The new format of the Champions League produced a league phase full of fluctuations. If there was one constant as fortunes rose and fell with each passing matchday, however, it was the form of Liverpool. In their first European campaign under Arne Slot, the Reds did not let up, winning each of their first seven fixtures to ensure early qualification for the last 16 – and top spot in the 36-team table.
For Slot himself, the milestone of becoming the first Liverpool manager to win his first seven matches in the competition highlighted his remarkably smooth succession since replacing Jürgen Klopp. At Liverpool’s Kirkby training centre, there is an appreciation of the Dutchman’s strong tactical detail as well as his collaborative approach and communication skills – and it was those tactics that went under the microscope of the UEFA performance analysis unit on the night of the Reds’ biggest statement of the league phase: their 2-0 home victory against defending champions Real Madrid in November.
Two aspects emerged as particularly significant, starting with the excellence of Liverpool’s midfield. Ryan Gravenberch’s development into the linchpin of the Liverpool engine room has been one of Slot’s early successes at Anfield, and against Madrid he shone alongside Alexis Mac Allister and Curtis Jones. The other aspect was the half-time tweak by Slot which really brought the best out of that trio. It has become a recurring theme under Slot, with Liverpool benefiting regularly from adjustments at the break – and we will return to this later.
For this match, a former coach of both clubs – Rafa Benítez – was present at Anfield to analyse the action for UEFA, and the first point in his report concerned the above-mentioned midfielders. “The passing, movement and runs in behind of Liverpool’s midfielders were key to beating Madrid,” said the Spaniard, who was managing Liverpool when they had last defeated Los Blancos in 2009. “The main differences were their runs in behind, the penetrating passes and the positions they took behind the Real Madrid midfielders,” he added.
Of the Liverpool midfielders, it was Mac Allister who took the Player of the Match prize against Madrid. He scored a terrific opening goal and also showcased his passing ability, not least when he angled a brilliantly guided ball onto the head of Conor Bradley, leading to the young full-back having a chance following his incisive run in behind. Benítez identified another feature of his game, saying: “He was great at finding spaces with his movement and also with his penetrating passes, particularly in the second half.”
It is telling that Benítez stressed “the second half” as this leads us back to how Slot adjusted their set-up. A notable characteristic of Slot’s Liverpool has been their patience in games, and it is no coincidence that he told his players during the interval that night to “let the gaps open up instead of forcing them”.
His own midfield tweak undeniably helped, however. What he did was change from a 1+2 in midfield – with Gravenberch the one holding midfielder and Mac Allister and Jones further ahead – to a 2+1 with the home-grown youngster playing in front of both Gravenberch and Mac Allister.
In their initial set-up, Gravenberch had sat deeper than his two team-mates, and Madrid responded by looking to block the passing lanes around him, with the screening of false nine Brahim Díaz as well as Luka Modrić and Eduardo Camavinga controlling the midfield area zonally.
The new format of the Champions League produced a league phase full of fluctuations. If there was one constant as fortunes rose and fell with each passing matchday, however, it was the form of Liverpool. In their first European campaign under Arne Slot, the Reds did not let up, winning each of their first seven fixtures to ensure early qualification for the last 16 – and top spot in the 36-team table.
For Slot himself, the milestone of becoming the first Liverpool manager to win his first seven matches in the competition highlighted his remarkably smooth succession since replacing Jürgen Klopp. At Liverpool’s Kirkby training centre, there is an appreciation of the Dutchman’s strong tactical detail as well as his collaborative approach and communication skills – and it was those tactics that went under the microscope of the UEFA performance analysis unit on the night of the Reds’ biggest statement of the league phase: their 2-0 home victory against defending champions Real Madrid in November.
Two aspects emerged as particularly significant, starting with the excellence of Liverpool’s midfield. Ryan Gravenberch’s development into the linchpin of the Liverpool engine room has been one of Slot’s early successes at Anfield, and against Madrid he shone alongside Alexis Mac Allister and Curtis Jones. The other aspect was the half-time tweak by Slot which really brought the best out of that trio. It has become a recurring theme under Slot, with Liverpool benefiting regularly from adjustments at the break – and we will return to this later.
For this match, a former coach of both clubs – Rafa Benítez – was present at Anfield to analyse the action for UEFA, and the first point in his report concerned the above-mentioned midfielders. “The passing, movement and runs in behind of Liverpool’s midfielders were key to beating Madrid,” said the Spaniard, who was managing Liverpool when they had last defeated Los Blancos in 2009. “The main differences were their runs in behind, the penetrating passes and the positions they took behind the Real Madrid midfielders,” he added.
