Jamie Carragher has shared an interesting take on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football on how both Liverpool and Everton defend wide free-kicks.
Over the weekend, Everton conceded from a wide free-kick at Old Trafford, whilst Liverpool saw John Stones’ goal ruled out for offside during their defeat to Manchester City from a similar position.
Both implemented different tactics in defending those set-piece situations, with Carlo Ancelotti preferring his team to sit very deep inside their box, whilst their neighbours held a high line on the edge of the area.
This is the viewpoint former Liverpool defender Carragher shared on how both Merseyside clubs defend wide free-kicks.
“It’s interesting, especially more with Everton because they are going completely against the grain of what we see from teams now in terms of pushing up with a high line,” said Carragher.
“I noticed at the start of the season that Carlo Ancelotti’s teams were defending a lot deeper – My problem with defending so deep is that if you lose the header then it’s so close to the goal. Whereas, when I watch teams defend high, when they do lose the first header, they might be on the edge of the box.
“The opposite (Liverpool defending wide free-kicks to Everton). You talk about Everton maybe being here (highlights Everton defending deep). Wheres, Liverpool are on the edge of the box.
“They [the Liverpool players] think Gundogan is going to take it (the free-kick). He’s taken it [but] passed it [to his Man City teammate five yards away] and they [the Liverpool players] haven’t moved.
“The only one that slightly moved was Andy Robertson, the rest stayed on that line, and that’s really brave, it really is. And it’s worked massively for Liverpool because of what happened [Stones disallowed goal for offisde].
“With Everton, that’s by design. I don’t particularly like it but it doesn’t mean it is wrong. With Liverpool, again it’s by design, they want to push up.”
It needs to be remembered that was the first time Everton conceded from a wide free-kick this season when Scott McTominay headed in Manchester United’s third goal at Old Trafford on Saturday.
Whilst there are two contrasting styles, it shows that both can work in their own right, as well as have their flaws.
Either way, it makes interesting view from a tactical standpoint.
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