a four-sided trap and leave it with no way out.
At that moment, the goal behind Kepa was the natural wall, because Chelsea's players were hardly going to kick the ball toward their own net.
Firmino, Salah, and Mané were the three people responsible for herding the chick.
And now, the fourth person, the one responsible for catching the chick inside that small area, appeared.
Leo Lin.
Christensen had not even noticed that every passing option in front of him had disappeared. He still wanted to pass to Jorginho, which was the role the defensive midfielder played in possession football.
But Jorginho had already been tangled up by Rodri. Hazard was still up front, and he did not even understand what had happened to his own team.
By this point, Chelsea's spine had been completely broken by Liverpool's herding-style running press.
Christensen almost kicked the ball straight into Leo Lin. In a space with no direct pressure on him, he simply hoofed it away, something strictly forbidden in Sarri's tactics.
But Sarri did not blame Christensen this time, because he knew that if Christensen had waited two more seconds, he would not even have been able to clear it long.
Sarri stopped chewing his tobacco. He and his coaches began reviewing how Liverpool's pressing tactic had slowly erased every passing option Chelsea had.
Sarri had time to think on the touchline, but Chelsea's players on the pitch had no time to think at all.
As soon as play resumed, Liverpool's herding-style press appeared again.
The Chelsea players were almost afraid to keep the ball, but keeping the ball was one of the basic requirements of their possession tactics.
Yet the moment they held possession, Chelsea would be driven into a dead end by Liverpool's herding-style running press. At this point, Chelsea's tactics had fallen into a complete contradiction.
The new pressing tactic developed by Klopp's team was showing its full power.
The more Chelsea contradicted themselves, the more chaotic their play became.
The 40th minute of the match.
"Chelsea look completely disconnected right now. Everyone seems to be playing their own game, and this isn't something they planned themselves. Liverpool have forced them into it!"
"Now they can't keep possession, but they can't give it up either. It's as if they'll make a mistake the moment they dare touch the ball. But this is a football match. If they don't touch the ball, how are they supposed to play?"
Christensen misplaced another pass. How could a young player like him have ever seen this kind of pressing situation before?
He simply could not handle it.
Rodri immediately won the ball, then drove forward with it himself.
Jorginho knew Rodri could shoot from range, but he did not dare step up, because Leo Lin could shoot from range too. Neither of those two could be left alone.
It was precisely that mindset, trying to guard against both of them at once, that threw Chelsea's back line into chaos again.
It was not man-marking, nor was it zonal defending. It could barely even be called defending at all.
Amid that chaos, Rodri managed to carry the ball forward nearly ten meters before passing to Salah.
Salah went past Emerson, then immediately sent the ball into the middle.
Leo Lin arrived right on time.
His body was leaning slightly forward.
That kind of shooting posture might not generate enough power, but as Leo Lin leaned forward, his left foot met Salah's pass.
He had actually made a mistake. With a clear shooting chance from the front, aiming left or right would both have been good options. Shooting down the middle was the worst choice.
But because Leo Lin's body was leaning forward, he was forced into making the worst choice.
He did not want it that way, but the bowstring had already been drawn.
...
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