Of the Liverpool midfielders, it was Mac Allister who took the Player of the Match prize against Madrid. He scored a terrific opening goal and also showcased his passing ability, not least when he angled a brilliantly guided ball onto the head of Conor Bradley, leading to the young full-back having a chance following his incisive run in behind. Benítez identified another feature of his game, saying: “He was great at finding spaces with his movement and also with his penetrating passes, particularly in the second half.”
It is telling that Benítez stressed “the second half” as this leads us back to how Slot adjusted their set-up. A notable characteristic of Slot’s Liverpool has been their patience in games, and it is no coincidence that he told his players during the interval that night to “let the gaps open up instead of forcing them”.
His own midfield tweak undeniably helped, however. What he did was change from a 1+2 in midfield – with Gravenberch the one holding midfielder and Mac Allister and Jones further ahead – to a 2+1 with the home-grown youngster playing in front of both Gravenberch and Mac Allister.
In their initial set-up, Gravenberch had sat deeper than his two team-mates, and Madrid responded by looking to block the passing lanes around him, with the screening of false nine Brahim Díaz as well as Luka Modrić and Eduardo Camavinga controlling the midfield area zonally.
In the second half, the aim was to invite
the Madrid midfielders onto Gravenberch and
Mac Allister and thereby open up more space for Jones and the forwards ahead of him. As a result of the 2+1 in midfield, Liverpool were able to get their attacking players into space more often. One metric to measure that was the number of ball receptions between the lines by the home team: from 22 in the first half, that rose to 31 after the break.
To highlight the benefit to Jones in particular, he ended the game as the Liverpool midfielder with the most line-breaking passes against the holders (19), having – not coincidentally – enjoyed the most space in which to play.
Overall, he received 15% of his passes when in a space of ten metres or more, reflecting the greater freedom he had in the second period as well as his ability to find space to receive the ball between the lines. “He took up good positions and made runs in behind,” said Benítez. It’s worth noting too that Jones has not been the only player to flourish in that advanced midfield role, with Dominik Szoboszlai also excelling there this term.
To make a broader point about Slot’s adjustment of his midfielders’ positioning at half-time, this chimes with a general trend in elite football today. As other UEFA technical observers have remarked this season, teams are increasingly flexible in their approach, given the possibility for coaches to make up to five changes during a game. In the view of Roberto Martínez, a coach “can give a good structure to the team and from there be very open-minded on the different tactical approaches”.
According to Gareth Southgate, “the relatively recent change in the rules to allow five changes – and a sixth in extra time – has meant there’s greater scope than ever to effect change on a game, whether that’s a tactical adjustment, a different profile of player, or the chance to refresh the energy of the team.”
All that said, one consistently crucial presence for Liverpool this season has been Gravenberch in that holding-midfield role. As mentioned above, the 22-year-old’s emergence as a key cog has been an important aspect of the team’s evolution under Slot. It says much about his elevated standing that he was one of only three players – along with Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah – to start the Reds’ first seven matches of the league phase, prior to Slot sending a much-changed side to PSV Eindhoven on Matchday 8.
To return to the victory against Madrid, Gravenberch stood out for his composure and passing ability as well as his positioning, which, according to Benítez, made it “difficult for Real Madrid to control [him]”. Slot also singled out his compatriot that night, saying: “It’s always useful to have players that are so comfortable and dominant on the ball and he brings, together with our last line, the ball towards the players that can hurt any opponent. That’s what makes him special, together with his running capacity. He just keeps on running.” Rather like the Red machine itself, you might say.
The new format of the Champions League produced a league phase full of fluctuations. If there was one constant as fortunes rose and fell with each passing matchday, however, it was the form of Liverpool. In their first European campaign under Arne Slot, the Reds did not let up, winning each of their first seven fixtures to ensure early qualification for the last 16 – and top spot in the 36-team table.
For Slot himself, the milestone of becoming the first Liverpool manager to win his first seven matches in the competition highlighted his remarkably smooth succession since replacing Jürgen Klopp. At Liverpool’s Kirkby training centre, there is an appreciation of the Dutchman’s strong tactical detail as well as his collaborative approach and communication skills – and it was those tactics that went under the microscope of the UEFA performance analysis unit on the night of the Reds’ biggest statement of the league phase: their 2-0 home victory against defending champions Real Madrid in November.
