Too much Tiki and not enough Taka

We’ve heard a lot of talk about Tiki-taka recently, most of which has been in relation to the system new Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers is trying to put in place at the club. After a poor start to the season, many people have questioned whether this new style of play fits Liverpool and is the best system to take the club forward. So the question I ask is, does the problem lie within the system itself? Or within the personnel used in the system?

Firstly, for those of you who are unfamiliar with the Tiki-taka style of play here’s a brief explanation of the origins and the tactical aspects of the system. Tiki-taka or Tiqui-taca as it’s more commonly spelt in Spanish, is a style of play that has evolved from the Total Football style pioneered by Dutch football coach Rinus Michels. The roots for what would become the Tiki-taka style of play were put in place by Johan Cruyff during his time as manager of Barcelona from the late 80’s to the mid 90’s. The style continued to develop under Dutch coaches Louis van Gaal and Frank Rijkaard, it was also soon adopted by other teams in La Liga. The system really started to gain recognition during Josep Guardiola’s managerial tenure from 2008 to 2012, and was credited with producing a generation of technically talented footballers.

The system itself is characterised by short passing and positional interchange, maintaining possession of the ball above all else. It involves a patient style of play, moving the ball in intricate patterns with crisp one or two touch passing, working the ball through various channels probing the opponent for the perfect opening.

Tiki-taka served Brendan Rodgers very well during his time at Swansea, helping the team gain promotion to the Premier League. Again it served them superbly during their first season in the highest division which saw them finish 11th. It was no surprise that once Rodgers was named as the new Liverpool boss, he wanted to try and bring in the same philosophy that had previously served him so well. In an early press conference Rodgers explained that he wanted to implement a vision and that he wanted to do this over a period of time. Rodgers also said that he could deploy his system in two ways, the difference between them simply being the shape in midfield. The diagrams below show both variations of his 4-3-3 system.

[IMG]http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h243/salisbury1234/433holding.png[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h243/salisbury1234/433twodeep1.png[/IMG]

In the first the midfield is set out with a holding midfielder, he dictates the rhythm and tempo of the game. The two more advanced central midfielders have to have the capacity to control the game but also to run forward and backwards. They have to play in the corridor of space running forward when the team moves forward attacking and backwards to get back into position to cover when defending.

The second variation is with two central midfielders and one more advanced attacking midfielder. The two central midfielders hold position in this system and dictate from behind, the attacking midfielder is then the one who moves forward when attacking.

Rodgers first league game of the season was against West Bromwich Albion away, during this game some problems became apparent. Liverpool ran out 3-0 losers on the day and finished the game with 10 men. The major problem was that when the central defenders were trying to pass their way out from the back, they were often closed down and lost possession of the ball. This led them to give away two penalties in the game, one of which was saved but the second was dispatched. Although Liverpool lost the game by three goals, they dominated possession with 60%.

Liverpool’s second fixture was at home to Manchester City, this game saw an improved performance. Liverpool were on top for most of the game and looked really comfortable, it was again some mistakes that led to them giving away goals. The first came when Carlos Tevez pulled out wide and easily beat Raheem Sterling, Tevez then got in a cross which should have been easy to defend. A mix up in the back led to Yaya Toure getting a shot away which nested in the bottom corner. Liverpool got ahead in the game after this and once again looked comfortable, that’s when the problem from the first game hit again. Skrtel couldn’t find a forward pass so he played the ball blindly back to Pepe Reina, Tevez latched onto the pass rounded Reina and made it 2-2.

Liverpool’s third game was against Arsenal, despite dominating possession again with 53% they lost 2-0. Some more problems became apparent in this game, Rodgers decided to go with the one holding midfielder and two box to box players. Arsenal’s first goal came after some good play from Liverpool, they passed out from the back and worked the ball really well down the right hand side. Glen Johnson passed infield to Steven Gerrard, who then attempted a first time pass which was cut out. Arsenal then broke forward in numbers and the two box to box midfielders struggled to track back. Liverpool’s midfield was easily bypassed and they were now left with Arsenal’s forward line breaking onto the two centre backs. Glen Johnson was unable to get back into position, and the ball was well worked to Podolski who dispatched well making it 1-0. The second goal came when Santi Carzorla took a speculative strike from a wide angle, Reina blundered and parried the ball into the net at his near post.

