As Sevilla FC marched to their third Europa League Final in as many years, most seemed to lean towards the red side of the tie. Liverpool’s newfound style of heavy pressing and quite frankly emotional football had seen them do away with one of the competition’s best teams in Borussia Dortmund. The general consensus seemed to be that the magical night at Anfield was the true test and that Sevilla would be a slightly easier task. However, despite being the La Liga side that had failed to win away from home in the league all season, Unai Emry’s unique team would go on to take the title for a third historic time.
The Europa League Final and What it Means
The first half turned out to be a cagey affair in which the Spanish side’s main goal threat, Kevin Gamiero, rarely saw the ball. Liverpool did an excellent job of containing the Sevilla’s counter-attacking efforts by executing the press high and effectively. This allowed for Liverpool to either win the ball back at the midfield or, at the very least, throw off the Sevilla build up. After benefiting from a Daniel Sturridge moment of brilliance, the teams went into the locker rooms at halftime with the momentum firmly in a Merseyside direction. The Europa league holders had barely entered the game, and to add to that they were quite lucky to only be down by one considering the amount of handballs that failed to be recognized by the referee. It was looking quite grim for Los Sevillistas.
Then, like a bat out of hell, Kevin Gamiero finished off a seventeen-second masterclass of an opening goal. From then on, it was all Sevilla. In the first half, their spacing was poor and the back line was disjointed yet too close together. The second half success of the three-time Europa league champs came down to fixing this issue as well as doing one of the most difficult things a team can do; play through the press. Fixing their poor spacing allowed them to beat Liverpool’s press by forcing the midfielders to make decisions. Either they stayed in one area and kept a passing lane closed, or they moved with the herd and tried to win the ball off an opposing ball carrier. It is in these situations where Sevilla capitalized on their structural discipline and kept their offensive shape. Rather than moving towards a fellow player with the ball in order to help them since they were most likely about to be outnumbered, the Spanish side’s players stayed put and put the onus on the ball carrier to play out of the situation. This can take two to three players out of a defensive situation with one pass when executed effectively, and although they didn’t create a bevy of clear cut chances through this exact tactic, it created a state of mind that allowed for the breakdown of Liverpool’s tactics.
Jurgen Klopp’s System
In a post-match press conference, Jurgen Klopp stated that his team “lost faith in our style of play”, which is a direct result of Sevilla’s newfound positional discipline. Players started to see that when they were leaving their man to join the press the team was exposed. This, in turn, made them lose faith in the press, or at the very least doubt it for a moment, and in a system like a high and heavy press one cannot doubt. The integral part of Klopp’s favored tactic is the pace in which it is executed. When three players are in the ball carriers space right away fighting for possession of the ball, it works. But when one is there right away and then two are in half a mind because of doubt, then it is easily exposed.
This is the problem with Klopp’s system. When the energetic German originally moved to Liverpool, many thought the system would fit quite well. He had used this pressing style to overcome teams that were technically better than his own by exposing the opposition’s affinity for possession. Liverpool is certainly not the world beaters they used to be and with this ‘giant killer’ formula perhaps they could elevate themselves back to where they see themselves as a club. However, with the ‘Klopp system’ seeing some major obstacles and one of the biggest criticisms of Liverpool being their performances when they are asked to hold possession, are Jurgen Klopp’s current tactics really going to elevate the club to where it strives to be?
The Merseyside club certainly faces an uphill battle in the sense that it’s current players don’t seem to be up to the level of fitness or capability to be a complete team under Jurgen Klopp, seeing that they’re the team in the 2015/16 season with the most dropped points from winning positions. They’re not the finished article, good without possession but inconsistent and unreliable with it.
Euro 2016 and other international competitions will allow even less time for Klopp to fully implement his new system, and even when the players return from international duty they will need some form of rest. If Jurgen Klopp wants to enjoy success with his new club, he might need to re-evaluate some of his tactics.
BASEL, SWITZERLAND – MAY 18: Jurgen Klopp manager of Liverpool hugs James Milner of Liverpool after the UEFA Europa League Final match between Liverpool and Sevilla at St. Jakob-Park on May 18, 2016 in Basel, Switzerland. (Photo by Catherine Ivill – AMA/Getty Images)