Two aspects emerged as particularly significant, starting with the excellence of Liverpool’s midfield. Ryan Gravenberch’s development into the linchpin of the Liverpool engine room has been one of Slot’s early successes at Anfield, and against Madrid he shone alongside Alexis Mac Allister and Curtis Jones. The other aspect was the half-time tweak by Slot which really brought the best out of that trio. It has become a recurring theme under Slot, with Liverpool benefiting regularly from adjustments at the break – and we will return to this later.
For this match, a former coach of both clubs – Rafa Benítez – was present at Anfield to analyse the action for UEFA, and the first point in his report concerned the above-mentioned midfielders. “The passing, movement and runs in behind of Liverpool’s midfielders were key to beating Madrid,” said the Spaniard, who was managing Liverpool when they had last defeated Los Blancos in 2009. “The main differences were their runs in behind, the penetrating passes and the positions they took behind the Real Madrid midfielders,” he added.
Of the Liverpool midfielders, it was Mac Allister who took the Player of the Match prize against Madrid. He scored a terrific opening goal and also showcased his passing ability, not least when he angled a brilliantly guided ball onto the head of Conor Bradley, leading to the young full-back having a chance following his incisive run in behind. Benítez identified another feature of his game, saying: “He was great at finding spaces with his movement and also with his penetrating passes, particularly in the second half.”
It is telling that Benítez stressed “the second half” as this leads us back to how Slot adjusted their set-up. A notable characteristic of Slot’s Liverpool has been their patience in games, and it is no coincidence that he told his players during the interval that night to “let the gaps open up instead of forcing them”.
His own midfield tweak undeniably helped, however. What he did was change from a 1+2 in midfield – with Gravenberch the one holding midfielder and Mac Allister and Jones further ahead – to a 2+1 with the home-grown youngster playing in front of both Gravenberch and Mac Allister.
In their initial set-up, Gravenberch had sat deeper than his two team-mates, and Madrid responded by looking to block the passing lanes around him, with the screening of false nine Brahim Díaz as well as Luka Modrić and Eduardo Camavinga controlling the midfield area zonally.
The new format of the Champions League produced a league phase full of fluctuations. If there was one constant as fortunes rose and fell with each passing matchday, however, it was the form of Liverpool. In their first European campaign under Arne Slot, the Reds did not let up, winning each of their first seven fixtures to ensure early qualification for the last 16 – and top spot in the 36-team table.
For Slot himself, the milestone of becoming the first Liverpool manager to win his first seven matches in the competition highlighted his remarkably smooth succession since replacing Jürgen Klopp. At Liverpool’s Kirkby training centre, there is an appreciation of the Dutchman’s strong tactical detail as well as his collaborative approach and communication skills – and it was those tactics that went under the microscope of the UEFA performance analysis unit on the night of the Reds’ biggest statement of the league phase: their 2-0 home victory against defending champions Real Madrid in November.
Two aspects emerged as particularly significant, starting with the excellence of Liverpool’s midfield. Ryan Gravenberch’s development into the linchpin of the Liverpool engine room has been one of Slot’s early successes at Anfield, and against Madrid he shone alongside Alexis Mac Allister and Curtis Jones. The other aspect was the half-time tweak by Slot which really brought the best out of that trio. It has become a recurring theme under Slot, with Liverpool benefiting regularly from adjustments at the break – and we will return to this later.
For this match, a former coach of both clubs – Rafa Benítez – was present at Anfield to analyse the action for UEFA, and the first point in his report concerned the above-mentioned midfielders. “The passing, movement and runs in behind of Liverpool’s midfielders were key to beating Madrid,” said the Spaniard, who was managing Liverpool when they had last defeated Los Blancos in 2009. “The main differences were their runs in behind, the penetrating passes and the positions they took behind the Real Madrid midfielders,” he added.
Of the Liverpool midfielders, it was Mac Allister who took the Player of the Match prize against Madrid. He scored a terrific opening goal and also showcased his passing ability, not least when he angled a brilliantly guided ball onto the head of Conor Bradley, leading to the young full-back having a chance following his incisive run in behind. Benítez identified another feature of his game, saying: “He was great at finding spaces with his movement and also with his penetrating passes, particularly in the second half.”
