UCL Debrief: ‘Embarrassing’ Liverpool get away with it in Paris

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1:11You'll reach the right buyers because you can target by company, industry, job title, and more. So cut the bull spend. Advertise on LinkedIn, the network that works for you. Spend$250 on your first campaign on LinkedIn ads and get a 250 credit for the next one. Just go to linkedin.com slash broadcast. That's linkedin.com slash broadcast. Terms and conditions apply. On the Football Daily Podcast, Champions League Debrief with Steve Crossman. Hello there, welcome to the Champions League Debrief. Liverpool have been beaten 2-0 at Paris Saint-Germain in the first leg of their Champions League quarterfinal.

1:55The Knights' other tie finished Barcelona 0, Atletico Madrid 2. Atleti's first win at the camp now in 20 years. More reaction on the way to that. Our major focus, though, is the Parc des Prants. We've got Charlie Alden with us in studio in Paris, Ian Dennis, Paul Robinson and Julien Leran. Ian, this was 2-0 going on. Four, five, more? Well, they got away lightly, Steve. I mean, Paris Saint-Germain's dominance should have produced a greater margin of victory. Douai's deflected shot gave the defending champions an 11th-minute lead. We then had a moment of individual brilliance from Kwaratskeli to secure a fine second after 65 minutes.

2:31But when you consider that Mamadashvili made at least three significant saves, Dembele squandered a great chance in the second half and he struck a post late on. You had VAR overruling a penalty award for Canate's challenge on Zaire Emery. But Liverpool were fortunate when VAR didn't intervene after Canate's push on Mendes. And Liverpool, at the end of the day, didn't have a shot on target. This was just a damage limitation exercise. The tie is still alive. However, you would back Paris Saint-Germain to score at Anfield and Liverpool have an awful, an awful lot of work to do for the return leg.

3:10Jules, 2-0 home win in a Champions League quarterfinal is clearly always a good thing. But do you think Luis Enrique will be thinking this tie should be over now?

3:20Julien Laurens:Yeah, yeah, maybe. I think they would look back at the game and think, okay they should have been like deno just said three four five easily i mean the stats are such an embarrassing reading i think if you're liverpool a liverpool player staff member fan a club director anything it's just embarrassing i think what they produced tonight or what they didn't produce actually tonight but from a phd point of view you could be disappointed by the result in a way it's still a two-nil win in a quarterfinal of the champions league but the way you play tonight we're talking with robo just off air and up during the news but the rotations the permutations between players and Wilson-Rique said something really interesting the other day he said wow my dream is to have 20 a squad of 20 players and those 20 players can play in every position bar goalkeeper of course but and he he said Nuno Mendes he could play left back left midfielder left winger right winger number nine and and to be fair today we saw Nuno Mendes left winger at the end and then left back obviously in his favorite position but that's the idea and Wilson-Rique is coaching those players to play in all those positions in the same game with all those rotations, which I think Liverpool had just no answers tonight once again, like last season.

4:26Charlie, I feel like the future of Arnazlott, it's still going to be the talking point here. And we spoke a lot before the game about where the kind of dial is on his future, how the players might be feeling, how we know fans are feeling, certainly some of them. Does the result and or the performance tonight move that dial at all for you? We could dissect it and we can realise that PSG is a very, very top team in Europe against some very top players. I don't think it changes the dial. Again, it's a performance that they've gone away into Paris who have dominated the game. And I think you give, not an arrogance, but ultimately a thing that you say to yourself, by the way, this is a very good Paris Saint-Germain team.

5:08They're the champions of Europe. It's a tough place to go. We've been outdone. We've been outclassed, but we've managed 2-0 And I think What Julian was saying there About Enrique I think there's just Real clarity In what he wants Enrique as a coach And I think I look at Mikel I look at Pep I look at Vincent Kompany They're all quite Similar coaches In terms of Every player could play The position They could play a position You could play a winger At full back You could play a centre back In midfield And they'll know their jobs At the moment With this Liverpool team I don't know if they know Their jobs They're going man for man They're all over the pitch They've been killed On transition So many times this year And again tonight Too many runs people not matching runs and if you don't do the hard yards and you don't match the runs in behind it becomes so difficult and the movement at the top end of the pitch is electric from Paris-Angelo Man tonight and it causes so many problems.

