How Liverpool Have Already Replaced Van Dijk

FourFourTwo

How Liverpool have already replaced Van Dijk with Jérémy Jacquet

Using tactical clips and stats, the video argues that Liverpool have already found Van Dijk's long-term successor in Jérémy Jacquet. It concludes that Jacquet's defensive coverage, physicality, passing and line-breaking fit Iraola's system and that he can become the new anchor of Liverpool's back line.

Find out more about NortonVPN here: https://norton.ow5a.net/c/221109/4022657/4405?sharedid=fourfourtwo&param1=aff&param2=ytvideo&param3=vpn&subid1=OctFFT3 Virgil Van Dijk was always going to need replacing at some point, but have Liverpool already got the answer? Like a duck to water, Jeremy Jacquet has stepped into the Premier League with ease, which should be no surprise. From wide coverage to precise through balls, Jacob's here to tell us just how the Frenchman is the future of Liverpool's backline. liverpool football premierleague Buy the latest FourFourTwo magazine here ➡️ https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/FourFourTwo/author/B0GSRRXJWK?ref=srnttsrchlnk1&qid=1786984945&sr=8-1&shoppingPortalEnabled=true ⚽ FourFourTwo - At the heart of football since 1994 - in print - online - on video ⚽ 📰 SUBSCRIBE: https://bit.ly/3ErE4ai 💻 WEBSITE: https://bit.ly/3GFXMC0 Follow FourFourTwo on: Twitter/X: https://x.com/FourFourTwo?lang=en Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fourfourtwouk/?hl=en TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fourfourtwoofficial Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FourFourTwo/?locale=enGB 📥 Sign up below for 𝗘𝗫𝗧𝗥𝗔-𝗧𝗜𝗠𝗘 @FourFourTwo's FREE weekday newsletter 🤝: Transfers 🛒: Deals 🎥: Videos 💡: Quizzes ✍️: Opinion ➕: 𝙈𝙊𝙍𝙀 𝗦𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝘂𝗽 👇 https://t.co/Yn3AQUt7b6

