Andoni Iraola’s brand of risk-reward football is starting to take hold at Liverpool and captain Virgil van Dijk has said the players are becoming increasingly confident at committing to the game plan.
The reintroduction of a high press by the Basque this season following Arne Slot’s slower, possession-based style has seen individuals pushed out of their comfort zone and having to take additional responsibility for their decision making.
For example, there are numerous examples of Van Dijk venturing 15 to 20 yards into the opposition half to close down or right back Ronald Araujo coming a long way infield to negate an opponent.
That can leave space in behind and Van Dijk accepts there has been some “chaos” but the benefits are starting to be seen with the Wednesday’s Carabao Cup victory over Chelsea on penalties a fifth successive victory.
Sunday presents the greatest challenge as Arsenal visit Anfield but Van Dijk said they could not treat the defending champions any differently.
“I think against every team it’s a challenge because when teams know that we want to win the ball high they try to drag you into difficult spaces and you have to read the game,” he said.
“For example, Hendo [former Liverpool teammate Jordan Henderson] dropped deep trying to pull one of us out to leave a space in behind so you have to then think about are you going or not? So it’s just reading the game as well.
“But especially here, at the start, you have to go all-in and take that risk. If you win the ball high, you see the crowd coming up as well, and it just brings that energy that will help throughout the whole 90 minutes.
“But it’s just a trend now that everyone just goes one-v-one and then you just have to think about what you’re going to do.
“Are you going to go direct and play the second ball or you’re going to try go through them? That’s the risk-reward you have to take.
“You have to be able to adapt and that’s part of our jobs as well. The manager can obviously put the plan out but we as players have the responsibility in order to execute and win the game as well, with the help, of course, of the manager and the staff, but we on the pitch are the ones that have the most influence.”
Liverpool appointed Iraola to bring back a high-intensity game which had disappeared under his predecessor but Van Dijk stressed this was not a return to Jürgen Klopp’s gegenpressing.
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“I think it’s a different era, different times. Under Jürgen, we pressed a lot with shuffling across, we tried to box them in one side, but football has changed,” he added.
“So it’s different — but what isn’t different is the amount of sprints and running and trying to get the ball back as soon as possible.
“Also we have to be a little bit more direct and that helps again winning the ball high.
“You have to find the right balance because I feel that we can still play through the press, but we can also go direct and at home sometimes you have to.
“You have to try to create this chaos, second balls, battles, and that’s what we still are learning.”
