Geggenpressing is something that has taken the Premier League by storm even since Jürgen Klopp was hired as the Liverpool manager. Let’s not kid ourselves, fans have already seen teams press, but this Liverpool team is a whole other animal when it comes to harrying the opposition into giving the ball away.
The fast starts Liverpool manage might not always guarantee them early goals, but the intensity is so high that if they score one, they inevitably end up scoring a few more.
The natural tendency of a team is to attack after going a goal down and that plays to Liverpool’s hands as they prefer opposition teams coming out to play. The Champions League run last season was a testament to that.
Amidst all the beautiful goals Liverpool scored last season, their defence was still a bit dodgy. The Reds have gone ahead and strengthened a few areas as they’ve added a defensive midfielder, a right winger, a box to box midfielder and a top-class goalkeeper. Some fans, however, are still a bit puzzled that the club have decided not to sign a centre-back.
Klopp recently revealed that he is happy with the defensive options he has when he was asked if the club are going to sign any. Is he right?
Liverpool’s midfield set up a lot better
Emre Can might have left the club, but Fabinho’s arrival will provide more protection to the defence. Liverpool never really had an out and out defensive midfielder last season and that will change in the upcoming season.
The style is essentially defending from the front, which means the pressing, often seen as something that Liverpool use to attack and score goals, is in truth stopping the opposition from playing. It’s just a lot more exciting to watch than watching a low block.
If the pressing fails, owing to lapses in concentration or good passing from the opposition, the gap between the midfield and the defence is often something that the opposition attackers can exploit.
That is where someone like Fabinho can be a key player. The Brazilian is someone who just sits in front of the defence and his tackling and positioning are impeccable, so Lovren will have fewer situations to mess up than he did last season when he had to come out and try to win a front-footed tackle.
With the midfield looking a lot better, the heat the defenders will receive could be substantially reduced, so perhaps they really don’t need a defender!