Spurs vs Liverpool: Pre-match thread

[Dirty Sanchez]

It really is quite surprising to see the amount of bile and hatred directed towards LFC on the Spurs forum. More so than that which is directed at West Ham - who are their local rivals and at their real level. What have we ever done to them, except be better by almost every possible metric?

For that reason alone, Spurs take third place behind Everton and Manchester United in the premier fucking cunts league. I hope we fucking smash them.

 

[Frogfish]

It really is quite surprising to see the amount of bile and hatred directed towards LFC on the Spurs forum. More so than that which is directed at West Ham - who are their local rivals and at their real level. What have we ever done to them, except be better by almost every possible metric?

For that reason alone, Spurs take third place behind Everton and Manchester United in the premier fucking cunts league. I hope we fucking smash them.

No doubt they see us as direct competition for 4th/5th. Add that to the the fact the media love to discuss/debate every little thing we do and we get so many more matches shown (and promoted) so no doubt they are also rather jealous of the attention we attract. I mean like nobody seems to give a fuck what they do !

 

[tombrown]

Both Klopp's and Poch's clubs were #2 in their leagues for distance covered in 2014-15.

Is it a football match or a team marathon on Saturday?

 

[rurikbird]

It really is quite surprising to see the amount of bile and hatred directed towards LFC on the Spurs forum. More so than that which is directed at West Ham - who are their local rivals and at their real level. What have we ever done to them, except be better by almost every possible metric?

For that reason alone, Spurs take third place behind Everton and Manchester United in the premier fucking cunts league. I hope we fucking smash them.

Carra's recent "we are Spurs 🙁" rant probably didn't help matters either.

 

[juniormember]

If you are in the right position to begin with, you win the tackle, and you pass the ball early, then you shouldn't be covering hardly any distance at all.

So you'd prefer a non-pressing game with not one player breaking out of their defensive position when we're attacking.

 

[dantes]

So you'd prefer a non-pressing game with not one player breaking out of their defensive position when we're attacking.

It looks nice, but you're taking an unnecessary risk to win the ball in their half, when you could win it in our half without wasting energy.

All it takes is one player (Sturridge) to not know which pass to cut out, so the player getting pressed will shrug and pass it, then its the other team attacking with half our team out of position.

 

[Bradley]

We all dream of Dantes

 

[Frogfish]

It looks nice, but you're taking an unnecessary risk to win the ball in their half, when you could win it in our half without wasting energy.

All it takes is one player (Sturridge) to not know which pass to cut out, so the player getting pressed will shrug and pass it, then its the other team attacking with half our team out of position.

Dantes vs. Klopp.

it'll be interesting to see who comes out on top 😉

 

[Bradley]

On Spurs, I heard somewhere the other day they have finished above us in something like 5 of the last 7 seasons.

Maybe they have a right to feel pissed that we are, on current form considered a bigger team

 

[Mystic]

It really is quite surprising to see the amount of bile and hatred directed towards LFC on the Spurs forum. More so than that which is directed at West Ham - who are their local rivals and at their real level. What have we ever done to them, except be better by almost every possible metric?

For that reason alone, Spurs take third place behind Everton and Manchester United in the premier fucking cunts league. I hope we fucking smash them.

They're like Arsenal fans who don't support a good team.

 

[dantes]

Dantes vs. Klopp.

it'll be interesting to see who comes out on top 😉

Its Spurs who will come out on top. Rodgers is a used car salesman. But Klopp is just a more eccentric and pushy used car salesman. Either way you're getting a used car for your money. Doubters into believers? Really? I get how he nailed the job interview and the press conference with his charm, but whilst he is spewing that vacuous bullshit to our squad, I fear that Spurs are just quietly getting on with their work, come matchday they'll bend him over, and dish out the usual punishment.

 

[Frogfish]

Its Spurs who will come out on top. Rodgers is a used car salesman. But Klopp is just a more eccentric and pushy used car salesman. Either way you're getting a used car for your money. Doubters into believers? Really? I get how he nailed the job interview and the press conference with his charm, but whilst he is spewing that vacuous bullshit to our squad, I fear that Spurs are just quietly getting on with their work, come matchday they'll bend him over, and dish out the usual punishment.

Does that mean counter-attacking football?

The perception at the moment is that it's about the transitions and that the counter-attack is hugely important in football. But if you look at the Champions League, in 2005/06 the number of goals scored in open play from counter-attacks was 40 per cent. That's dropped to 21 per cent last season.
So actually, the counter-attack has become less and less important and the reason for that is gegenpressing.

What is gegenpressing?

It's about countering the counter. That's what Klopp is so good at; that's what he was a pioneer of. What that means is that wherever you lose the ball, you immediately rush to win it back. The idea is that the player who has won the ball has just expended energy which makes him vulnerable, he's probably off balance which makes him vulnerable and he probably doesn't have a clear idea of where other players are on the pitch and that makes him vulnerable. So what we'll see is players hounding the man with the ball. However, if you don't win the ball back straight away, what happens is that those players drop back into a very traditional shape.

 

[Mystic]

If two gegenpressing teams play each other, does it just turn into a frenzy of players repeatedly winning the ball back?

 

[Hyena]

If two gegenpressing teams play each other, does it just turn into a frenzy of players repeatedly winning the ball back?

Isn't this what almost all football is, at its base level?

 

[ILD]

It looks nice, but you're taking an unnecessary risk to win the ball in their half, when you could win it in our half without wasting energy.

You are closer to a goal scoring opportunity if you win the ball back higher up the pitch. Rafa liked to deploy this tactic also.

If we simply wait til they get into our half aren't we in danger of sitting back and allowing them create chances which might lead to goals? A team as a whole will also waste energy shifting across the pitch getting into position waiting to win the ball back?

