How Liverpool beat Man Utd: Arne Slot's tactical explanations examined
Liverpool manager Arne Slot provided a detailed explanation of how his team dismantled Manchester United in their 3-0 victory on Sunday.
The guests had a great win against their biggest rivals at Old Trafford, thanks to goals from Luis Diaz and Mohamed Salah.
Later on, Slot detailed to Sky Sports how they achieved their success. Now, let's break down his explanation...
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It was a characteristic under Jurgen Klopp and it will be a characteristic under Slot. No matter who they are playing against, no matter where the game is taking place, Liverpool will aim to apply pressure high up the pitch and regain possession as close to their opponents' goal as possible.
"We always aim to push up the field aggressively. That's what Jurgen Klopp did. That's what we strive to maintain," Slot explained. "We were able to score a couple of goals by pressing high - one of which was unfortunately disallowed."
Certainly, each of Liverpool's three goals and Trent Alexander-Arnold's disallowed goal were a result of turnovers, with Liverpool gaining possession in the opposing team's final third seven times, whereas Manchester United only managed to do so three times.
In the first three rounds of Premier League games, Liverpool has created more pressure in the opponent's final third than any other team.
Slot is leading us with an aggressive offensive strategy in football.
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"Revealing Man Utd's High Full-Backs"
Roy Keane expressed his disapproval of Man Utd's full-backs advancing too much, while Slot predicted that Liverpool would take advantage of the space left by United's full-backs.
"The defenders on the sides often push up really far, and then Casemiro drops between the center backs," Slot described. "If you receive the ball and leave Luis Diaz and Mo Salah up high, you're always in a one-on-one situation."
Diaz has been very dynamic on the field this season, attempting four more dribbles compared to his five against Ipswich and three against Brentford. On the other hand, Salah showed great enthusiasm while taking on one-on-one chances at Old Trafford, managing to double his attempted dribbles from the previous two games to four in this match.
Fight And Hustle In The Midfield
In order to create turnovers, Liverpool required a lot of energy and intensity in the midfield. They found it in players like Ryan Gravenberch, Dominik Szoboszlai, and Alexis Mac Allister, all of whom covered over 11 kilometers during the match. Szoboszlai stood out with the highest sprint stats.
That group, guided by Szoboszlai, were also top performers in the possession-winning statistics.
"We needed midfielders who could run, and today we had three of them who never stopped running. They were aggressive in duels and that was a key factor in our victory," Slot stated. "Their determination played a significant role in today's win."
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Chasing Back To Move Forward
The midfield received assistance from forwards who were willing to track back. When questioned about the risk of keeping Diaz and Salah positioned high up the field, Slot replied: "It's only risky if the opposition plays through or over us... but if Diaz and Salah quickly sprint back to defend, then it's not a risk."
"Today we witnessed many instances where our entire team, with a special focus on our strikers, displayed strong defensive efforts by tracking back. This level of intensity is crucial in order to secure victories in games. If we fail to do so, our defenders are left outnumbered, which is not ideal when facing talented players like those from Manchester United."
Diaz and Salah both made successful tackles and interceptions, with Salah also getting a clearance. Substitutes Cody Gakpo and Darwin Nunez followed suit by also making tackles and clearances.
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A small adjustment with the ball? In the previous two matches, Dominik Szoboszlai was positioned on the right side, but today we switched him to the left side, stated Slot.
It was clear in Szoboszlai's heat map that there was a change in his performance - he led in creating chances, making three opportunities from open play.
During the game, United were not very careful with the ball. Slot told his team to step up their game during halftime to avoid making those expensive errors.
Talking about his team talk during half-time, Slot mentioned: "We discussed three instances where errors caused chances for the opposing team, such as when Lucho [Diaz] failed to track back properly leading to a chance for Noussair Mazraoui, and when Trent [Alexander-Arnold] made a careless pass to Alisson."
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Those instances have the power to alter the course of the game at Old Trafford, so it is essential to maintain full attention and concentration throughout if you hope to come out victorious.
By combining quality play, strategic tactics from Slot, errors made by Man Utd, and the high standards set by Slot, Liverpool managed to secure an important victory. Fans are optimistic that this win could be the starting point for a successful season ahead.
