Thanks Grace. As I was watching the first half I was wondering how far Madrid's approach was the old rope-a-dope ploy. It made me wonder if Madrid had data on Liverpool's recent PPDA by period of the match (and probably game state). Basically: did Madrid know when Liverpool's evident recent fatigue begins to impact their ability to execute their plans, and did that factor into Ancelotti's game management?
Great read, how much do you think Liverpool's overall performance and particularly their slow start was affected by them just having far too many distractions pre-match? Stuck in traffic arriving to the stadium, Thiago going down in the warm-up and their seemingly being a lot of confusion as to whether he'd start and then the delay to kick off, that given Andy Robertson's comments post-match suggests the players may have known it was due to an incident concerning Liverpool fans. I think one out of the first two incidents happens and it probably doesn't affect them too much but combine them and I'm sure it starts to hinder their mental preparation, whereas Madrid seemed to be calm as anything.
Hello Grace. You wrote, "For the sport’s pinnacle showpiece event, this was a remarkably simple game". Carlo Ancelotti has also called football "simple." Grace, you wrote that Trent Alexander Arnold was expecting to find Vinicius in the area close to TAA's left (before Real Madrid's goal). It seemed like TAA was not expecting to find Vinicius anywhere - the placement of TAA's body AND the look on his face when he suddenly saw Vinicius arrive to score suggests he completely forgot about Vinicius. Also, during which seasons was Jordan Henderson so good? Thank you.
One of the more frustrating things about the match in retrospect was Firmino only coming on when they changed to a 4-2-3-1, and then only after Diaz had come off. I know Sadio has had a terrific season and Klopp had a bit of an impossible dilemma, but Bobby was very bright on the ball when he came on, immediately allowing us to get in behind the low block, and his value without the ball cannot be understated.
In fact, one of the reasons we lost to Real Madrid in 2021 was that we played without Firmino organizing our press (Jota started in the central role instead) and Madrid's defenders were able to play long without pressure from midfield. I know Klopp almost always decides to play to his side's strengths instead of adapting to the opposition (and he's right to do so), but 60' of Firmino and then shifting to a more attacking setup late on (if needed) might have made the difference here.
sorry for typos, I say all this while I have visions of Courtois denying Salah playing in front of my eyeballs
Sorry I didn't answer these comments earlier!
Good morning Grace. Do you read subscriber comments and answer questions? Just asking, thanks.
Thanks Grace. As I was watching the first half I was wondering how far Madrid's approach was the old rope-a-dope ploy. It made me wonder if Madrid had data on Liverpool's recent PPDA by period of the match (and probably game state). Basically: did Madrid know when Liverpool's evident recent fatigue begins to impact their ability to execute their plans, and did that factor into Ancelotti's game management?
Great read, how much do you think Liverpool's overall performance and particularly their slow start was affected by them just having far too many distractions pre-match? Stuck in traffic arriving to the stadium, Thiago going down in the warm-up and their seemingly being a lot of confusion as to whether he'd start and then the delay to kick off, that given Andy Robertson's comments post-match suggests the players may have known it was due to an incident concerning Liverpool fans. I think one out of the first two incidents happens and it probably doesn't affect them too much but combine them and I'm sure it starts to hinder their mental preparation, whereas Madrid seemed to be calm as anything.
*With hindsight*, what changes would you have made to the Liverpool XI? From the article I'd guess Jota and Keita for Diaz and Henderson
Hello Grace. You wrote, "For the sport’s pinnacle showpiece event, this was a remarkably simple game". Carlo Ancelotti has also called football "simple." Grace, you wrote that Trent Alexander Arnold was expecting to find Vinicius in the area close to TAA's left (before Real Madrid's goal). It seemed like TAA was not expecting to find Vinicius anywhere - the placement of TAA's body AND the look on his face when he suddenly saw Vinicius arrive to score suggests he completely forgot about Vinicius. Also, during which seasons was Jordan Henderson so good? Thank you.
One of the more frustrating things about the match in retrospect was Firmino only coming on when they changed to a 4-2-3-1, and then only after Diaz had come off. I know Sadio has had a terrific season and Klopp had a bit of an impossible dilemma, but Bobby was very bright on the ball when he came on, immediately allowing us to get in behind the low block, and his value without the ball cannot be understated.
In fact, one of the reasons we lost to Real Madrid in 2021 was that we played without Firmino organizing our press (Jota started in the central role instead) and Madrid's defenders were able to play long without pressure from midfield. I know Klopp almost always decides to play to his side's strengths instead of adapting to the opposition (and he's right to do so), but 60' of Firmino and then shifting to a more attacking setup late on (if needed) might have made the difference here.
sorry for typos, I say all this while I have visions of Courtois denying Salah playing in front of my eyeballs