This season, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur approached falling down to nine men in different ways.
Earlier in the season, when the Reds visited the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, two players were controversially sent off.
With the same thing happening to Spurs against Chelsea last night, former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher compared the tactics of Jurgen Klopp and Ange Postecoglou for Sky Sports Monday Night Football.
The analyst said, “I have seen Tottenham play with a high line throughout the season, especially against Crystal Palace when I watched them last Friday.”
“You can win the ball high and apply pressure to the ball with 11 men, and this is not just Tottenham; many teams do it as well. Liverpool and Aston Villa are two examples of teams that do this frequently.”
“Yet, Liverpool, they didn’t succeed at Tottenham with nine! They reclined. Tottenham had a back seven and just nine guys!
Karma returns to haunt Spurs
Just a few weeks earlier, Spurs had the unique experience of playing against nine, so you would have thought they might have picked up some tips from Liverpool’s strategy.
However, as Carragher notes, Postecoglou almost lined up his team against Klopp’s lineup last night.
Known for encouraging a flexible approach to football, Ange stuck to his convictions and instructed his team to continue using 11 as they were. This proved to be the incorrect course of action, predictably enough.
Even though Chelsea isn’t the finest club in the world right now, Mauricio Pochettino’s struggling team was still able to put three more goals past them.
Although Spurs had the opportunity to score a few goals themselves, it’s easy to say that Postecoglou’s strategies were ineffective.
Of course, Klopp’s strategy was ineffective as Liverpool also failed to come away with anything from the match against Spurs.
However, that would be ignoring the fact that back in September, the Reds were only inches away from an extremely impressive outcome. Liverpool may have secured an unexpected point if Joel Matip had placed his foot in a different direction in the last seconds of play.
That day, Jurgen displayed his tactical acumen. Ange will be commended for his unwavering commitment, but to us, he was merely unsophisticated.
