Thierry Henry has slammed Liverpool for continuing to adopt a high defensive line and warned that ‘you can’t play like that against Villarreal’.
The Reds played out a thrilling 3-3 draw with Benfica at Anfield last night and progressed through to the semi-finals of the Champions League with an aggregate scoreline of 6-4.
The Merseysiders will meet the La Liga outfit in the next round of the competition but former Arsenal star Henry has warned Jurgen Klopp’s side to ‘be careful’.
“Jamie (Carragher) I know you’re not too happy about that, the high line at 3-1,” Henry told CBS Sports (via HITC).
“You can’t play like that against Villarreal.
“You can’t do those mistakes. I mean the job was done. But you don’t want to see that.
“As a coach, I am sure Klopp will address that and we know it won’t be the same back four against Villarreal.
“But that’s twice. Losing against Inter. Briefly against Benfica. But they are through. Although, be careful.”
The high line certainly leaves you vulnerable to balls in behind if your forward players aren’t applying enough pressure to the man with the ball.
The Portuguese outfit managed to evade the offside trap on numerous occasions yesterday and will be questioning how they’ve managed to score three goals but not win the game.
You’d like to think that Klopp sets up his time in a certain way depending on the opponent, but we have operated with the high line for most of the season.
It’s important to take into account that we had made seven changes for yesterday’s clash with the Lisbon-based side, so there’s no need for any serious concern, but it’s something that our coaching staff will certainly be analysing.
From the side that played out a 2-2 draw with Manchester City last weekend, there were three changes in defence alone as well as Joe Gomez, who is naturally a central defender, deputising for Trent Alexander-Arnold at right-back.
Let’s hope our defence is back to its best for Saturday’s huge clash with City at Wembley.