It is telling that Benítez stressed “the second half” as this leads us back to how Slot adjusted their set-up. A notable characteristic of Slot’s Liverpool has been their patience in games, and it is no coincidence that he told his players during the interval that night to “let the gaps open up instead of forcing them”.
His own midfield tweak undeniably helped, however. What he did was change from a 1+2 in midfield – with Gravenberch the one holding midfielder and Mac Allister and Jones further ahead – to a 2+1 with the home-grown youngster playing in front of both Gravenberch and Mac Allister.
In their initial set-up, Gravenberch had sat deeper than his two team-mates, and Madrid responded by looking to block the passing lanes around him, with the screening of false nine Brahim Díaz as well as Luka Modrić and Eduardo Camavinga controlling the midfield area zonally.
The new format of the Champions League produced a league phase full of fluctuations. If there was one constant as fortunes rose and fell with each passing matchday, however, it was the form of Liverpool. In their first European campaign under Arne Slot, the Reds did not let up, winning each of their first seven fixtures to ensure early qualification for the last 16 – and top spot in the 36-team table.
For Slot himself, the milestone of becoming the first Liverpool manager to win his first seven matches in the competition highlighted his remarkably smooth succession since replacing Jürgen Klopp. At Liverpool’s Kirkby training centre, there is an appreciation of the Dutchman’s strong tactical detail as well as his collaborative approach and communication skills – and it was those tactics that went under the microscope of the UEFA performance analysis unit on the night of the Reds’ biggest statement of the league phase: their 2-0 home victory against defending champions Real Madrid in November.
Two aspects emerged as particularly significant, starting with the excellence of Liverpool’s midfield. Ryan Gravenberch’s development into the linchpin of the Liverpool engine room has been one of Slot’s early successes at Anfield, and against Madrid he shone alongside Alexis Mac Allister and Curtis Jones. The other aspect was the half-time tweak by Slot which really brought the best out of that trio. It has become a recurring theme under Slot, with Liverpool benefiting regularly from adjustments at the break – and we will return to this later.
For this match, a former coach of both clubs – Rafa Benítez – was present at Anfield to analyse the action for UEFA, and the first point in his report concerned the above-mentioned midfielders. “The passing, movement and runs in behind of Liverpool’s midfielders were key to beating Madrid,” said the Spaniard, who was managing Liverpool when they had last defeated Los Blancos in 2009. “The main differences were their runs in behind, the penetrating passes and the positions they took behind the Real Madrid midfielders,” he added.
Of the Liverpool midfielders, it was Mac Allister who took the Player of the Match prize against Madrid. He scored a terrific opening goal and also showcased his passing ability, not least when he angled a brilliantly guided ball onto the head of Conor Bradley, leading to the young full-back having a chance following his incisive run in behind. Benítez identified another feature of his game, saying: “He was great at finding spaces with his movement and also with his penetrating passes, particularly in the second half.”
It is telling that Benítez stressed “the second half” as this leads us back to how Slot adjusted their set-up. A notable characteristic of Slot’s Liverpool has been their patience in games, and it is no coincidence that he told his players during the interval that night to “let the gaps open up instead of forcing them”.
His own midfield tweak undeniably helped, however. What he did was change from a 1+2 in midfield – with Gravenberch the one holding midfielder and Mac Allister and Jones further ahead – to a 2+1 with the home-grown youngster playing in front of both Gravenberch and Mac Allister.
In their initial set-up, Gravenberch had sat deeper than his two team-mates, and Madrid responded by looking to block the passing lanes around him, with the screening of false nine Brahim Díaz as well as Luka Modrić and Eduardo Camavinga controlling the midfield area zonally.
In the second half, the aim was to invite
the Madrid midfielders onto Gravenberch and
Mac Allister and thereby open up more space for Jones and the forwards ahead of him. As a result of the 2+1 in midfield, Liverpool were able to get their attacking players into space more often. One metric to measure that was the number of ball receptions between the lines by the home team: from 22 in the first half, that rose to 31 after the break.
To highlight the benefit to Jones in particular, he ended the game as the Liverpool midfielder with the most line-breaking passes against the holders (19), having – not coincidentally – enjoyed the most space in which to play.
Overall, he received 15% of his passes when in a space of ten metres or more, reflecting the greater freedom he had in the second period as well as his ability to find space to receive the ball between the lines. “He took up good positions and made runs in behind,” said Benítez. It’s worth noting too that Jones has not been the only player to flourish in that advanced midfield role, with Dominik Szoboszlai also excelling there this term.
