It’s as clear as day, and it’s been true for years: Liverpool play their best football when we go after the ball. When we try to be tidy and sit off, we don’t look calm, we look flat. And that’s what made the contrast between the two halves so frustrating.
In that first half, it felt like we were stood in front of Arsenal shirts rather than actually engaging them. Not pressing properly, not jumping to tackles, not making the pitch feel small. Just sort of… waiting. The result is always the same: the other side get comfortable, they get loads of the ball, and you’re basically asking them to pick their moment.
Pressing isn’t a luxury, it’s the baseline
The maddening part is we all know Liverpool can press and still protect the space in behind. It’s possible. It just needs commitment, good distances between the lines, and forwards who actually trigger the press rather than jogging near someone and calling it pressure.
When we’re passive, it doesn’t just affect defending. It ruins everything. You win the ball deeper, you’ve got further to travel, and suddenly every attack feels like a big expedition rather than one or two sharp passes into chaos. Arsenal having plenty of possession isn’t automatically a problem. But letting them have it without any discomfort is.
Second half: at last, some intent
The second half was much closer to what you want to see. We started trying to get the ball back all over the pitch. We tackled. We competed. We looked like we actually wanted to shift the momentum rather than manage it.
And with the ball, we finally tried to get down the sides a bit more. You could see the idea: stretch them, pull their shape, make them turn. Was it perfect? No. Some of the crossing wasn’t there, and when you don’t have a proper focal point up top it can feel like you’re putting balls into areas rather than to someone.
Low blocks don’t need “patience”, they need punishment
This thing about “patience” against a low block does my head in. A low block loves you being patient. It wants you taking five extra touches, recycling it, letting them get set again. You don’t politely wait for it to open. You hammer it. Again and again, with speed, with runners, with second balls, with pressure straight after you lose it, until it caves.
The worry is we see that second-half urgency and then start the next match half-hearted again, like we’ve learned nothing. That’s what can’t keep happening under Arne Slot. If you’ve found the intensity that works, why revert? Because nothing is more annoying than watching the same mistake repeat itself.
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