Transcript

Jérémy Jacquet has officially landed in England, but his arrival was planned for a long, long time. And that's no surprise. We're just a few months into his Liverpool career, and he's looked good. So good, in fact, it begs the question, does this bloke even have any weaknesses? From dominating the wide areas to carving open the opposition and being just 21 years old, I'm Jacob 442's resident tactician, and this is how Liverpool have already replaced Virgil van Dijk perfectly. >> A fine piece of defensive work by Jérémy Jacquet >> As we know, Iraola wants to press high. There's eight Liverpool players in frame here. However, if we skip forward a frame, we suddenly see Jérémy Jacquet as the deepest defender, but even then, he's still in the opposition's half. And with the high speed of the Premier League, he has to be able to step and close this space. Or, as he does here, turn and shut down the ball in behind. Which is why it feels like the Frenchman has taken to the Premier League like a duck gliding into the water. Last season, he won 4.36 jewels per 90 with a 67.5% success rate, but he also recorded 4.14 ball recoveries per 90 because he likes to be involved in all parts of center half defending. Conveniently, making him perfect for a side who need to be able to adapt to so many different scenarios. Iraola loves to play in controlled chaos, and that means his players have a mass amount of different roles. With Liverpool going almost entirely man-to-man and creating this box around the ball, Jérémy Jacquet has two roles. He has to protect the space beyond the likely lofted ball over Liverpool's high line, but he has to also go man-to-man and win the individual jewel if it comes short. As we see here, he's anticipated his man come to feet, and that means he's able to plant his own feet and hold up the Fulham player. So, as it comes in, Jacquet can just shrug him off and recoup possession. And that's the brilliance of Jérémy Jacquet because he's so dominant physically, but he's also recorded a top speed of 34.6 km an hour and the 11th most sprints by center backs in the Premier League this season, which in turn allows him to dominate the mid thirds, which is where he really steps into his own because yes, the physical stuff, the defending, the recovery runs, the last ditch tackles, etc., etc. They're brilliant. They're so, so good and so valuable. But what I think makes Jérémy Doku so good is his ability to start attacking moments from those deeper phases. Whether it is he's just won the ball or Van Dijk's playing a sideways ball, he seems to be able to spring Liverpool into attacking phases so quickly, so regularly, and it's been a real standout for him this season. Liverpool in possession will regularly go left to right ending with Jérémy Doku. He then takes an open touch with either side of his boots and instantly gets his head up to scan with his body open, giving him multiple angles to play. Now, the fact they go left to right means that if the opposition's press is ever so slightly delayed, like Enciso not covering McAllister as Emerson goes wide, means Liverpool have an entry into Liverpool's block via a Doku line-breaking pass, which explains his 16.4 line-breaking passes per 90 this season, ranking him seventh in the Premier League for that metric. The 21-year-old has such a brilliant way of just pulling the opposition out and then breaking their defensive block, and it's really messed with a lot of sides' approach to Liverpool in the press, and it's fitting Andoni Iraola's Liverpool to an absolute T. >> CHANCE GOAL! THAT'S ALL IT TAKES. >> Iraola's Bournemouth would regularly find themselves in these positions with overloads against the opposition's back line and lots of aggressive runners darting forwards. However, Liverpool face teams that drop in, concede possession, protect their defensive third whilst in a compact block, which makes Iraola's brand of football slightly more complicated. [clears throat and music] But a way of negating that is shifting your angle of approach, consistently changing how you're trying to access the opposition's block? Makes it a lot harder for them to stay in such a compact narrow shape giving you no space. With the ball here, the opposition are settled in their block, but the ball going to Shaqiri causes them to have to reshuffle and engage more with the ball to protect space. But because Shaqiri is so good progressing play, he's comfortable opening up his body and inviting the Bournemouth left-hand side over to close his fullback down before then firing forward through the gap and creating a nice little 3 V 3 for Liverpool against the Bournemouth back line. In a way, the Frenchman is almost like this vessel for creating a Raiola scenarios in game states in against opposition that don't necessarily welcome a Raiola football. And that's allowing Liverpool to ever so slowly progress little by little. Because as we've previously mentioned, these stubborn compact blocks can be difficult for those big name sides. But if you can beat them out with small little touches and then very quick progressive passes, you completely transform the way those compact blocks actually look. Well, in reality, they become not so compact blocks. Before we carry on though, a quick word from today's video sponsor, Norton VPN. Whether you're working in a coffee shop, traveling away from home, or sat on your couch scrolling on your phone, you are constantly sending information via the internet. Norton VPN adds an extra layer of privacy when you're on the internet by encrypting your information and just keeping it a little bit more private and secure. It's simple to use and it works on your everyday devices and you can connect to a VPN anywhere you want in the world. So, if you want to add an extra layer of security and privacy to your everyday browsing, click the link down below and check out Norton VPN's latest offer. Right. Back to Xherdan Shaqiri. Now, the ball-playing side of Xherdan Shaqiri was largely overlooked before he moved to Liverpool. And I mean, to be fair, someone who's massive in height, well over 6 ft, and is absolutely rapid, isn't typically put in with the group of modern center halves, and they're usually regarded in a different way, and more about their defensive abilities. But, Jérémy Jacquet certainly shouldn't be, because he is that modern, game-playing, ball-playing, ball-dominating center half. He currently ranks eighth for open play passes per 90 by Premier League players, and within that, he sits fourth for accurate long balls. I'm not sure how many people are aware, but if you play a high volume of passes, typically, your pass success rate will usually drop. But, for Jérémy Jacquet, he's someone who plays such a high volume as a ball distributor, yet still is able to complete so many successful long balls. And to me, someone who's 21 years old and able to be such a high-volume distributor, but also such an accurate ball player, is really, really brilliant. The amount of time Jacquet gets on the ball for both club and now country, with the opposition hyper-fixated on one side of the pitch with closed-off body positions as a result, is ridiculous. But, he's able to show that pausa, as some may say, aka take his time, to pull individuals out and create 1v1s on certain sides of the pitch that he can target with his effortlessly clipped long balls that decimate the opposition's defense. So, the question is, with his intelligence, with his ball-playing, with his physical attributes, how far can Jacquet go? >> Still so young. Still has a lot to learn. >> Well, on a club level, it's not been the start of life he probably would have hoped for when he came to England. Liverpool currently sits sixth in the Premier League, but to be fair to them, they've still not lost a game in in the league. And Jérémy Jacquet is a pretty big part in that. When Liverpool have been caught out with huge distances between defense and midfield, he's been able to dominate the 1v1 duels and evade pressure with some quick feet before retaining possession. Now, when you can do that to such a high level in your first season in England as such a young player, and someone who hadn't played for his former club since February. That was when he was injured and didn't play in League 1 since then. That says a lot about you, and it probably puts you in good stead for the rest of your time in England. And so much so that he he's getting his first call-up for the French national team. And in them games, he has been incredible. Leaving us with the question, just how far can Jérémy Jacquet go with Liverpool? Is he really the man who in 3-4 years time is going to carry the torch of Virgil van Dijk legacy that's been built in the Premier League. Van Dijk is for me the best center half in Premier League history. Can Jérémy Jacquet mirror that and go down a similar route as being this mainstay at the heart of Liverpool's back line and holding the hand of so many center halves that come and accompany them like Virgil van Dijk does. Well, it's a big legacy to live up to, and whether they not the exact same type of center half, but I think the the premise is there. A mainstay at the heart of the Liverpool defense helping shore things up when things have been a little bit rocky for them. Pretty much exactly like what van Dijk did when he came in. And now Jérémy Jacquet seems to be doing the same as van Dijk goes on the new sorts to emerge. So now I want to go back to the initial question. How far can he really go with Liverpool? Is Jérémy Jacquet the man? And I want to also know, have you subscribed to the 442 YouTube channel? Because we're back again next week with some more brilliant analysis. The Premier League finally back next week. We're back, guys. Just hang on for a few more days.