Finding a nice balance of gegenpressin (first time using that term) and counter attacking would be nice.

 

[dantes]

Does that mean counter-attacking football?

The perception at the moment is that it's about the transitions and that the counter-attack is hugely important in football. But if you look at the Champions League, in 2005/06 the number of goals scored in open play from counter-attacks was 40 per cent. That's dropped to 21 per cent last season.
So actually, the counter-attack has become less and less important and the reason for that is gegenpressing.

What is gegenpressing?

It's about countering the counter. That's what Klopp is so good at; that's what he was a pioneer of. What that means is that wherever you lose the ball, you immediately rush to win it back. The idea is that the player who has won the ball has just expended energy which makes him vulnerable, he's probably off balance which makes him vulnerable and he probably doesn't have a clear idea of where other players are on the pitch and that makes him vulnerable. So what we'll see is players hounding the man with the ball. However, if you don't win the ball back straight away, what happens is that those players drop back into a very traditional shape.

Works in two dimensions. In three dimensions, there is absolutely nothing stopping the pressed player hitting the pass over your head or even at waste level. Then you're fucked.

 

[Frogfish]

Works in two dimensions. In three dimensions, there is absolutely nothing stopping the pressed player hitting the pass over your head or even at waste level. Then you're fucked.

Don't tell me, tell Klopp. He's the one who used this 'doomed to failure' system to win 2 x BL titles and take an unheralded team to the CL final. LOL.

 

[juniormember]

It looks nice, but you're taking an unnecessary risk to win the ball in their half, when you could win it in our half without wasting energy.

All it takes is one player (Sturridge) to not know which pass to cut out, so the player getting pressed will shrug and pass it, then its the other team attacking with half our team out of position.

The whole point is that other players are there to cut off the passing angles.
It's a risk with high reward.
Sitting back in your own half is another way to do it, but that's also high risk, as Mourinho's season and Hodgeson's career has shown.

 

[tomasjj]

The whole point is that other players are there to cut off the passing angles.
It's a risk with high reward.
Sitting back in your own half is another way to do it, but that's also high risk, as Mourinho's season and Hodgeson's career has shown.

A lot of the reason it didn't work so well under Rodgers most of the time was that our team was stretched.
Inaccurate pressing then allowed the opposition off the hook as they were able to find holes and play their way up field.
Much of this was due to the daft, deep defensive line we deployed.
Instead we should have played a higher line and thus compressed space between our lines. The risk is then lower.

 

[dantes]

The whole point is that other players are there to cut off the passing angles.
It's a risk with high reward.
Sitting back in your own half is another way to do it, but that's also high risk, as Mourinho's season and Hodgeson's career has shown.

Let's not mention Hodgson. But Mourinho, Benitez and even Houllier preserved energy so that it was available in May to win trophies. Klopp will have us killed by February because unlike the German athletes he worked with, here he has Lucas, Allen, Lallana and so forth. They have three cup competitions to play in. Won't get a break over winter. And they're probably all on the booze or inhaling laughing gas. His emotional full throttle football is the equivalent of sprinting at the start of a marathon.

 

[Mystic]

People keep mentioning Lallana's lack of fitness, but isn't he one of the players who covers the most ground? He's tailor made for Klopps system (from a team pressing stand point).

 

[Modo]

People keep mentioning Lallana's lack of fitness, but isn't he one of the players who covers the most ground? He's tailor made for Klopps system (from a team pressing stand point).

But slow as fuck.

 

[Mystic]

But slow as fuck.

Hyperbole much.

 

[Modo]

Hyperbole much.

I went back and read what I used to write about Lallana. Wow, talk about being a dick.
People here excited about us signing him and me coming in and basically shitting all over him and his parade.


We've never really seen eye to eye about Lallana or PS4 vs XBOX and that's OK, Mystic.
But when I say that Lallana is slow, I'm not only referring to his speed or pace, I'm also talking about his decision making.
Lallana is a workhorse, I think we all can agree on that but I don't think it's enough to win Klopp over.
He slows us down imo.

It will be interesting to see Klopp's take.

 

[Athens]

I bet Lallana can kick a ball faster than Usain Bolt can run.

 

[Lippy]

Potentially hit the dizzy heights of 9th if we win. 4th if other results go our way.

Last 5 games doesn't look so good

Liverpool - LLDWD
Spurs - DWWWD

But we've just got a new game changer 🙂

Yeh but it all fairness they didn't have to play the mighty Carlisle

 

[Comical Aly]

Look who made it into their match thread

 

[Mystic]

I went back and read what I used to write about Lallana. Wow, talk about being a dick.
People here excited about us signing him and me coming in and basically shitting all over him and his parade.


We've never really seen eye to eye about Lallana or PS4 vs XBOX and that's OK, Mystic.
But when I say that Lallana is slow, I'm not only referring to his speed or pace, I'm also talking about his decision making.
Lallana is a workhorse, I think we all can agree on that but I don't think it's enough to win Klopp over.
He slows us down imo.

It will be interesting to see Klopp's take.

Well I'm no Lallana fan boy, but yes, that's a different story entirely. I agree that he can take far too many touches which slows us down as a whole, which can be incredibly frustrating, but athletically he's got decent speed, similar to Coutinho. Do we think it's too much of a stretch that Klopp could coach him to be more direct, and release the ball earlier? Because if he could, he'd potentially be a great fit for Klopp.

 

[ILD]

Look who made it into their match thread

Hey, they can fuck off taking the piss out of our Graham.

I hope Klopp pins that up in the dressing room on Saturday. Let's win this for Graham eh lads.

 

[cloggypop]

If they have Graham emojis I might have to sign up.