Liverpool FC Forum

by **SkippyRed** » Tue Oct 13, 2015 11:27 am

I can see Lucas' game time diminishing now.

I have read a lot on Klopps formations and tactics, and his DM's rack up the miles. Lucas has shown lately his break up play and defensive reading has been good, but he doesn't have the miles in him anymore.

It's a shame really, as he has been very good lately.

I can see Can and Hendo starting in the midfield, and Coutinho, Firmino and Milner playing in front of them.

by **RED BEERGOGGLES** » Tue Oct 13, 2015 7:14 pm

Klopp is no fool ,he will know just how integral Lucas is to our defensive shape. If any player has the capacity to press his claims for a regular starting berth under the tutelage of Klopp ,its Lucas. I wouldn't write him off just yet !

by **parchpea** » Tue Oct 13, 2015 8:12 pm

Surely Lucas wont survive Klopp and be surprised if Milner does longer term.

Speed in transition is key and both are very ponderous on the ball.

by **RED BEERGOGGLES** » Tue Oct 13, 2015 8:28 pm

parchpea » Tue Oct 13, 2015 7:12 pm wrote:Surely Lucas wont survive Klopp and be surprised if Milner does longer term.

Speed in transition is key and both are very ponderous on the ball.

I don't think breaking up an opponents play could be done, if as you suggest the player is ponderous .I don't believe anyone we currently have at the club(and lets face it they have all been tried ) can adapt to this role. Lucas chases the ball down tackles ,and makes vital interceptions when its imperative.

Speed of thought is also an asset for any player , if you think Klopp will forsake other essential attributes for pace alone then you've got the wrong manager mate.

by **ycsatbjywtbiastkamb** » Tue Oct 13, 2015 9:06 pm

I don't think we'll see this gegenpressing style until next season at the very earliest so Lucas will no doubt have an important role to play in the short to medium term, wether he will still be here in a couple of seasons time is another matter entirely though.
Don't get me wrong, I think we will play with more urgency and enthusiasm than we have been doing but I think this full on heavy metal style will take a good while to implement. It didn't happen at Dortmund over night and I don't think it will here either, the players have got to be incredibly fit to gegenpress and I don't think ours are capable of it.

by **Pig Catcher** » Wed Oct 14, 2015 2:22 pm

Sebastian Kehl got a decent amount of game time under Klopp at CM and he is similar to Lucus in that he doesn't get about much but he has good defensive nous.

by **ycsatbjywtbiastkamb** » Wed Oct 14, 2015 4:25 pm

In tonight's Echo there are a couple of players who played under Klopp at Dortmund explaining how he likes his team's to cover at least 120km each game, apparently that's the magic number, Klopp has figured out that players going through the motions just can't cover that distance. It's his way of making sure every player is up for every game.
It's a good little mental trick when you think about it, he doesn't set individual targets he sets a group target in order to promote collective responsibility, because he hits the f**king roof if the team doesn't cover the 120km the players soon learn to police themselves, if someone isn't pulling their weight that player soon has five or six of his team mates telling him to shift his f**king @rse.
If they cover the 120 he gives them the next day off so there is an extra incentive there for the players.
The ex Dortmund lads said its amazing how many games you win if you run the 120km.

Edit - apparently James Milner has covered more ground than anyone else in the prem, he runs an average of 12km a game so his team mates will want him in the team.

by **redshade** » Wed Oct 14, 2015 5:37 pm

Lol imagine Ballotelli given that task.

by **RED BEERGOGGLES** » Wed Oct 14, 2015 6:34 pm

Lucas reveals Klopp’s first words

Talking to the club’s TV channel, Lucas said: “He seems to be very passionate – he likes to put in everything that he has and he asks the players for the same.
“Be very intense, be aggressive with yourself. Always try to be better, always give 10 metres more, because that will be the key to success. That is what he has been saying to us in the last couple of days. He seems to be a very open manager and someone that likes to be close to the players, but very straight as well.”

by **ycsatbjywtbiastkamb** » Wed Oct 14, 2015 7:00 pm

You can see where Klopp is coming from.
Look at Palace, they are only a small club but not even the City's and Chelsea's like to visit their place because the players work extremely hard and the fans get right behind the team. Even with scant resources (e.g average players and a 25,000 capacity) they've managed to turn Selhurst Park into a bit of a fortress.
If we can replicate what they've done but with far better players and a 45,000 crowd then the sky really is the limit.

by **damjan193** » Fri Oct 16, 2015 12:23 am

You know, I'm slightly concerned about this "gegenpressing style", as I'm not 100% convinced that it can work in such a demanding league as the Premier League and I'm also not convinced that running and covering distance is the best sort of tactics. If running and pressing will be our tactic than we can expect Milner and Henderson to be regular starters in central midfield. I personally cringe at that thought. Hopefully, Klopp has more in his locker than just running tactics.