The next fixture was against Sunderland, Liverpool again dominated the game with 66% possession. This was once again not enough to secure a win and although Liverpool managed 23 shots they only managed to score one goal. Sunderland scored through their only shot on goal in the whole game, Steven Fletcher doing well to get in front of Skrtel and find the net.

Next was a hard tie at home against Manchester United. Once again Liverpool managed to dominate possession with 52%, despite being reduced to 10 men for 52 minutes of the tie. The game was settled by a late penalty and United took the win despite Liverpool’s dominance in a game which saw United manage just 3 attempts on the Liverpool goal.

It was in Liverpool’s sixth game of the season the first win was recorded. A game of total domination from Liverpool with 67% of possession, which saw them demolish Norwich 5-2. Although Liverpool won this game quite convincingly, some mistakes led to two sloppy goals being conceded. Reina blundered again parrying a shot straight into the path of Morison, who made no mistake in sending it home. The next Norwich goal came from a mistake which went unnoticed by a lot of pundits. The blame for the goal was largely put onto the shoulders of Skrtel, but it was in fact a result of Andre Wisdom moving out of position. The young defender stepped upfield leaving Grant Holt unmarked, the ball was then played over Wisdom into Holt. Skrtel shuffled across but couldn’t time the interception, this led to Holt getting through on goal and netting well.

The next game was against Stoke, a game which saw Liverpool dominate again managing 63% possession and 18 shots. Unfortunately Liverpool didn’t take any of their chances and the game ended in a 0-0 draw.

As you can see from the Premier League games Liverpool have played, apart from two clearly bad performances against West Brom and Arsenal they haven’t actually played that bad. Dominating games and creating chances, the problems lay within the chance conversion and individual errors. So why has the chance conversion been so bad?

Well, Liverpool got rid of some key goal scorers in the summer. Kuyt, Maxi and Bellamy being three good players who weigh in with goals. They also allowed Andy Carroll to leave on loan, leaving them with only Luis Suarez and Fabio Borini upfront. Borini has mostly been used in a wide role which isn’t his natural position, and Suarez has been used as the focal point of the attack. Suarez seems to be better when he drops deep, turns and runs at defenders. He also seems to score more goals from outside the area. That being said if Suarez was deployed in a deeper role, that leaves a place for a more natural finisher to be brought in and placed upfront. Perhaps in January Liverpool will look to buy a goalscorer, there has been links to a number of targets. Son Heung-Min of HSV is reportedly under consideration, it would be a great piece of business if Liverpool could pick him up for anywhere near the fee’s being reported. Another option is to recall Andy Carroll in January, there was a lot of debate as to whether he can play in Brendan’s system. I personally think he would fit perfectly into the system and if Suarez drops to a deeper role, it could potentially be a great combination. It would also be a good option if the tiki-taka passing wasn’t working against an opponent, stand the ball up to Carroll he could knock the ball down for Suarez to run onto or score himself. As for the questions about if he’s technically good enough to play in the system, I think he proved towards the end of last season and in the Euro’s that he’s actually more than good enough with his feet.

As for the problems with the individual errors, I think that was to be expected. The defenders are being asked to get the ball more and play out from the back, a concept there not entirely used to. They did occasionally pass the ball between the back line last season, but more often than not they just played the long ball upfield. I’m pretty sure that once they get used to the system and the movement in front of them becomes more crisp, they will have no problems playing out from the back and the mistakes will filter out. Pepe Reina’s poor form has been coming for a season or so now, he’s dipped since Rafa left the club. He made no secret of the fact that he wanted Rafa Benitez back at the club when Kenny Dalglish was sacked. However after seeing his reactions after his mistakes this season it’s clear to see he’s not happy with his form, I believe he’ll be doing everything in his power to rectify this.

