Diamond Training: Inside Liverpool's Preseason
"Jurgen Klopp stands just off them chipping in with a series of commands: "pressure", "faster", "go now", "support"…
If there is a drop off in tempo during the exercise or a lack of cutting edge, the manager pulls everyone in. He repeats, with utmost clarity, what he expects from them and offers solutions to their difficulties with the drill. Equally, periods of incisiveness and invention are applauded and met with "yes boys, that’s nice! More, more, more."
Zeljko Buvac is stationed in the middle, following every pass, prompting and pushing the players. Peter Krawietz watches on intently as per his 'The Eyes’ moniker, while Lijnders continuously reminds the squad they need to have a “common idea.”
Both of the tasks described above, carried out during last Friday’s evening session, are quite different yet are underpinned by the same virtues: being quicker with feet and thought, understanding what is required from you in relation to your team-mates and focusing not just on what happens now, but what needs to happen next. "
-Melissa Reddy Goal.Com
“Football is about making decisions”
The key takeaway from this demonstration of Liverpool conducting diamond training is that Klopp is having Player 4 make a decision when they receive the ball. They have a teammate moving up from behind to support them, and a defender on their back. They are free to make the decision, "do I play a supporting pass and move into space for a one-two, or turn and dribble past the defender, or get my head up to pass to Player 1?"
Thinking Steps Ahead
Challenge your players further with the freedom of making decisions within the diamond structure by suggesting that Player 2 can also play a cut pass in behind Player 4’s defender:
