Recap: AC Milan
By Kripa Krishnan
Oh, the nostalgia every single time we play AC Milan - a familiar yet refreshing feeling. I wanted to take some time to understand and carefully assess how Slot changed his tactics not only against different teams but also in different cups! We all know he is quite infamous (or rather famous) for his non-rotation policy but this game seemed to prove otherwise. At least to a small extent!
The most intriguing features of the game, in my opinion, were (1) Gakpo’s performance and (2) The tactical formation changes made during press v possession (3) How Slott identified Milan’s strengths and weaknesses
We deployed 4-2-4 formation when pressing high up the pitch, which exposed some holes particularly in wide areas. Milan exploited these gaps to score an early goal. In response to AC Milan exploiting the spaces between Liverpool's fullbacks and wide forwards in this 4-2-4 pressing shape, TAA was asked to play higher up the pitch to press on Theo Hernandez, Milans left back. Therefore, we saw our defensive line shift into a back three when pressing. This adjustment allowed Liverpool to maintain their compact central pressing while also addressing the threat of Milan's wide players. Further, we used seven switches in the first 50 minutes - the highest since April 2021 and definitely more reminiscent of the Jurgen Klopp era and less reflective of Slot’s typical 5-2-3. This tactical shift was made to combat Milan’s aggressive 4-4-2 press. It allowed us to optimise the space between their wingers and full-backs.
The other interesting thing I think Slot has touched upon is identifying and optimising players strengths in accordance to the tactical formation in play. For example, Gakpo’s was used in a way that better suited his strengths - focusing on direct attacking play and making an impact in dangerous areas rather than being heavily involved in build-up play and other intricate link-up actions. His passing was mostly focused on short, backwards passes in the left attacking area, often used to bypass Milan's press. His performance was compared to his recent game for the Netherlands against Romania, where he scored two goals. The heat maps from both games were similar.
Focusing on our defence:
Ibrahima Konaté and Virgil van Dijk have further showcased the effectiveness of their partnership, each accounting for 50% of the team's blocks. Interestingly, we do see a lot of contribution from Ryan Gravenberch here, which is very revealing of that number 6 Slot is moulding him into. He led with the highest overall defensive actions and highest number of recoveries as well as demonstrated exceptional reading of the game as evident with the number of interruptions. It would be good to see TAA and Konate holding more ground at times and not commit to tackles for it may result in the faster and quicker players to dribble past easily.
In terms of the attack, It was nice to see DS have more touches in the box and push up more. I hope he can start converting these opportunities more often.
Despite TAA’s proficiency in his passess to the final third and high expected assists, perhaps, we do see that the accuracy of his crossing was at times compromised.
I also remember times of counterpress that really helped regain possession. Since our boys are conditioned to counterpress, I wonder how they now find that balance! It is definitely a useful technique but perhaps there are times we have saturated it leading to unnecessary counters and arguably long term-fatigue. It will be interesting to see how other players mould and contribute. Certainly an exciting transition period!