There was also some problems within one of the tactical variations, often this season when the wing backs have both pushed on upfield, Liverpool have been left short at the back. This wouldn’t be a problem if the two central midfielders dropped back to help out, making it a four man back line or two banks of two. However in the system with one holding midfielder quite often both wing backs and both box to box midfielders have struggled to track back, this leaves just two central defenders and the holding midfielder back to defend. The holding midfielder has been overrun and bypassed easily in this situation, and then the two central defenders have been outnumbered by attackers. This is a problem I think Brendan needs to look at, Gerrard can’t manage to run forward and then run all the way back to defend anymore. I think there is a way to solve this, if one wing back goes forward the wing back on the opposite side should hold back and drop in to cover. The defence can then shift across making a flat three in defence and a holding midfielder just ahead of them or the wing back can drop in front with the holding midfielder to again make two banks of two.

After looking through the performances of Liverpool this season, I can conclude that the problems don’t entirely lie in the system. I think the system is working with regard to dominating games and creating chances, the slight problems with regard to being caught outnumbered on counter attacks can easily be solved. Looking at the personnel, I think things would be totally different if Liverpool had a proven natural finisher. They may look to add to the squad come January and I’m sure they will. I don’t think Rodgers will be happy with the squad on a whole, but as we all know it takes time to rebuild a team. Rodgers has been put in place to change the fortunes of Liverpool for the long term, people shouldn’t expect too much for the time being. If we look at the positives however, Liverpool are playing good football and dominating games. Liverpool are also creating a lot of chances which, if converted we could be talking about a completely different situation now.

Only time will tell if Brendan Rodgers work will prove to be a success, until then all anyone can do is watch how things unfold.

Thanks for reading.

Robert Salisbury

In The Free Role

Follow me on Twitter - @1RobSalisbury

Comments

[Leo]

Great article.

I agree on the wingbacks choosing their runs totally while the other covers.

What I would like to add is the option that this system could still work with a 3 man central defense in a 3-5(or 2-3)-2 formation.

Against teams like Man CIty and Arsenal, we needed an extra body at the back, two CDMs would have suffice to for any of their counters. However, against teams that have come to defend like Stoke city, I would suggest having an extra body in the opposition's box. This can be done when we play with 3 central defenders, and one capable of bringing the ball up through the centre. Bringing a natural finisher to play in the centre forward role and dropping Suarez to his more dangerous second striker role.
---------------Reina
Wisdom ---- Skrtel------Agger
----------Allen-----Sahin-------
Sterling------StevieG-----Assaidi/Suso
----------Morgan-----Suarez-----

When Lucas comes back and having Allen playing a little higher, we would have a greater implementation of the system.

[Robert Salisbury]

3 at the back would be really interesting, and the extra man upfront would be really useful as you say against the team who come to defend.

maybe this could be a possibility.

------------- Reina
Coates-----Skrtel------Agger
---------Allen-----Sahin-------
Johnson---Stevie---Sterling
-------Morgan--Suarez------

This would then be simple to reshuffle if we need to revert back to a back four, quite simply shuffle the defence across and drop Johnson back in. Glen would be then at right back with Coates and Skrtel in the centre and Agger on the left. Morgan can then drop out wide to the position he has been mostly played in this season and Suarez remains up top like this.

------------------ Reina
Johnson--Coates--Skrtel--Agger
-------------Allen-----Sahin-------
Morgan---Stevie---Sterling
------------------Suarez------

Would be interesting to see, although I personally think Michael N'goo should be given a chance before Morgan. I actually quite shocked that he's been overlooked so far.

[Leo]

Yes, the core remains. Coates would be good there, as would Johnson(RW)

I still have my doubts about Glen at right back. Playing in the current set up, he does well attacking and have been found to be missing at times defending. That's the only "minor" reason why I opted him out and pushed the responsibility to someone else. Ideally yes, it would work when Glen plays there. This system as with any other has to have the personnel to suit it.

When we revert to a back four, the two would have to turn into wingbacks, i.e. Johnson and Agger, to suit the system being deployed by BR. Johnson would then be tasked to attacking and providing width down the right. Agger would best be used to bring the ball up through the centre(Allen covering him), having Sahin to cover that left space with Skrtel behind him. Playing with a back four, currently, we require both Allen and Sahin to sit back, Allen being in the deeper role. No question about that. Only with Lucas back can we afford to have Allen slightly forward.

We had some of the best games when we played with 3 man in defense.

Still, being able to shift back into a 4 man or even a 5 man defense is a plus.

