John Giles has claimed that Jurgen Klopp’s use of a high line with his Liverpool side is entirely unnecessary.
The former Leeds United star claimed that the tactic in question was putting the Reds in a great deal of danger in games.
“Liverpool have terrific players, and I see the stats which are impressive, but It doesn’t mean it’s right,” the 81-year-old spoke on The Stand with Eamon Dunphy (via HITC).
“If they did it the way I think they should do it, they don’t need to use the high line, it’s the old offside trap from my day, it’s the same thing.
“I don’t think they need to put themselves in any danger with the players they have.
“I don’t think they need to play the high-line in the way they play it.”
The high defensive line favoured by the Merseysiders under the German has arguably proved highly successful this term with key men back from injury in the defence.
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It’s hard to understand how our set-up continues to attract criticism in light of how well it’s functioned with world-class operators like Virgil van Dijk available to execute it.
One gets the sense that such critique has been fuelled by prior examples from commentators on programmes like Match of the Day, which have previously focused on chances created against us regardless of the fact that they were offside in the first place – as was the case after our victory over Burnley in February.
With all due respect to Giles, there’s fundamentally little in the way of evidence on offer that the high line is faulty tactic, and we certainly hope it remains that way for the foreseeable future.
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