The Madrid Finals Preview – Klopp’s Heavy Metal Football meets Potchettino’s Punk Rockers

On the face of it, Liverpool start this game as major favourites. They finished 26 points ahead of the Spurs (short for Tottenham Hotspurs) in the Premier League this season, beating them twice in the process. But games as big as this, with so much at stake aren’t played on history.

Klopp’s heavy metal brand of football has mellowed over the past year –

• The intensive counter-press Klopp deployed in Dortmund & the early Liverpool years has given way to a more situation/opponent dependent scheme
• Lesser reliance on counters to blow opponents away. Atleast some prevalence of patient build up play & ball progression from the back was seen recently.
• Openness to play a deeper defensive line & increased success in absorbing opposition pressure.

Most significant for me has been the transition from his trademark 4-3-3 formation to a 4-2-3-1 formation. An excellent description of this change was written up by Brazilian football writer Gabriel Fraga. Liverpool’s’ overall transformation into a top Premier League force and being back-to-back Champions League finalist is largely due to Klopp’s maturing tactics.

Many questioned Klopp’s move to sell arguable The Premier League’s best midfielder (Coutinho) to pay for a defender (van Dijk) at the end of 2017. This has proved to be a masterstroke and the foundation of Liverpool’s success. In today’s final, Liverpool’s strength is its backbone of van Dijk – Fabinho – Firminho. News of Firminho return from injury will be the most welcome news for the Anfield faithful; his ability to linkup the midfield (rather low on creativity for a side seeing such success) & its outstanding wide-forwards in Mane, Salah has been key to this resurgent Liverpool side. Virgil van Dijk’s leadership, assured defending, set piece threat & passing capability will be put on showcase in this grand finale. The other telling aspect is its capability to pose immense threat from opposition errors/turnovers – not since the great Barca side of Guardiola have I seen a side this effective in scoring off mistakes such as balls lost/interceptions/tackles, lack of opponent attention during set pieces (like in the semis vs. Barca) et al. Quick transitions from defensive positions to offensive positions has always been a key tenet of Klopp’s Heavy Metal football; if there’s one thing that the Spurs will fear coming into the finals, its this lethal transition aspect.

Two ardent Reds supporters I spoke to believed that its only providential that their side should lift the grand prize tonight after their improbable defeat of Barca in the semis. I quietly reminded them of Milan (’01) & Lisbon (’14)!

For the Spurs on the other hand, Maurizio Pochettino deserves an award just for maintaining sanity thru his sides’ myriad injury troubles this season. At one point, his entire first choice midfield was in the infirmary. Achieving the sort of result he has despite the constant changing of lineups, formations, systems thru a lengthy season is a massive achievement. Almost reminds me of the experimentation that the Punk Rockers put themselves thru (mostly self inflicted unlike this situation!). To be frank, I haven’t seen enough Spurs games to expand on its style or approach. What I can predict though is that it would be foolhardy for Pochettino to deploy a system that tries to emulate Liverpool’s press & transition game. Pochettino is also uncomfortable playing a possession-oriented game; and rightfully so, as his mid-field doesn’t have the holding capacity or creativity to run the show for an entire 90 minute stretch. This leaves him with few ways to confront Liverpool, like…

1. In Son & Kane, Spurs have amongst the top 3 strike partnerships in the world – both two footed, versatility as goal poachers inside the box or long-distance shooters; endowed with pace, power in the air, vision & superb understanding. Getting them involved quickly would not only bring their competencies to the fore but leave lesser room for errors for the Reds to pick up on
2. In Barca’s heyday under Guardiola, both Marcelo Bielsa (then coach at Bilbao) & Mourinho (at Real) adopted the long ball strategy to bypass the far superior Barca midfield. This negated the Blaugrana counters & sharp passing game as well as rendering their famous press nearly useless. I believe, the Belgian duo of Verthongen & Alderwireld will play a key role in the game, not just thru their defense vs. Salah & Co., but also with their long balls to Son & Kane.
3. I also believe the Spurs will play a 4 – 3 – 3 (with a narrow mid field triangle) to their peril. What’s more likely is 4 – 4 – 2 featuring a traditional mid-field diamond with Eriksen at its head.

The mid-field combo of Christian Eriksen & Moussa Sissoko will have their hands full with a multitude of duties. How well they hold the Spurs midfield together will likely determine this game.

To summarize, the greatest of footballing sides – Cryuff’s flying Dutchmen, Sacchi’s Milan, Guardiola’s Barca – were an amalgam of innovative tactics & talent on the field. Liverpool, in my view is close to achieving this – only that it has nothing to show for. A Champion’s League win tonight would be a vindication to this statement. My head fancies a Liverpool win but my heart is with the Spurs.

Personally, this spectacle today is less about individual stars than about two great teams. In an era of star-dominated football, this is a welcome sight. We couldn’t have said this about any of the Champion League finals in the past decade (atleast not since the epic Porto – Monaco finals in ’04). This may just be the best outcome of tonight’s game.

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Picture Courtesy – The UK Press Association