UNDERSTANDING KLOPP’S 4-3-3 FORMATION

 

UNDERSTANDING KLOPP’S 4-3-3 FORMATION

On his arrival at Liverpool, Klopp asked for 4 years to win the title and he delivered. Unlike his German counter part “Thomas Tuchel” who vowed to create a team that no one would wish to play against, only to be left out of that exact team he was talking about. What exactly has Jurgen Klopp done to Liverpool’s style of play in the modern game?

When compared to his earlier predecessors Rafael Benitez and Brendan Rogers who won titles if not almost brought glory to this Merseyside club, Klopp has actually won the Champions league and the premier league title within a short period of 4 years. All this made possible by his advancement in style of play. Known for his ability in signing players from top football leagues who have joined Liverpool and not flopped on arrival has added much to his club’s performance but his style of play is key. The acquisition of Allison Becca, Thiago Alcantara, Van Dijk, Jota, Fabinho and Nabi Keita have seen them rise to occasions, when need be, but the role each player plays is what matters the most.

Take an example Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson, they both play a fullback role but are tasked with less defensive duty as compared to other fullbacks like Tomiyasu at Arsenal or Matty Cash at Aston Villa. Trent as a fullback under Klopp performs very different roles, with the ball Trent is arguably Liverpool’s top chance creator in oppositions half. He is tasked with overlapping, finding room in the right-side spaces to bend in deeper crosses to find their target man and even tacking into midfield sometimes. All that similar to what his counter part Robertson or Tsimikas do on the left-hand side of the pitch.

In the midfield area, his paved “6” who happens to be Fabinho will often balance the lines between opposition midfielders as his number “8” most likely Thiago Alcantara drops deep for the ball from the keeper to then play a long diagonal pass to find their pacey wingers upfront for an attack. While this is happening, his number 6 drops between his center backs as one of the fullbacks will usually have overlapped as the other one tacks into midfield to add onto passing options and attacking numbers. His goalkeeper is not only tasked to make saves and prevent goals, he also has a distribution role playing long balls to the wingers for counter attacks.

Wingers either cut inside for the fullback to overlap or stay wide for a one-two pass to expose space between opposition defense. At this time his number 9 would take up a less attacking role and play as a midfielder if not a “false-9” creating space for wingers to cut in from wider areas as he drops off to the midfield. Such crisscross runs are what has made Liverpool a threat when it comes to attack. Under Klopp, players play similar positions but are tasked with different roles.