Sadio Mané’s moment of brilliance was teed up by Mohamed Salah’s expert movement

“The issue we have now is that West Brom deserve their level, Jurgen Klopp stated after final night time’s sport. “The primary half was a extremely unusual sport. I’m undecided I’ve seen a formation like that earlier than.”

Sam Allardyce rolled as much as Anfield able to placed on a defensive clinic. His again line would sink right into a deep, slender, four-man block, with two vast defenders sinking in on the skin to bracket Liverpool’s outer menace, making a complete of a six-man backline (although with gaps within the channels. Then got here the second block: A morphing, flowing, four-man group that will sag and press in unison — the six-man half will get the many of the consideration, however the attentiveness and cohesiveness of the 4 in entrance is what made the night time such a battle and so irritating for Klopp’s aspect.

“It was an enormous problem after they had six on the again or no matter,” Klopp stated. “However it’s our fault and that’s what we have now to just accept.”

Klopp’s staff did certainly battle to interrupt down the Allardyce block, significantly within the second-half. However within the first-half there have been probabilities to place the sport out of sight. And whereas Klopp might have been stunned by the problem, his group has actually confronted backs-to-the-walls, everyone-dig-in-as-one kind of defensive set-ups earlier than.

As all the time in opposition to a low block, one of the simplest ways to interrupt it down is, counterintuitively, to construct a three-at-the-back construction, permitting the staff in possession to dictate the phrases of engagement and giving them a better probability to overload issues.

As detailed prior to now, for Klopp which means dropping one among his central midfielders right into a again three and pushing the fullbacks ahead as basic wingbacks: Typically which means dropping the quantity six to the precise of the right-sided centre again; different instances it means splitting the centre backs.

Towards West Brom, Klopp and co. took it a step additional, usually advancing the centre again pairing of Joel Matip and Fabinho (earlier than Matip went off with a knock) past the deep-lying Jordan Henderson. Additionally they toggled the front-line, constructing a entrance two with Roberto Firmino and one among Sadio Mané and Mo Salah, with the pair rotating on a possession-by-possession foundation. The thought: With the 2 central gamers occupying the slender backline it ought to create some room in entrance to have the ability to craft a gap.

And that was the stage for the preliminary build-up section for Liverpool’s opener.

As Liverpool began to construct the play, they mixed a slender again three with a narrowish front-three, with Salah drifting in to hitch Mané and Firmino centrally.

Then got here the important thing motion: Salah transferring from entrance to again, seeking to drag a defender out of the cramped backline with a purpose to craft some form of opening. It labored. Simply.

As Salah moved out, West Brom’s defender initially adopted earlier than he regarded handy the ahead off. However that motion created simply sufficient of a path and simply sufficient area for Sadio Mané to slip into.

Salah’s motion set off a sequence response. Out of the blue, the defender monitoring Salah was left stranded in no man’s land. Gini Wijnaldum jetted into the vacated area, with a pair of midfielders failing to trace the run.

West Brom’s centre-most defender was left in a bind: He can see Wijnaldum stealing a cost on the midfielder dropping in and the defender pushing up however he can even see Mané drifting into area. What to do?

And in that indecision comes alternative. Earlier than the defender can determine, the ball is within the web.

Matip surveyed the panorama and ripped a ball in direction of Mané. The West Brom defender left in two minds has now had it made for him, but it surely’s too late. After urgent to cowl the Wijnaldum run, he was left flat-footed because the ball whipped in direction of Mané centrally.

Mané delivered the remaining: One-touch off his chest; the second spark off his proper foot. One-nil Liverpool.

The sensible ball from Matip and the pleasant flip and end from Mané will and may earn the plaudits, however the transfer was made attainable by the insightful runs of Salah and Wijnaldum.

Related strikes inside strikes have been obvious over the course of the primary and late parts of the second half. However nothing was fairly as incisive, significantly within the second interval. Whereas the plan was proper — to overload on the again; to centralise the front-three; to begin deep then transfer again — the execution was too usually missing.

However for as a lot as Liverpool lacked the killer intuition to shut the sport out credit score should additionally go to Allardyce’s aspect. Flashback by means of Liverpool’s opener and you will note that whereas Salah’s motion precipitated the preliminary subject, it solely turned a capital-P Downside as a result of one West Brom defender vacated the backline, two failed to trace Wijnaldum’s run, and the remainder of the block didn’t shuffle throughout in time. It was an error, albeit the slightest one, that was ruthlessly exploited. For a lot of the sport, West Brom didn’t make these errors. They have been requested to remain compact, to play inside themselves, and wager on some form of set-piece or error or second of particular person brilliance to steal one thing from the sport. And so they delivered.