I actually don’t think we were great in the first 40 mins either, I was saying so at the time to nephew. There was no high press which I assume was intentional, the mid block press was a mess, players visibly didn’t know their role and who to press/mark and Liverpool players were often in space. The only difference is Liverpool didn’t wake up until later and start to really test that.
Our game management was awful too, Xhaka and Jesus getting into battles at 2-0 is just brainless. TAA was coasting before Xhaka fired him up, like barely interested in the game. We also do that think were we stop making the pass we normally make to try and ‘slow down the game or keep the ball’. Zinchenko, Xhaka and Odegaard in particular. Problem is it just goes further and further back until we have to clear it long.
We are a team trying to do the right things rather than one doing the right things in these high pressure games. It was the same against City where we kept passing out the back despite visibly losing our nerve in the second half.
This isn’t about individuals or quality, this is about going for your first title. I think people underestimate how much pressure will impact these guys. We need to get over the line this season however we can, it won’t be pretty.
