KEOWN TALKS TACTICS
WHAT IT’S LIKE TO BE INSIDE AN INVINCIBLE WINNING MACHINE
MY Arsenal team were nicknamed the Invincibles after 2003-04 and when you are breaking records and going unbeaten, that is exactly how you feel. There is an energy. It is like you are wearing an extra layer of armour. We didn’t care who was coming next — we were ready to go into battle and confident we could beat whoever was in front of us. You get people on the outside looking in who hope you lose and say you cannot keep it up, but you love to prove them wrong. That is how Liverpool should see going to the King Power Stadium tonight, with their 34-game unbeaten record on the line. They are closing in on Chelsea and Arsenal’s respective 40 and
49-game runs and this is the ultimate test for those Liverpool players. They should want their rivals to see them pick up three points and think: ‘Blimey, they’ve been halfway round the world, won a final in extra-time but still ended the week with a win at Leicester.’ If Liverpool stay unbeaten this season, what do we call them? The new Invincibles? The Untouchables? We’ll have to wait and see. At this rate, they could even surpass the points total of the Manchester City ‘Centurions’ in 2017-18. I’m sure they’ll get a suitable moniker if and when their achievements are confirmed, but there is a long way to go. What concerned Arsene Wenger during our Invincibles season was if we lost, how do the players react? When a team hasn’t experienced defeat for so long, the shock of losing could cause a collapse. That was always at the back of Wenger’s mind. We even talked about it as a team, to guard against that situation. You have to keep a lid on those negative thoughts but that fear of losing can put fire in the belly, too. Right now, Klopp’s players will feel bulletproof after lifting the Club World Cup. We all know about Manchester City’s defensive problems this season but look at the options Liverpool have in central defence by comparison: Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez, Dejan Lovren and Joel Matip. Any one of those four could walk into another Premier League team’s XI. For me, Van Dijk and Gomez is a winning partnership. The Englishman is every bit as quick as the Dutchman and his distribution is outstanding. After watching him against Flamengo, I’m convinced
more than ever that Gomez should be Van Dijk’s partner. These two might be a perfect match for Jamie Vardy. The Leicester striker will want to stay as high up the pitch as possible. He needs to be flirting with offside if he is to get behind because Van Dijk and Gomez are both capable of catching him in a foot race. You wonder what formation we will see from Brendan Rodgers. Do they go 4-1-4-1? That set-up reminds me of Manchester City, with Wilfred Ndidi bolted in front of the defence and Vardy forever up front, away from the play like Sergio Aguero. Or do they go 4-1-2-1-2 with Kelechi Iheanacho alongside Vardy and James Maddison playing off the front? Centre backs Caglar Soyuncu and Jonny Evans will give Liverpool’s attackers a hard game. Leicester’s noses might be out of joint after losing at the Etihad Stadium. Pep Guardiola’s side seemed to reaffirm the pecking order. Rodgers will want to see a response from his players, so let’s see if Liverpool’s unbeaten run can withstand it.