Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has opened up on the tactical switch he adopted in Wednesday's 3-0 win over Ajax ahead of Saturday's clash with Leeds United. Klopp has had to be flexible with his formations this season due to a combination of poor results and key injuries.
After the weekend failure at Nottingham Forest, Klopp opted to move from a 4-2-2-2 system, to that of a narrow diamond at the Amsterdam ArenA. That saw Fabinho lining up just in front of the defence, with Jordan Henderson and Harvey Elliott as number eights and Roberto Firmino just off a front two of Mo Salah and Darwin Nunez.
This allowed both Trent Alexander Arnold and Andy Robertson the space to attack freely down the flanks, which paid dividends as the latter produced a nice assist for Nunez. Given Jesse Marsch's preference to play his wingers in field, this could cause Leeds big trouble when they head to Anfield on Saturday, as Liverpool's attacking full backs have been staples of their success in seasons gone by.
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Speaking after Wednesday night's win, Klopp opened up on the reasons why he opted to make the tactical switch.
Via Liverpool Echo, he said: “We could have lined up with that formation in a 4-3-3 but we decided to go more for a diamond. The difference is not that big in possession but it keeps the strikers a bit more inside so we had no clear wingers and it opens up for the full-backs.
"You have to be really brave in the No.8 positions and the full-backs positions. The problem is you arrive in the challenge where you want to block the full-back and at that moment they pass to Tadic or Brobbey and there we couldn’t stop them. They were physically really there.
"We had that problem in the home game with Tadic where the ref whistled five or six offensive fouls, but didn’t give them today. The other problem is the man-marking system of Ajax is uncomfortable and we should have turned in a lot of moments in midfield and realise we are not constantly under pressure."
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