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Jurgen Klopp, the head coach of Liverpool, has a lot of complaints from fans visiting the stadium. He felt that he was not sending proper support.

Liverpool met West Ham United in the quarterfinals of the 2023/24 League Cup on the 21st and won a 5-1 victory, but the club's manager said bitter words to fans at a press conference after the game. "If you don't plan to cheer hard in the upcoming league match against Arsenal, hand over your tickets to others immediately," Klopp said, criticizing the fans' passive support.

The same was true in the league match against Manchester United on the 18th. "I've never seen Liverpool fans so quiet," Manchester United legend defender Gary Neville said after the game.

However, some argued that the reason why there are few reactions, such as fans cheering, is because Klopp's current tactics are not fun.

"The Athletic," said after watching the match between Liverpool and Manchester United in person, "Liverpool currently only attacks the center, so it will be difficult when you meet a team with a thick defensive wall."

This refers to Manchester United's tactic in the match against Liverpool. Erik Turnhach, the coach of Manchester United, allowed 34 shots overall in the first and second half of the match, but did not yield a single goal.

After giving Liverpool a chance to attack in a deep space, he stopped the bus and waited. "Liverpool used less of the left and right sides," Hughes said. "After Luis Díaz was substituted, he just got the ball from the left and drove the ball into the center where the defense was concentrated."

Klopp calls this new centralized tactic "Liverpool 2.0." However, critics say it is an upgrade that is not as good as in the past.

In the past, Klopp actively used both sides and often used plays that hit inwards from the sides. "In the past, there were players who would pass when wing-backs moved forward together, and Luis Díaz caught the ball," Hughes said. "Side defenders such as Tsimikas Costas and Andrew Robertson before the injury are now playing traditional fullbacks and controlling their attacking instincts."

This leads to the absence of dominance in both sides. The player who was most affected is Dacia Mohamed Salah. They claim that as Klopp moved Trent Alexander-Arnold, who originally used as a flanker, to center midfielder, and as the team's power was concentrated in the center, there was no player overlapping in Salah's direction, there was no way to pass.

In addition, it has been analyzed that it has become more difficult for Salah to score a goal. Hughes pointed out that "Salah now, unlike in the past, is more distant from the opponent's goalpost when he receives a pass," and that the build-up is not smooth, so he has to come down and receive it himself

Eventually, it caused a sharp drop in the number of cross attempts. According to the graph of the number of crosses per 90 minutes presented by The Athletic, the league won the last 2019/20 season, scoring 17.7 crosses per game. On the other hand, it can be seen that this season has decreased significantly to an average of 11.2.

In addition, if the opponent sets up a "bus," such as against Manchester United in the last game, it becomes difficult to enter the penalty box with many chances to score. This forces shots out of the box, and of course, the success rate is inevitably much lower. Compared to the 2019/20 season when they won the championship, the ratio of mid-range shots to all shots increased by about 10%.

Hughes added that in the match against West Ham, Dominique Sobosleri, Alexis McAllister and Harvey Elliott tried mid-range shots to create a wonder goal, but it was possible because West Ham had relatively less pressure than Manchester United.

"West Ham allowed a lot of shots in dangerous areas," he said. "Liverpool happily snatched this opportunity."

Hughes said, "Is Liverpool 2.0 more exciting than in the past? I don't think so," adding, "Tactics that give up both sides and take the formation narrowly cannot be effective." In his opinion, Darwin Nunes and side resource Diaz, who often play as one-top, should especially try harder. This is because it has less influence than players who have played fantastic combinations with Salah in the past, such as Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino.

This is evident in the share of attack areas. In the past, Liverpool used a tactic in which both wing-backs penetrated the sides and increased the number of attacks while the so-called "Manura" line consisting of Mane, Firmino and Salah put pressure on opposing defenders.

With the help of the 'Manura' line, Liverpool had 6.6 attack opportunities per 90 minutes in the opponent area in the 2019/20 season. Since then, it has increased to 7.6 in the 2021/22 season, but this season it is only 5.8 times. Critics point out that it is difficult to create scoring opportunities due to the lack of pressure from the front.

Overall, "Liverpool 2.0" is at a transitional point of tactics, so it is praiseworthy to be ranked second in the league, but the fun of the game itself has decreased," Hughes said.

The 18th round of the league against Arsenal, which will be held at 2:30 a.m. on the 24th, which is also Christmas Eve, is likely to serve as a very important watershed for Liverpool. With Arsenal and Liverpool currently ranked first and second, respectively, with only one point gap, the team at the top of the league on Christmas Day is likely to win the season.

Premier League media "Premier League Archive" announced the importance of the end of the year, saying, "The percentage of teams that ranked first on Christmas Day experienced league wins reached 75 percent."