Liverpool find it tough to play against teams with low block defences, but those concerns can be eased when Thiago returns

Liverpool find it tough to play against teams with low block defences, but those concerns can be eased when Thiago returns
Liverpool opened the scoring with Sadio Mane but struggled to create chances as the game went on

Liverpool were forced to share the spoils with West Brom as Sam Allardyce had his entire 11 players within his own penalty box. Liverpool couldn’t score another goal after Sadio Mane opened the scoring and it came to back them back. Liverpool still find it tough to defeat teams with a low block but this was too much to even believe.

The game needed Xherdan Shaqiri and Thiago Alcantara

Liverpool have found their weakness to be teams who throw too many players behind the ball. But even they didn’t expect Sam Allardyce’s West Brom to line up like this. The formation was literally a 6-4-0 with no player going forward and 6 players in the penalty box at all times and four outside the box but very near to it. It was essentially 8 of Liverpool’s players going up against 11 of West Brom’s players throughout the first half. No person who watched the match would have liked what West Brom was doing.

Liverpool encountered a similar opponent in Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid and Jose Mourinho’s Tottenham. However none were as horrible as this as Liverpool nearly had 85% possession before the end of the first half. Atletico Madrid at most had players hunting in packs but Liverpool still had the space to pass around. Tottenham sat back throughout the match and only countered when in possession. This allowed Liverpool to keep battering the team and spaces opened up for them to exploit.

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Credit goes to Sam Allardyce however as he stuffed more than 8 players within their own penalty box in order to cut out Trent-Alexander Arnold and Andrew Robertson’s crosses. Jordan Henderson’s lofted passes all found West Bromwich players only and there was no running space for the forwards. Mohamed Salah was marked by three players at all time, Sadio Mane had two players on him and Roberto Firmino was surrounded from all four sides whenever he got the ball.

Truly Jurgen Klopp’s men could do nothing else but hope for spaces to open up. However fault lies in Jurgen Klopp when he chose to not substitute until nearly the 80th minute. Games like these requires Thiago Alcantara’s brilliance and Xherdan Shaqiri’s creativity. The latter is known for his creative prowess as evidenced by his pass to Diogo Jota through the heart of West Ham’s defence to get the match winning goal.

Anyway Liverpool’s weakness has been found and it is expected that other lower ranked teams will use this tactic to frustrate them. Fortunately if Thiago returns by then, it can be said that the tide is in Liverpool’s favour.

Also read: Tottenham Hotspur manager Jose Mourinho laments his team’s “lack of ambition”