Okay so this morning I grabbed my coffee super early because honestly I was buzzing about last night’s Liverpool versus Brentford clash. Had this gut feeling there was something tactical worth digging into, especially after hearing Klopp talk about Brentford being a “properly annoying” team to face. Decided right then I’d sit down and really dissect the game myself, see what patterns popped out.
Getting Started Was…Messy
First thing, I plopped myself on the couch with my notepad – yeah, old school, but scribbling helps me think. Booted up the match replay on my streaming thingy. Instantly hit a snag. My initial plan was just watch and jot down anything obvious, like who crossed the ball or who scored, duh. But man, that felt useless after like ten minutes. Everything was happening fast, players moving everywhere, and my notes looked like chicken scratch. Totally useless.
Felt myself getting frustrated, honestly. Paused the replay. Sipped my now-lukewarm coffee. Needed a different angle. Remembered something from ages ago about tracking player positions? Focused purely on one Brentford player for a bit – that Norgaard guy in midfield. Saw him constantly dropping really deep, practically into their own back line whenever Liverpool pressed high. Then, boom, they’d launch it long straight to Ivan Toney. Lightbulb moment! That felt like their whole escape plan.
Figuring Out Liverpool’s Puzzle
Okay, Brentford’s long ball thing kinda made sense now, but what was Liverpool trying to do? This part took serious rewinding. Like, constant rewinding. Noticed Trent Alexander-Arnold spending way more time playing centrally when Liverpool had the ball, almost like a midfielder. But then whenever Brentford got the ball back, he had to sprint back out wide to cover, and sometimes he looked like he’d run a marathon already. You could see the gaps open up behind him a couple of times.
Also tried tracking how many times Mo Salah got the ball one-on-one out wide against the Brentford left-back, Rico Henry. Felt like Salah was trying to isolate him constantly. Wrote down timestamps each time it happened: 32nd minute… 57th minute… 68th minute. Saw the patterns building. Liverpool definitely wanted Salah in those situations.
The “Aha!” Moments and Jumbled Notes
Things started clicking together, but my notes were a disaster. Had stuff like:
- Brentford GK -> LONG kick -> Toney (ALWAYS)
- Trent middle -> looks lost running back
- Salah vs Henry (32m, 57m, 68m, 71m) -> Henry actually did okay mostly
- Szoboszlai guy runs SO much press
Looked back at this and groaned. Needed to force some structure before my brain melted. Took a deep breath and basically restructured everything.
Making Some Sense of It All
Forced myself to group my scribbles under two big headings:
- Brentford’s Main Trick: Playing super direct using Toney and those deep midfielders dropping to receive. Keeper boots long, Toney wins it, midfielders come late. Simple but kinda painful for Liverpool.
- Liverpool’s Big Plan (That Had Problems): Wanted Salah to wreck Henry one-on-one and have Trent step inside to help control things. BUT… Trent looking tired chasing back exposed them a few times. Also, their high press got bypassed easily by the long balls to Toney.
Basically realised two armies clashed head-on. Liverpool pushed high and tried to dominate the middle with Trent, forcing Salah into isolation. Brentford just bypassed the whole midfield chaos by going long and quick to Toney. Their plan worked better until Konate got sent off, obviously.
Final Thoughts Before My Brain Quit
Honestly, felt fried by the end. Looking at my restructured notes felt way better though. Learned a ton just by forcing myself to watch one player at a time or focus on one specific thing, like the keeper’s kicks. Biggest takeaway? Tactics aren’t just fancy diagrams. It’s guys like Norgaard running miles backwards to create an escape route, or Trent being caught in two minds about where he should be. Pretty wild when you see how much thought actually went into what looks like just guys running around. Coffee was long gone by this point!