But I know that Klopp also likes players that can tackle and defend intelligently, and Lucas fits perfectly for that. JK will just have to find the right balance in the team.

by **RED BEERGOGGLES** » Mon Oct 26, 2015 9:30 pm

Klopp talks to Lucas at the close of every game ,mangers tend to do this with their Captains .....Just an observation !

by **eds** » Tue Oct 27, 2015 1:13 am

damjan193 » Thu Oct 15, 2015 11:23 pm wrote:You know, I'm slightly concerned about this "gegenpressing style", as I'm not 100% convinced that it can work in such a demanding league as the Premier League and I'm also not convinced that running and covering distance is the best sort of tactics. If running and pressing will be our tactic than we can expect Milner and Henderson to be regular starters in central midfield. I personally cringe at that thought. Hopefully, Klopp has more in his locker than just running tactics.

But I know that Klopp also likes players that can tackle and defend intelligently, and Lucas fits perfectly for that. JK will just have to find the right balance in the team.

I don't think it's that simplistic mate.

Klopp needs to ensure he has the basic foundations of his footballing philosophy firmly entrenched into these players before he can expand on his theory and overall strategy on the football field. Without these foundations of implementing these running tactics and the overall fitness required of the squad, he can't do this.

We will soon find out who in the squad can play his style and who will be shown the door. I don't think any of us can 2nd guess at this stage who will go and who will stay, as it's fundamentally a new system that will take a fair bit of time to bed down. More importantly he still needs to identify which key players are central to this system and which ones he needs to go out and acquire, only then can we start judging him on how he is tracking.

After having seen first hand the transformation of the Chilean national football team over the last decade, I can see where all this can lead to. When Bielsa took the reins about 8-9 years ago he demanded that the players work on their fitness and accommodate their playing style around how HE wanted the TEAM to play. He encountered a lot of contempt at the start with "star" players unwilling to accept this but stood his ground showing them the door (early international "retirement").

The media, country and "experts" quickly turned on him. He simply didn't care. He molded the next batch of players coming through the youth system and got them playing his fanatical pressing style. Two players central to this system were Sanchez and Vidal. I have every belief that if they hadn't started their early careers playing under Bielsa, we would never have seen the top players that they have become today. Same thing applies to Klopp and the players he has molded at Dortmund that have gone on to become world class stars.

Because of the foundations that Bielsa installed into the national Chilean psyche from 2010 onwards Chile has gone on to play in the round of 16 of two consecutive World Cups, win a Copa America for the first time in it's history and find themselves in the world's top 10 countries. I have every faith that Klopp will replicate this sort of success at Liverpool. His only glaring weakness at Dortmund was finding a way of getting his players to keep the hard running, pressing and fitness game beyond a number of seasons. I think that has more to do with the fact that he lost most of his key players and was not given an adequate budget to replace them with other players central to his system though.

We are in good hands, let's just give him the time and money he needs to make us a power again, just like Bielsa did with the Chilean national team so many years ago.

by **RED BEERGOGGLES** » Mon Nov 02, 2015 7:05 pm

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/revealed-premier-leagues-10-best-6752780?

The Premier League's top 10 tacklers

Team Player Apps. Mins played. Tackles won. Tackles lost. Tackles won . Tackles won per 90 mins.
Lpool Lucas 9 765 54 11 83.08% 6.4

by **ycsatbjywtbiastkamb** » Mon Nov 02, 2015 7:48 pm

Lucas had a great game Saturday, okay he rode his luck a bit re a second yellow but given his role in the team that is going to happen from time to time. As a DM you have got to put your foot in, in that position if you're not going to get involved it's pointless being out on the pitch.

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