5:55I suppose Paul it's one thing to know and recognise that you are as a club quite a long way behind the opposition and that was probably true of Liverpool before the Man City game kicked off the other day and it was certainly true before this game kicked off but when you see it play out in front of you when it's just underlined how far off the best in the world you are now, that's a big problem. Yeah, you're not wrong. I mean, that was our best against their best. That was our champions against their champions. And our champions weren't even anywhere near. They came here tonight. Obviously, they're not in a good run of form at the moment.

6:27The confidence is very, very low. And they're a team that are creaking. Hence the reason that he played the back five. And as soon as you play a back five, it sends the wrong signals out to me. That's not playing to Liverpool's strengths. That's defending their weaknesses and defending against what attacking problems that the opposition are going to give you. because in Hakimi, Mendes, Kevrat Scalia, Due, he knew on a slot the problems that his team would have in the wide areas. And they were so submissive just by playing that formation, but then throughout the whole game. I mean, you look at the possession stats, it really is, like Joel said, from a Liverpool point of view, if they'd have done a smash and grab and it was nil-nil or got away with a one-nil victory or a one-nil defeat, it'd have been, OK, they've come here and they've done a job.

7:03But there was nothing good about that performance tonight from Liverpool. The thing is, though, yesterday, Steve, he was talking on a slot about how Paris Saint-Germain liked to play football the way he likes to play. and he talked about going toe-to-toe with them. And he was referencing about how he doesn't like people who time waste. Liverpool, from the very first minute, were out to try and kill the game by time-wasting. Now, of a certain generation, that's what used to happen. But he went all against his principles and at no point did Liverpool look to try and compete here against Paris Saint-Germain.

7:31I think they would try to compete, but they were outclassed. And by the way, I don't think it's a bad thing. I don't see it. OK, he's went to five because he respects his opponent and he goes, yeah, we're not in great form, we're not as good as what we expect to be at the moment. We have to try something different against a team, an opposition who are flying high, champions of Europe, you know, they've got real good threats at the top end of the pitch, so I don't think it's a negativity, I just think you have to respect what your opponent is. If Pep played five, he'd be like, oh, he's a genius because it's Pep Guardiola.

8:03Arnish Lott goes, he's under a bit of pressure, the results have not been there, and he plays about five arches, it's negative. No He's never done it He's never played a back five Pep's never played a back five Pep's never played a back five Five weeks ago against Arsenal With 15-20 minutes to go The way that they've played tonight They've sent out the wrong signals What happens is in a back five You end up becoming into a defensive shape But there's nothing wrong with him going saying By the way, I think we need to play a back five There's nothing wrong with that At the end of the day he makes a decision What he feels best for the game Because it's a tough game there If he goes and plays 4-3-3 he could have got crucified and that's what's happened before he's went with a back five okay not performed well different things than that and you hold your hands up Liverpool never performed but this PSG team are a top team so I don't listen I don't see any problem why he can't go to a back five he's just never performed again and that's something that he'll have to understand and the players will have to understand

9:00Julien Laurens:the issue I have with the back five really is that Liverpool didn't come here to play football tonight that's not what they came for and this is not Liverpool I don't really care if you're in good form or not good form, if you still have good players to play better than what we saw. Expected goals is 0.18. Like Dano said, no shots on time. The three shots in 90 minutes, the three they had are all on the edge of the box. That's all. They just did nothing. And you can play the back five as long as you come here to play football, not just park the bus. And I agree with you on the back five. Mourinho's parked the bus for years and become as a hero.

9:31Julien Laurens:Yeah, but this is not Slot. It's not Mourinho. You need to find a way. You find a way of winning a football match. and if that's going to back five that Fee felt that was right for this group, you do it. You have to go against your principles or whatever. You go against it. You have to find a way. But then it has to work. And if it doesn't work, then you fall. Then all of a sudden you're under a wee bit more pressure if it doesn't work. But everybody goes, oh, Mourinho plays five at the back and oh, it's amazing and that. So what? You find a way? I don't care if I'm... That was his identity though.

