How Joel Matip became one of Jurgen Klopp's must-haves in Liverpool

In mid-January of this season, Joel Matip of Liverpool had only accumulated 276 minutes of Premier League on the field.

The Cameroonian had only started three matches and had been brought five times in injury time for periods of less than five minutes. He had also started against Red Star and Napoli in the Champions League, but in the other four group matches he had not played a single minute.

In the end, for more than half of the season, Matip was a backup option, considered the fourth choice because of his position behind Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez and Dejan Lovren for the most part. However, to date, Matip has just won the Champions League trophy after playing the whole match against Jurgen Klopp.

The 27-year-old also played every minute of every playoff game, with the exception of FC Porto at Anfield, and played 90 minutes in 14 of Liverpool's last 16 league games.

Where does it come from? How did Matip become a prominent figure in Liverpool's defense?

First, it is reasonable to think that his first opportunity stems from injuries to his teammates, Gomez and Lovren being unable to stay fit for various reasons.

Matip intervened, with the hope that its production would be a temporary solution, but it has far exceeded it.

This season, in all competitions, Matip accumulated a total of 2518 minutes, which is very close to that of Lovren (2438) and that of Gomez (2064), which means that comparisons are possible. The success rate of the Matip defensive duel was higher than that of Lovren and Gomez, and in particular his success in the aerial duel even beat the figure of van Dijk, with 66.3% compared to 64% of Virgil.

These success rates suggest that Matip is van Dijk's most reliable partner, winning more duels. He showed an efficiency without the ball thanks to which he was able to stop the enemy attacks, to regain possession of the ball and to continue playing. The central defender basically handled the fundamentals very well, almost silently, without praise or light.

With possession, he also demonstrated reliability, surpbading Lovren and Gomez in various fields. Matip makes more pbades every 90 minutes, more pbades before, more balls through and more pbades until the last third. Above all, he uses the ball differently from van Dijk.

The Dutch pivot is heavy and physically built, which means that subtle and incisive pbades are not necessarily part of her makeup. Instead, van Dijk chooses to make heavy diagonal pbades on the ground to use his power, as shown below.

Matip's playing style compliments this feature well, as although it is tall, it is much lighter and can use the balloon in a more delicate manner. The Cameroonian regularly plays vertical pbades in the middle of the field, with an example below.

In addition, Matip has a unique tendency to advance the ball when he is allowed to play the role of a free man without any pressure from his opponents. Although it may sometimes seem imprudent in doing so, there are logical and strategic benefits that flow from these actions.

Indeed, by carrying the ball in space, an opposing player is naturally driven towards the ball, which often leads to the loss of space, which can then be exploited. An example is shown below, with Matip in possession of the ball against Crystal Palace, with space in front of him.

Matip carried the ball forward into the area, forcing Luka Milivojevic to leave his post to close it. The center back of Liverpool had actually pushed the opposing player to pressure to disrupt his defensive block. He then found Firmino with a quick and incisive pbad, as shown below.

Finally, after remaining patient, Matip seized his opportunity by performing in a reliable and controlled manner, with subtle rewards derived from his pbading game. The defender pbades largely under the radar because of the few problems that ensues around him and the imperious presence of his partner on the left, but the two compliment each other harmoniously.