To make a broader point about Slot’s adjustment of his midfielders’ positioning at half-time, this chimes with a general trend in elite football today. As other UEFA technical observers have remarked this season, teams are increasingly flexible in their approach, given the possibility for coaches to make up to five changes during a game. In the view of Roberto Martínez, a coach “can give a good structure to the team and from there be very open-minded on the different tactical approaches”.
According to Gareth Southgate, “the relatively recent change in the rules to allow five changes – and a sixth in extra time – has meant there’s greater scope than ever to effect change on a game, whether that’s a tactical adjustment, a different profile of player, or the chance to refresh the energy of the team.”
All that said, one consistently crucial presence for Liverpool this season has been Gravenberch in that holding-midfield role. As mentioned above, the 22-year-old’s emergence as a key cog has been an important aspect of the team’s evolution under Slot. It says much about his elevated standing that he was one of only three players – along with Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah – to start the Reds’ first seven matches of the league phase, prior to Slot sending a much-changed side to PSV Eindhoven on Matchday 8.
To return to the victory against Madrid, Gravenberch stood out for his composure and passing ability as well as his positioning, which, according to Benítez, made it “difficult for Real Madrid to control [him]”. Slot also singled out his compatriot that night, saying: “It’s always useful to have players that are so comfortable and dominant on the ball and he brings, together with our last line, the ball towards the players that can hurt any opponent. That’s what makes him special, together with his running capacity. He just keeps on running.” Rather like the Red machine itself, you might say.
The new format of the Champions League produced a league phase full of fluctuations. If there was one constant as fortunes rose and fell with each passing matchday, however, it was the form of Liverpool. In their first European campaign under Arne Slot, the Reds did not let up, winning each of their first seven fixtures to ensure early qualification for the last 16 – and top spot in the 36-team table.
For Slot himself, the milestone of becoming the first Liverpool manager to win his first seven matches in the competition highlighted his remarkably smooth succession since replacing Jürgen Klopp. At Liverpool’s Kirkby training centre, there is an appreciation of the Dutchman’s strong tactical detail as well as his collaborative approach and communication skills – and it was those tactics that went under the microscope of the UEFA performance analysis unit on the night of the Reds’ biggest statement of the league phase: their 2-0 home victory against defending champions Real Madrid in November.
Two aspects emerged as particularly significant, starting with the excellence of Liverpool’s midfield. Ryan Gravenberch’s development into the linchpin of the Liverpool engine room has been one of Slot’s early successes at Anfield, and against Madrid he shone alongside Alexis Mac Allister and Curtis Jones. The other aspect was the half-time tweak by Slot which really brought the best out of that trio. It has become a recurring theme under Slot, with Liverpool benefiting regularly from adjustments at the break – and we will return to this later.
For this match, a former coach of both clubs – Rafa Benítez – was present at Anfield to analyse the action for UEFA, and the first point in his report concerned the above-mentioned midfielders. “The passing, movement and runs in behind of Liverpool’s midfielders were key to beating Madrid,” said the Spaniard, who was managing Liverpool when they had last defeated Los Blancos in 2009. “The main differences were their runs in behind, the penetrating passes and the positions they took behind the Real Madrid midfielders,” he added.
Of the Liverpool midfielders, it was Mac Allister who took the Player of the Match prize against Madrid. He scored a terrific opening goal and also showcased his passing ability, not least when he angled a brilliantly guided ball onto the head of Conor Bradley, leading to the young full-back having a chance following his incisive run in behind. Benítez identified another feature of his game, saying: “He was great at finding spaces with his movement and also with his penetrating passes, particularly in the second half.”
It is telling that Benítez stressed “the second half” as this leads us back to how Slot adjusted their set-up. A notable characteristic of Slot’s Liverpool has been their patience in games, and it is no coincidence that he told his players during the interval that night to “let the gaps open up instead of forcing them”.
His own midfield tweak undeniably helped, however. What he did was change from a 1+2 in midfield – with Gravenberch the one holding midfielder and Mac Allister and Jones further ahead – to a 2+1 with the home-grown youngster playing in front of both Gravenberch and Mac Allister.
In their initial set-up, Gravenberch had sat deeper than his two team-mates, and Madrid responded by looking to block the passing lanes around him, with the screening of false nine Brahim Díaz as well as Luka Modrić and Eduardo Camavinga controlling the midfield area zonally.
