There will be an 8-10 minute period in the final where we are all over them and chaos reigns. We need to execute during that spell. Real will have the same. During that onslaught, I hope VVD can pick a pass to break it.
Agree completely. They key to breaking any spell of pressure from Real is going to be pressing Kroos back towards the midfield line. If he is sitting 10-15 yards outside the box we are going to have a much tougher time breaking out. VVD and Lovren will have to be excellent passing off the front 3 who play pretty tight but they can’t do it perfectly all night and if Kroos has time and space to pick them out it will be death. That said our best chances are going to come when Marcelo and Carvajal are high up. Not that we want to encourage it but picking moments to aggressively press their midfield when they are high up is where we will have a chance to pick them off. I trust Klopp to get the tactics right but the moment is going to be huge and this Real team has weathered every storm. If we are leading by less than 3 goals the last 15 minutes are going to be the longest 15 minutes of our lives.
Seems like we always give up pretty open shots from right outside the box because our midfield isn’t particularly quick. Not a problem against most teams but Real have like 8 players on the pitch that at any time can score those. Going to have to get a little lucky with those next week
Madrid played a 4-1-3-2 today with Bale and CR upfront and Isco Modric and Kroos in front of Casemiro.
It’s canal+ and they’re reliable. Pretty much everyone in France that’s reliable are saying it’s happening.
Still can't believe we were close to offloading Hendo for Dempsey. Dude gets lots of shit with it sometimes being deserved, but he's for sure one of my favorites.
Nothing in transfer rumors is certain until theirs a video from the club but definitely seems like it’s happening
We haven't gotten the "Liverpool Fear *insert team* Will Gazump Move for Lyon Star Fekir" articles yet.
It is pretty wild how much angst there is around so many of United's attackers with Martial, Rashford, and Jose is taking shots at Lukaku now. It would be great if we could sign a Rashford type who could play both as a striker and on the wing. Not sure what to make of this:
That’s why I feel somewhat confident. Fekir and the team have all but said he’s leaving, Liverpool is the only team being linked with him. I imagine that one gets done.
It's Real. They're incapable of sitting back. That said, Zidane has shown enough tactical acumen to make the right changes. Real are at their best with the fullbacks high up the field which plays right in to what Klopp want's to do. My guess is we'll see the midfield press quickly as much to slow the counter as to try to win the ball back with the idea that forcing Liverpool to make the extra passes gives Marcelo/Carvajal/wingers the time needed to get back in position and cover the flanks.
Its going to be an interesting chess match because that is what Roma did (granted they were playing 3 at the back) and they dominated Liverpool for the first 15-20 mins of the game at Anfield. We just couldn't retain possession at all. Then Klopp changed what we were doing and the center backs started going long to our front 3 bypassing the entire midfield and the forward line ran wild.
Granted we haven't played a side with as much quality as you guys (except for City), but the way you play really isn't a good recipe for a team like us. I love Marcello but it would be suicidal to have your full backs pushed up very high. I don't think you've played a team like us all season with the closest probably being Spurs. If you get the 1st goal and decide to sit back, I really don't like our chances. If we get the 1st goal, we usually kick on and get multiple in a short span so I think thats where the tie is won.
When he came in we were in dire straights (Hicks/Gillette take over & almost went into administration). He did a good job of steadying the ship commercially. Things never went well re: transfers except for the Firmino transfer.
I'd say he was forced out but not publicly. After leaving Liverpool he went to a 2nd or 3rd tier side in Berlin. Guessing that didn't work out well if he's headed to MLS. The guy we brought in (Peter Moore) was a head at EA sports and is from Liverpool and has been a massive upgrade over Ian.
And that's the fear. Real may have the best midfield in the world and Luka works his ass off but they're never going to be confused for a speedy or "high energy" group, which makes the pressing a gamble. Some fans have recently gotten on Kroos for what seems to be a lack of effort pressing and getting back defensively (even going so far as calling for him to be benched in favor of Kovacic, which is asinine) but that's just not who he is. Casemiro has often looked out of sorts the last couple of months too. He's never been strong on the ball, an issue that Klopp will assuredly try and exploit at times with a high press of his own, but recently he's missed key tackles and been beaten while pinching up which led to jailbreak counters against Juve and Bayern. Modric and Kroos simply aren't athletic enough to make up for his mistakes so he's got to play intelligently while the wings pick their spots.
Probably a fair assessment, and they struggled with Spurs (though they struggled with everyone during that poor run). PSG, Juve and to a lesser extent Bayern tried to exploit the space down the wings too and Zidane showed a willingness to sit back and concede possession to prevent just that.
Exact reason why I wanted Bayern in the final. They are like City in the sense that they are going to play their way, even if it matches up poorly vs a certain opponent. Zidane has shown multiple times this year that he will adapt his game plan based on who is he playing.
Zidane is definitely a worry for me. If we are all over them, he will change it up. He's shown to be very adaptable. I guess the one good thing we have is that Madrid don't play high balls and although Ronaldo is good at winning headers in the box, he's not a guy they are going to hoof it long to and hope he can knock it down to someone.
I thought throughout the entire tournament the one team we absolutely couldn't beat over 2 legs was Madrid. In a one off, who the hell knows. Sure feels like we're going to need at least 3 to have a shot at winning.