Former Red cum pundit Jamie Carragher has clarified he has no issue with Liverpool playing high-line football despite past criticisms on that.
The Reds are flying high as they climbed 1st place in the PL points table after the 2-1 victory against Crystal Palace. After 16 games played, they have acquired 37 points.
While most of the team has worked hard to reach these heights, Jurgen Klopp’s tactics are the topic of praise here. The German’s heavy metal, high tempo, high line football has been effective for the past for years.
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Recently Unai Emery and Ange Posteglou have also been using the high line tactic with Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspurs respectively. This has brought them success as well.
Pundits are praising their style, Jamie Carragher in particular. While on commentary duty for the Villains’ 1-0 victory against Arsenal, he lauded their courage. As Aston Villa maintained the high line in stoppage-time, he was even complimented as ‘brave’.
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However, the former Reds defender was not very appreciative about LFC playing this kind of high line football during the lockdown period and that infamous 7-2 defeat to Aston Villa.
A fan criticised the pundit’s duality at X (Twitter) by tweeting,
“Carra is unreal. He’s spent 4 years ripping into us for playing a high defensive line. Villa do it and he’s sat in the commentary box polishing his purple-headed womb broom.”
The Englishman replied by tweeting,
“I’m real I can assure you! No problem with a high line as I’ve always said, what Villa do that at times we haven’t, is side on body positions & sprint back when the ball goes over their head. The womb broom is coming on great.”
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Klopp and Co. have shown that they have the quality and perseverance to back their standards. Although the high-line tactic comes with high risk and high reward, teams playing deep lines have been worse than the Anfield giants.
So it is now pointless to argue about Klopp’s tactics. But as the points difference between the top 4 is very low, the title run will be interesting to watch.
An ardent football fan and a proud Red. I take immense pleasure in analyzing the intricacies of the game.
