Diego Simeone clearly had a plan for Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson.
Former Chelsea striker Tony Cascarino hailed Diego Simeone’s tactics in Atletico Madrid’s 1-0 victory over Liverpool in the first leg of their Champions League last 16 clash.
In the Times, Cascarino was impressed by the way Simeone shut down Reds full backs Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson on a regular basis.
He said: “Diego Simeone would have seen that Liverpool’s full backs have been causing great danger this season and decided to give them no space at all in advanced positions. Andrew Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold were allowed as much time as they liked on the ball until they reached the final third, at which point that space was closed off.
“Time and again the two players were having to cut back inside rather than head for the byline, and on the rare occasions when they were able to cross the ball their delivery was not up to the usual standard.”
The conundrum for any team facing this Liverpool side is how to stop the rampant running of the front three into narrow areas while also stretching wide enough to shut down the full backs.
That can become a front five at times and Liverpool just keep prodding until they find a gap. They have managed to do that in all but one Premier League match this season, when Manchester United held them to a 1-1 draw.
On that day, United managed to shut down Robertson and Alexander-Arnold with a back five. Atletico didn’t do that last night but Simeone is a master defensive tactician and it was absolutely no surprise that he had a plan for the full backs.
Liverpool are more than capable of getting back into the tie and their full backs should expect to see even more of the ball at Anfield in the second leg. They’ll need to use it more effectively than they did here.
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