Talking Tactics: Liverpool’s game plan exposes Tom Cleverley’s limitations

Attacking: Liverpool drop deep but lack of movement and support exposes Tom’s limitations.

Liverpool came out in the second half with a different mindset. They dropped deep and blocked spaces very well. The Manchester United midfielders had time and space on the ball but they were unable to penetrate the Liverpool backline due to their rigid formation and a lack of movement. Cleverley’s lack of a Scholes-esque passing range was exposed as he was time and again forced to go wide.

1: Cleverley receives the ball inside his own half. Giggs and Van Persie make bursting forward runs ahead of the midfielder.

But they are marked well by Liverpool and Cleverley is unable to find either of them and meanwhile is quickly closed down by two Liverpool players.

Cleverley is unable to pick out either of Van Persie or Giggs who are now marked out and Coutinho drops back and prevents him from finding Carrick. Cleverley now turns and passes the ball back to Valencia and a chance to put pressure on the Liverpool defense fades away.

Cleverley is clearly frustrated by the lack of movement or support and throws his arms in the air. Sturridge meanwhile closes Valencia down. Liverpool clearly knowing when to sit back and when to apply pressure on the United’s players.

2: Gerrard’s positioning takes Giggs out of the game and Coutinho drops deep and keeps an eye on Carrick. A short sideways pass to Valencia seems to only option Cleverley has.

3: Cleverley picks the ball in midfield and starts running into the space ahead of him. Liverpool players are dropping deep and marking the United attackers rather than closing down Cleverley.

Once Cleverley is into the Liverpool half he finds his options narrowed down. The positioning of the Liverpool midfielders takes Van Persie, Welbeck and Giggs out of the game. Again Cleverley is forced to go wide and find Valencia.

4: This may seem like a repetition but this was clearly Liverpool’s tactic in the second half and it clearly exposed Cleverley’s limitations as a midfielder.

In the below image Cleverley again finds himself in plenty of space inside the Liverpool half.

All the Liverpool players are inside their own half and have closed down the spaces, which makes Cleverley take the safe option and go wide again.

Verdict:

As it can be seen, most of the time Cleverley looked wide right and took the safer option. His heat-map clearly justifies him spending most of the time closer to Valencia on the right hand side. His action areas show that he was given time on the ball inside his own half and was allowed to bring it forward but he ultimately lacked ideas and didn’t have the vision to unlock the stubborn Liverpool defense. His stats of one key pass and no through balls justify Liverpool’s game plan in the second half.

Tom Cleverley is a decent ball carrier and an all-round midfielder but he has to improve certain aspects of his game in order to become world class and make the center midfield spot his own. He has until January to prove his worth. Else, Moyes will be forced to make a move in the transfer market.

Stats taken from – squawka.com