9:57Julien Laurens:Do you see what I mean? But you have to find a way. You have to find a way. But when you've never done it in your two years here or almost two years here and then suddenly you say, they haven't even worked, somebody was telling me earlier, they haven't even worked at it on training. Well, that's why he's paid the big bucks at Liverpool. He makes a decision as a coach what he feels best. So for us to have an opinion on back five, back four, whatever, it doesn't matter. Slott makes a decision with his coaching staff and that's the way they felt that was the best way to get a result in Paris Saint-Germain.

10:29But what we'll judge him on and what we'll talk about is results and performances. Of course we will. And he hasn't been able to do that with what he's done. And that's just another game. And that adds more pressure to him. So he's gone away from what he feels is right, playing 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1. And he's went to a back five. If he doesn't win the game, he adds pressure to himself. But as a head coach, you have to make these decisions what you feel is right on the moment. And, you know, that's the way you do it as a coach. And you say, but he's not worked on it. Of course they've worked on it. They understand what there is.

10:58It's principles. It's wing-back jumps to full-back, slide over. What your problem is, you end up having Kanati in the wide area there's a full-back defending or Joe Gomez defending wide 1v1 in a left-back position. You know, there's nothing different. Front three still pressed the back three of PSG. So again, it's just there is different ways of playing the game and trying to find ways of winning. And he felt that a back five was the right way. Has it worked? No. That's the way he is. There's also the possibility, Paul, that Arna Slott looks at it and thought, I'm just going to do something completely different because I can almost guarantee if we do what we have been doing, then there's only going to be one result.

11:36So maybe it was just a big dice roll. Whether he rolls a one or not is another question. It was a defensive setup. That's what it was. It was coming away to get a result in the Champions League and it was damage limitations from the outset. They offered very little to nothing going forward the whole game but you could see the structure that they were in. They would reverse and sit in this back five with the three in front of the back five. As soon as they lost possession, they wouldn't necessarily drop deep but the shape was something clearly that they'd been well drilled into doing. Once they lost possession, we get back in this defensive shape.

12:03we try and protect the wide areas but as the game went on the quality just showed from PSG you look at Hakimi, Mendes in the wide areas regardless of what shape Liverpool were in 4, 5, 6 play what you want they were getting torn apart all over the pitch in the second half I wonder Jules if as I asked Charlie at the start whether or not the dial has shifted on slot after tonight I wonder if maybe things not getting any worse is not going to effectively save him things probably needed to get much better and they certainly haven't done that

12:32Julien Laurens:Yeah, I have to say I'm struggling to see him on that bench next season. I just think this season has been disappointing. And I know it's not just on him. I know there was the injuries and the arrival and the money spent and the new signings, all of that to integrate in the squad. I just think too often this season, they haven't been good enough. And that's on him, not just tonight. Because tonight, I think it's a good debate about the back five and the setup and the kind of mindset that they had. But all season long, really, they haven't been good enough. And they should have been much better than that.

13:05Julien Laurens:And I think I can understand the fans' frustration of some of them, certainly, around slot. Because even in terms of intensity, and again, today, you could look at the second goal, the Varskelyar goal. Amazing goal. There's 27 passes from PSG in that move. So for 27 passes, there's not a Liverpool player close enough to the ball or to a PSG player to make an interception, to make a tackle. look at the way Gvara Scalia runs away from Gravenbesch I mean I don't know Gravenbesch has been one of Liverpool's best players last season for sure and even to some extent this season and yet this is not good enough at this level I'm sorry and then we can talk about intensity I'm just not sure that Slot's message is getting through anymore that's the issue I have some decisions again that's what I'm saying I'm just trying to think back on where it was maybe Gravenbesch doesn't track the run properly of the attacker so again Canati must have been out In the wide areas Trying to deal with the winger And I've seen a number of times Where the ball's over the top Van Dijk's over on the left hand side Canati's on the opposite side Of the pitch still Not covering space Not coming over And trying to get into shape So there was big gaps When you go man for man You get dragged everywhere And if you don't get it right The space is open up And even opportunity for I think Dembele has a shot Where they slide it Through the middle of the defence It's because of man for man and you're opening it up in space.

