How Liverpool Dismantled West Ham
Who would’ve thought a manager like Jürgen Klopp leaving would make Liverpool such a dominant force? Cruising at the top of the Premier League and Champions League, Arne Slot’s refinement of Klopp’s chaos has made the Reds into an unstoppable machine.
One tactical change that is clearly making Liverpool effective and hard to read is the use of a false nine or striker dropping into build-up, either wide or into midfield.
When Luis Díaz drops in, it drags two West Ham midfielders with him, but simultaneously one of the important things to note and what makes this attack so deadly is Curtis Jones pushing up from midfield up against West Ham’s defence. It means Liverpool don’t lose an attacker up front and instead create gaps in West Ham’s midfield by deploying Díaz deeper.
West Ham’s five players in midfield are busy trying to protect the centre, which is the right thing to do. As they mark Ryan Gravenberch and Alexis Mac Allister, Díaz roams into the half space towards the right just in behind West Ham’s midfield, meaning he’s an extra option to pass to, but is now crucially another player for West Ham to mark, and as he pulls wide it once again opens up gaps.
Once he has received the ball and plays an exchange with Mac Allister, the Argentinian knocks it over the top with Mohamed Salah galloping in behind.
With Díaz pulling a man wide, Jones drags a player close to Mac Allister.
- Use a forward in build-up either wide or centrally
- Make runs off the space created from a ball in behind
- Rinse and repeat
The problem became worse for West Ham when it wasn’t just Díaz dropping to be part of build-up, Salah joined in too, this time by dropping into a ‘full-back’ position.
As Díaz drops into midfield, Gravenberch can make a dash up front. The form Salah is in, you have to close him down, as two players go out to do this it drags West Ham over to one side, Díaz and Jones are now making their runs from deep and Salah has turned into the creator.
West Ham’s midfield is not doing the wrong thing by occupying central space. But, as Salah drops in, Aaron Wan-Bissaka follows him, and once again a player can make a run in behind (Trent Alexander-Arnold) a West Ham midfielder that was supposed to make sure the middle of the pitch was narrowed now has to go back with him.
By using a forward as part of build-up it gave West Ham problems, as they would have to start marking players up top who were making darting runs. Liverpool were already a dangerous team, but Arne Slot has added layers to the players attributes which has increased the potency of the Merseyside team’s attack.
By: Dharnish Iqbal / @dharnishiqbal
Featured Image: @GabFoligno / Visionhaus / Getty Images