Andy Robertson has shared what the Liverpool squad have been working on during their warm-weather training camp out in Dubai.
Speaking in an interview with the Liverpool Echo, the left-back claimed Jurgen Klopp’s men have been hard at work, trying to improve upon their pressing.
“We’ve been working a lot on pressing, counter-pressing and choosing our moments because in games we’ve not done that enough at times and in some games, we’ve sort of half-pressed,” he said.
“That is the worst thing you can do because if you go into it and you’re not 100% that’s when teams can pick you off. We’ve done that in a few games this season.
“But then again, in other games we’ve been excellent at it. Manchester City, Ajax, Tottenham; we’ve been looking at all the good games where the pressing came from. We’ve been so good [generally] at sitting in our block, picking our moments and knowing when to press. And if we’ve lost the ball then we have reacted so quickly.”
Liverpool are working on their press
Ever since Klopp took the reins at Anfield, the Reds have become notorious for their pressing ability.
The front-three of Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane were feared by Premier League defences as a consequence, as the attack gave the opposition no time on the ball.
However, with the club’s congested schedule, it has become apparent that this is not always sustainable – especially with a thin squad.
The likes of Manchester City can do this week-in, week-out, because they are able to rotate their XI as regularly as they like.
This isn’t the case for Liverpool, who often use the same starting line-up across multiple games in a single week.
However, having added a number of younger fresh faces to the squad, the Reds need to get back to this intense playstyle. Hopefully the coaches can sort this out before the season commences again on boxing day.