14:27So it's a huge blow in terms of what, when you play man for man, you have to get everything right for it to work. Some quotes here from Virgil van Dijk talk about playing in a back five. He says, you have to communicate well, you've got to follow your man and wait for the right moment to win the ball. We had the opportunities to do them on the counter. We didn't do it well enough. Hopefully we'll be better at Anfield. I'm not happy losing. The only positive is we have another game next week. I've been to many special evenings at Anfield. Our fans are the backbone of the club. hopefully they can be there for us.

14:56I mean, I know, Ian, it's not the same first leg scoreline as that famous tie you did, the comeback against Barcelona, but it feels like it would need a performance on that level. Definitely the performance, but only twice in the Champions League have Liverpool progressed after a defeat away from home. Chelsea, 2007, they were beaten 1-0 at Stamford Bridge, obviously won the second leg by a goal to nil, went through on penalties. And then that Barcelona game that you're referring to in 2019, when they turned around that 3-0 first leg deficit at the Nou Camp with that famous 4-0 win. But I just can't see it.

15:32I really can't see it. Only because Paris Saint-Germain, I would back them to score a goal. You know, I think Liverpool are going to have to produce the perfect performance to try and even just get the tie level. Not to win it, but just to level the tie because Paris Saint-Germain outclassed them tonight. Well, it's one win in the last six games and that win was against the very poor Galatasaray side at Anfield. This is not something new with Liverpool. This has been building. They've had false dawns this season. You know, the win against Galatasaray at home, the 5-2 win recently against West Ham, and you think the corner's been turned, and I think they've had too many of those occasions this season, Liverpool, and they've not been able to continually put in a level of performance, and that was just another example of it tonight.

16:12Let's turn it on to PSG then, because yes, Liverpool were poor, but PSG are great. I mean, there are so many things we could pick up on, but Fetcher Kfar at Skellia, Charlie. we talked about him a bit before the game it wasn't just the touch and the run on the finish it was the little feint before he shot just totally in control and at the peak of his powers Yeah, he's a top talent again, playing for Napoli and getting a big move to PSG he was, you know I said at the start of the show but getting rid of these superstars your name, Iles Messi, Mbappe people like that Ousmane Delonbelli's stepped up to the plate in terms of he's the sort of main guy for them.

16:49Dewey's a top-top player. And, you know, when you get in that rhythm and you feel confident and you feel like, you know, you're one of the best players in the Champions League, it elevates you to a different level. Yeah, the quality he's shown at times tonight was terrific. And, you know, could have had a couple more goals. And also PSG will be, I think if they look back on it, they'll be disappointed it's only 2-0. Here's one for you, Jules, right? It was about this time last year where we were sort of talking about the prospect of somebody like Rafinha maybe winning the Ballon d 'Or because he was in great form.

17:18Barcelona looked really good. Now, in the end, if you're not in a Champions League final, you're probably not going to win the Ballon d 'Or. I wonder if this wasn't a World Cup year and Georgia aren't at the World Cup and if they were, they wouldn't win it. But if it wasn't a World Cup year, I just wonder if Kfarit Skelia would be right at the top of that conversation.

17:35Julien Laurens:Yeah, I think he's still a bit underrated simply because I think he plays for Georgia and it's a small country. They don't have really the lobby that a French guy or an English guy or Brazilian guy or Spanish guy could have. And that's it. Because again, today, I know the goal is brilliant. His run, just the finish, everything is brilliant. But everything is done for the team as well. Not just in attacking position, but also out of position. The way he helped his full-back in Nuno Mendes, we saw him tackling at some point on the halfway line, on a transition from Liverpool. All of that is just so important in a team.

18:09Julien Laurens:And that's what it brings. And again, I'm glad we highlighted him before the game because obviously we were right and he scored a great goal. But it's the whole job, the whole work that he does for this team that is very special. By the way, we haven't talked about the actual Ballon d 'Or holder, Ousmane Dembele. And the reason we haven't done that is because he could have scored a hat-trick and somehow ended up with nothing. Yeah, he had that great chance in the second half where he's blazed it. And I honestly thought that was going to be the second goal. And then he hit in the post late on with a real fierce, struck right-footed effort that beat Mahmoud Ashvili.