Which is why I totally agree with your concept of taking turns to having only ONE wingback attack while the opposite flank covers to defend.

Going further from that version and the 3 man defense is the false 5 man defense that would require the centre backs remain centre backs and stay near the centre most of the time.
Like Glen, the opposite flank (Luis) would be tasked to provide attacks and width and also to defend.
Meaning, we line up with
----Coates-Skrtel-Agger
Glen------Allen--------Enrique
Sterling------Stevie----Suarez
----------Adam

The attack and defense work like how you outlined i.e only one moves forward and the other sits back to form a false 4 man defense
Attacking from the Right :
Glen attacks and Enrique/Robinson sits back while Coates covers Glen. Skrtel and Agger move into their centre back positions.
Attacking from the Left:
Enrique/Robinson goes up and "ideally", Glen would have to sit back a little while Agger covers that space at LB.

When Agger brings the ball up, Enrique/Robinson to move higher, Skrtel to move out wide and Allen to drop back ( as being implemented in the Tiki Taka set up)

When the other teams counter or have possession, we have a 4 man defense that will turn into a 5 man defense once the attacking fullback tracks back into position making a compact defense.

The main difference is that the pendulum flexible 3/4/5 man defense offers more bodies in the back when needed. We can then play with only one CDM as we have that extra body at the back. The downside is that the wingbacks would have to be BOTH adept at attacking AND defending. The personnel has to fit.

[Robert Salisbury]

Firstly sorry for the late reply, secondly I totally agree with you in regard to Glen at right back. He's a really frustrating player for me, me shows so much desire to get forward and attack but little to no desire to get back and defend. I'd seriously think about converting him to a right winger full time and replacing him at right back.

Now I really like the false 5 defence, I'm sure Kenny Dalglish used the same system during his caretaker period. If I remember correctly it was rather successful as well but he later decided to drop the idea. We then wouldn't totally need to rely on Johnson to make it back in time, I wouldn't have Enrique on the other side though. I really didn't get all the hype about him last season and I'm pretty glad he hasn't played that big a part in this season so far, I found him far too casual last year and not urgent enough. He lets players get far to close to him and tries to roll them every time and got found out a bit leading to him losing the ball a lot, his passing more often than not is very slack as well. I also think the lack of competition for his place last season was a major factor in his dip in form.

Also I think if Glen was on one side and Enrique on the other, we couldn't rely on one to site back. I think they'd both want to push on so much we'd end up with both upfield and Allen having to drop in leaving a huge hole in the middle of the park. Like you said the personnel has to fit, but that's all we're lacking anyway really.

I really can't wait to get Lucas back so we can push Joe Allen on a bit higher up the field, also Lucas will offer a lot more protection for the defence and can easily drop in if the fullbacks go missing.

What are your vies on Stevie? He's been costing us a lot this season with regard to giving the ball away far too cheaply, I think against Stoke alone he gave the ball away some 40 times. It's been another frustrating one we've built play well the he's lost the ball and not been able to run back, leaving us outnumbered and vulnerable. Stoke didn't take advantage but Arsenal certainly did, I think Man City's first came from him giving possession away cheaply as well.

[Leo]

Cheers mate. Yes, I'd agree on Enrique but I gave him the benefit of the doubt that he could still capture his original LFC form and improve from there while Robinson stakes his claim and gains experience. We all really really really are waiting for the return of Lucas!!!

I like Stevie. He's an awesome player and I may be bias when it comes to the captain.

Firstly, I would say, he is intelligent and technically able to play in BR's system. However, he, like all of the LFC players bar, Allen, would have had to take some time to learn the system(hence much of the early errors) and he is pretty much getting it now. BR himself would have had to learn from the players what each one is capable of and how long they would take to adept to the system.

