Liverpool's Relentless Pressing Mauls Hull City at Anfield

ANFIELD, Liverpool — After brushing aside champions Leicester City 4-1 in their first home game of the season a fortnight ago, Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool hit Premier League new boys Hull City for five in their second game after Anfield's expansion.

Adam Lallana, Sadio Mane, two penalties from James Milner and a trademark Philippe Coutinho strike from 25 yards provided the goals. The only blot on the copybook was the failure to get a first league clean sheet of the season.

The first half was some of the most relentless pressing Anfield has witnessed in some time, with Klopp saying post-match that he felt it was the best "counter-pressing" display his side have given since he joined the club just under a year ago.

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"The most impressive thing today was the counter-pressing," praised Klopp in his post-match press conference. "I think it was the best game we played in counter-pressing until now."

This was evident especially in the first half and after the visitors went down to 10 men after Ahmed Elmohamady saw red for handling a goal-bound shot.

With talk pre-match about how these games have often been Liverpool's Achilles' heel—beating Arsenal then losing to Burnley—Klopp's side showed no such side of struggling to beat one of the lesser sides. They were dominant from minute one, and once Hull went down to 10 men, the home side didn't let up.

The pressing suffocated Hull's players, collectively and individually, constantly forcing mistakes and giving no Hull player any option for a second pass. The understanding between the Liverpool players was impressive to see, with players constantly sprinting to cover a teammate and getting their bodies in the way to deny Hull any breathing space.

Klopp, though, admitted post-match that he wasn't entirely satisfied, showing his demanding nature by pointing to a slower second-half performance.

"I don't want to criticise, but I think we could have done better in the second half," he admitted.

"It was good, but not as good as it could have been. We have a lot of things to improve, and one is that if you are brilliant, you need to be brilliant for 95 minutes." 

Klopp looks and sounds like a man on a mission—a mission to instil his players and the supporters with a very clear message: We are Liverpool; we demand high level performance from all.

Admittedly Liverpool did drop down a gear for the second 45 minutes, but this is to be expected after such a relentless opening 45 minutes. Still, 74 per cent possession overall perhaps shows their dominance.

Thirty-two shots, of which 12 were on target, plus 13 corners, also shows the sheer dominance and relentless nature of Liverpool's attacking play.

Karius

Loris Karius made his league debut for the club but had very little to do. The German has now played 180 minutes, but supporters are really none the wiser as to how good he is, such has been Liverpool's dominance in the games against Derby County and Hull.

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While Karius has had very little to do, it is perhaps not a coincidence that Liverpool's best counter-pressing display arrived on his league debut. The German plays a much higher line than Simon Mignolet, which in turn allows Liverpool's defence to play a higher line and therefore compacts the space in front, not allowing the opposition to escape from their own half.

Karius' ability as a sweeper keeper and his comfort with the ball at his feet gives confidence to his defence, especially in home games such as these where the team needs to maintain pressure in such a relentless fashion.

Meanwhile, Mignolet deserves great credit for the professionalism he has displayed in Klopp handing Karius the starting position. The Belgian remains a good goalkeeper, but perhaps Karius will display further why, in all honesty, Mignolet was never really suited to being a Liverpool goalkeeper due to his struggles with distribution.

Karius will no doubt make mistakes; he is after all only 23 and therefore very young for a goalkeeper. He stayed on his line for the corner from which Hull scored from, and will need to improve his ability from crosses out wide, but perhaps for Liverpool it's more important to have a 'keeper who is better with the ball at their feet.

Impressive Pressing

When looking around for star performers, you'd be hard pressed to argue against half a dozen players. Milner was arguably the standout player, particularly in the first half, and dispatched his two penalties with the assured nature of Steven Gerrard.

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Milner deserves great credit for the way he has adapted to the new role at left-back and was an attacking outlet throughout, linking up well with left attacker Coutinho and often being the starting point for attacking moves.

Meanwhile, Lallana, like Milner, hit his third goal of the season and put in another impressive performance in his new role in midfield. The Englishman seems to be revelling in being on the ball more and has even added steely grit to his game, covering for fellow midfielders Jordan Henderson and Georginio Wijnaldum and putting in well-timed interceptions.

Then there's Coutinho, with the Brazilian seemingly thriving now not under the pressure of being the go-to player whom every attack must go through. Too often when Liverpool were struggling in the final year of Brendan Rodgers' tenure the burden was passed to Liverpool's No.10, and that resulted in many shots blazed off target from distance.

Coutinho now looks at home in a unit that has many players capable of providing goals and creating chances. Therefore his shooting is more controlled, and when he does hit one—as he did within a minute of David Meyler's consolation goal—they are generally now much more accurate.

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While Milner, Coutinho and Lallana were probably the three standouts, there were also impressive showings throughout the side. Joel Matip continues to look like the defensive presence Liverpool have lacked in recent years, adding that aerial presence in both boxes that has been much missed since Sami Hyypia and Jamie Carragher departed Anfield.

What was evident was how well the players appear to understand not only their own roles, but also their teammates' roles, constantly able to drop in and fill a space vacated when a player has pushed up to press or close a gap.

Due to the nature of such a high-energy pressing game, it sometimes looks messy and unstructured, but it's clear that the players know exactly what is required of them. The extra training time through no European football seems already to be proving its worth.

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Henderson, Lallana and Wijnaldum have started every league game together, and such continuity breeds familiarity and understanding. Not many Liverpool supporters would have expected Emre Can to have such a tough battle on his hands to gain a place back in the side this season. 

Having players of the calibre of Can, plus Daniel Sturridge and Divock Origi, from the bench, will be vital for Liverpool as the season progresses. The demanding nature of their style under Klopp will require strong options from the squad and the bench.

In a football media dominated by cliches, Liverpool absolutely mauled the Tigers at Anfield. Klopp had called for his side to be angry to beat the Yorkshire side, and they savagely sent them back across the M62 with the scars to show from this performance. 

* Quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise stated. Stats via BBC Sport.