18:41you throw in the fact that Mamed Ashville made at least three excellent saves. The one from Kvarek's Kaley that took a deflection off McAllister in the first half, the one from Hakimi in the second half. This could easily have been five or six for Paris Saint-Germain. And I don't think they could have had any complaints, Liverpool, on that evidence.

19:01Julien Laurens:You know the thing with Dembele, he would be disappointed. Sorry, Robert, before you go. He would be disappointed because he should have scored that one in the second half. There's the one in the first half on that counter-attack that Dewey and Connate push towards him and it takes your first time. But imagine if you're Van Dijk or Connate. And that's why the back five tonight, I'm not so sure, because Dembele is not your traditional number nine. He's the guy, if you look at his hit map, I mean, Luis Enrique has destroyed the idea of a hit map anywhere for his players because, like we said, they just play everywhere, all of them.

19:29Julien Laurens:But him especially must be so hard to mark or so hard to defend against because you're Connate and Van Dijk and you can't always go everywhere with him because he literally goes everywhere. So everything else that he brings this team outside of, okay, he missed a couple of really good chances tonight, but it's just everything that is so unsettling for the opposition. They are a joy to watch, an absolute joy to watch when they play like that. You can see the movement. What we talk about the movement off the ball, and I said it in commentary, there is always somebody available and they control the tempo of the game, whether they're keeping the possession, rotating the ball or whether they're actually going forward with a purpose.

20:01They control this game from start to finish and you could see the way that they control it. The movement is incredible. Like Jules said then, they're very, very difficult to pick up. It's fluid, it's interchangeable, but they all seem to know what each one's doing. They're a very, very good watch. So how do Liverpool stop them next week?

20:15Julien Laurens:I don't know. I think the risk is you have to go for it, but you have to be really brave. You have to go man-man marking everywhere on the page from the get-go and almost do man marking, which I know is impossible over 90 minutes, but have that kind of structure, which Liverpool don't have. And that's why I'm a bit sceptical, even outside of me being a PSG fan. Are you a PSG fan? No, but I just don't know seriously how in six days' time you can turn this and find the right structure to deal with all that movement and rotation. But if there's one way of going, like we saw Bayern doing it here in Paris and PSG made mistakes that night, but when they won in the league phase, you just have to go for it.

20:53Julien Laurens:But you take enormous risk, which can backfire because then you will leave a lot of space for them. And if your press doesn't work once or twice, they'll punish you. But that's why you have to go. And now Liverpool don't have the choice anyway. You can't even give me like, let's wait for the first 25, half an hour. No, you have to go out on Fitzroy away, get that crowd going and go for the juggernaut. They're going to have to score three. I can't see PSG not scoring. So Liverpool are going to have to score three in my opinion. Right, let's get some reaction from Arnazslat. Paris Saint-Germain was by far the better team today.

21:23Could have scored more than two goals. But the good thing was that the players of Liverpool today showed fighting spirit, kept going every time when almost every time when they had the shot we had a lot of bodies behind the ball or protecting our box which was necessary because i already said if you don't track back if you don't run back these players like the ones from city are able to hurt you a lot and so yeah last season at anfield we played a completely different game after 10 minutes we could have been already 2-0 up but we need to have a a better performance and b we definitely need our fans to help us to create an atmosphere where we can rise to a better level than we did today.

22:05I thought we could try to press them really high and aggressive because Jeremy and Miloš are also two players. If you press Hakimi and if you press Nino Mendes, they play and they start to run. No, they don't start to run, by the way. They start to sprint. And actually, it's not even sprinting. It's just a level above sprinting. And you have to cope with that. And usually, usually players like Jeremy and Milos are better equipped for that than out-and-out wingers. But I think we could also see that every time when we tried to press them high and aggressive, those were also the moments where we were completely ripped apart.

22:38I think we got to five or six big chances of them when we tried to be high and aggressive. And in a low block means that we have probably more defenders on the pitch, more tight, more aggressiveness. and the second part I think you notice this probably as well with bringing Joe in you have some set piece quality as well Charlie yeah I get it and Julian there's a limit to what he can say as well yeah but I don't think you can go man for man I think there's just when you go man for man you get dragged everywhere that team need to be in a sort of mid block ready to press set triggers set traps and then go with speed at the top end transition will be key for them so again then speed at the top end of the pitch.