When BR came in he wanted to play with only one CDM and Allen filled that. He requested both Stevie G and Jonjo/Sahin to play the two Attacking Midfielders role. However, as we know, Sahin was just brought in only a few days before the Arsenal game and was still learning the system, so when Stevie G lost possession, Allen was too far back from the other two attacking midfielders. Against Man City, it was Jonjo and Stevie being up front and too far from Allen, which is why we were attacking well enough (had the goals! just leaked in 2). I would say this is due to the players being given the task(and was still learning) to attack and track back to defend that they have had to adjust to and, well, learn the hard way. Personally, I would have preferred to have a true CDM (Lucas) play the CDM or we have two midfielders i.e. Allen and Sahin sit back to protect the back UNTIL the players get use to what the manager wants and can do it week in week out. Also, against Manc City, Reina was also adjusting to the system. Reina has been asked to play the ball out from the back. With Man City committing bodies forward, BR could have given word to Reina to by pass them with a throw or kick directly to the forwards, in my opinion. Even Stoke City were ready to pounce on the passes coming out from the back. Playing out from the back is affecting Reina as it is suppressing his attacking skills and Reina has helped a lot with his ability to distribute the ball, some even leading to assists for goals and he is now being asked to take that out from his game. BR has to be able to use this talent occasionally or when it is needed because Reina can spot space for forwards to run into.

Yes, I do agree that Stevie G may have given away the balls cheaply, but if I remember correctly, these were upfield and if we cannot play a system that can defend from losing a ball upfield, we are in real trouble. I would go so much to say that all we needed was an extra body at the back (again, until we really play the system). Like you mentioned, a wingback sitting back while the opposite flank attacks would have suffice to nullify much of the threat in that Allen would be closer to the threat. Or another midfielder much closer to Allen.

Specifically on Stevie G, like I said, I am biased. I would love to see Stevie G being given the Attacking Midfielder role sitting in front of the 2 CMs and the centre of the attacks. I think he can pick out a pass, through ball, as good if not better than any from the team. I think he is most dangerous playing facing the oppositions goal rather than with his back to it (in a centre forward position), because he is quick, he has the arsenal and goal threat from outside the box, (as can be seen from how he latched on to a loose ball during the Man City game I think when Sterling ran into some defender), he has the skill to go pass defenders, his footballing mind works well with Suarez,etc. He is also capable of going wide and putting in a decent cross ( although of late, we have seem to not have the striker to get to the end of crosses in the box), a deadly skill for many teams in the league. In addition, he is clever and experience to pick his runs into the box to arrive at the right time.
I would also love to see our wide forwards run across the box more often ( exchange sides once a while during the game with Sterling and Assaidi capable of doing so) as this will drag the fullbacks across and create space and confusion.

Yes, he can improve or he has given away cheap balls but I feel he made mistakes, rather than he is not capable of passing which would then be a serious problem. This could be down to form, fitness or the some sort wrong judgment and not due to him being incapable of keeping possession. While these mistakes/errors have proven costly, they can be rectified when we have a better defensive system in place which is taking place and of course, with a coach that points out the better footballing decisions to take. Forwards are tasked to take more risks and Stevie G is one who will take that risk as does Suarez. The problem with Stevie G is that he is more central rather than forward when he loses possession but like I said, when we have the defensive set up in place, it should not stop Stevie G from taking risks that could pay off.

In the system BR wants to implement, many say Stevie G is restricted because he cannot go full throttle and use his power play but I feel, if BR is smart (and he sure seems to be), he would coach Stevie G to look for moments to do precisely that, to fully utilize his assets rather than probing for the perfect penetration. A coach as good as BR can make use of Stevie G's attacking assets and allow him the freedom to express it on the field. This can only be done when we have confidence that our defense will hold. Sure, we can ask Stevie G to defend from the front and he will, but he cannot chase players from upfield all the way down every single time he loses the ball anymore, that much is sure. I am of the believe that a player can make things happen out of nothing and Stevie G is such a player. What I mean is, instead of constantly probing and looking for a weak spot, which may not be seen, a weak spot can appear when it is busted open. Sometimes, defenders make mistakes due to the risks taken which cannot be seen until the risk has been played. Stevie G's robust style of play produces such risks to be played.

In any system, the personnel has to fit and Stevie G for me is best used in attacking and lesser in defending. Yes, it is frustrating when a player loses possession cheaply. I just think that in the Stoke game, we were playing with 2 more centrally defensive midfielders who form a defensive system that could then better cope with Stevie G losing possession as is the case should be for any team and their attack minded players.

Still, I would rest Stevie G more often and save him for crunch games while giving run outs to Jonjo/ Suso and the likes.