Liverpool dropped two points at Leeds thanks to a goal from a corner, to go with costly set play goals against Crystal Palace, Manchester United, Brentford, Nottingham Forest...
Thanks to everyone who left a nice comment about Marley on the last chat thread.
Re the defending corners, it's arguably more frustrating that the data looks good... if it was horrendous, we'd have to accept all the goals that are going in. It's a season of moments and the debit balance is hurting hard.
Andrew, really sorry to hear the sad news about Marley — hope you’re doing OK.
On the article: the data tells a fascinating story. From the eye test, football feels more direct and rudimentary this season — less about controlling the ball, more about controlling space and playing the percentages. The problem, as you say, is that those percentages just aren’t working for us.
It all reminds me of ’80s/’90s Serie A — even rugby — with that attritional focus on shape, battles, set pieces and the chaos that follows. We just don’t look alert enough in those moments, and we’re missing a fast, physical outlet up top to counter them. The league feels like it’s drifting toward a more basic, lower-risk style.
Beyond set pieces, is there more evidence of this trend — or are my eyes and memories playing tricks on me?
Got into the thread late, so couldn't join the chorus for Marley, but will now: Sorry to hear about that. That's always one of the worst feelings. Hope the good memories make it easier. (And thanks, as always, for the cogent analysis that avoids all of the other unnecessary drama.)
Thanks to everyone who left a nice comment about Marley on the last chat thread.
Re the defending corners, it's arguably more frustrating that the data looks good... if it was horrendous, we'd have to accept all the goals that are going in. It's a season of moments and the debit balance is hurting hard.
RIP Marley ... take care of yourself Andrew
Sorry to hear about Marley.
Andrew, really sorry to hear the sad news about Marley — hope you’re doing OK.
On the article: the data tells a fascinating story. From the eye test, football feels more direct and rudimentary this season — less about controlling the ball, more about controlling space and playing the percentages. The problem, as you say, is that those percentages just aren’t working for us.
It all reminds me of ’80s/’90s Serie A — even rugby — with that attritional focus on shape, battles, set pieces and the chaos that follows. We just don’t look alert enough in those moments, and we’re missing a fast, physical outlet up top to counter them. The league feels like it’s drifting toward a more basic, lower-risk style.
Beyond set pieces, is there more evidence of this trend — or are my eyes and memories playing tricks on me?
Thanks, Patrick, much appreciated. I'm not doing too badly, thanks.
In terms of evidence of the direct trend, here's a couple of Opta articles along those lines:
https://theanalyst.com/articles/premier-league-2025-26-trends-tactics-long-throws-long-balls-kick-offs
https://theanalyst.com/articles/liverpool-long-balls-premier-league-stats
There's also a chart in here which I stole(!) from an Opta article: https://www.andrewbeasleyfootball.com/p/liverpool-are-an-ineffective-tactical-outlier It shows that lots of teams are playing fewer passes per possession sequence compared with last season.
|Hope these help. Thanks again for your kind words.
Thank you
Thank you Andrew. This is really useful.
Another one I've just remembered (there's a lot of them about!):
https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/13479333/liverpools-vulnerability-to-long-passes-exposed-again-by-sunderland-and-leeds-could-profit-next-the-radar
Likewise … sorry for your loss, Beas. It sounds like Marley went out feeling safe, loved, and happy. Can’t beat that!
Got into the thread late, so couldn't join the chorus for Marley, but will now: Sorry to hear about that. That's always one of the worst feelings. Hope the good memories make it easier. (And thanks, as always, for the cogent analysis that avoids all of the other unnecessary drama.)
Sorry to hear about Marley, mate. Hope you're doing okay.