Pako calls for faster football - Official Site

Official LFC Website, 30 Sept 2004
PAKO CALLS FOR FASTER FOOTBALL
By Paul Eaton

Assistant manager Pako Ayesteran has revealed Liverpool are working on speeding up their game in a bid to make an impression on this season's Premiership race.

Rafael Benitez's number two is a keen analyst of match data and, despite only being at the club a short time, he's already identified areas in which the Reds need to improve.

He said: "The game here in England is more direct than in Spain and perhaps less technical.

"In Spain and across the rest of Europe the clubs who are playing at the top level will pass the ball between 250 and 300 times to each other in each half.

"From the data we have from our games so far this season we are passing the ball between 220 and 240 times in each half. A big difference between the Premiership and European football is the speed of the passing and our objective here is to play at a faster pace."

Ayesteran is confident Liverpool will improve as the season continues, but he's reluctant to make any predictions on what the Reds can ultimately achieve this year.

He said: "We'd like just to transfer what we had in Valencia to here but that isn't possible straightaway. We're not where we want to be at this moment but we have to deal in reality.

"Our first reference point has to be last year and the fact that we finished 30 points behind Arsenal. Our first target is to decrease that gap and get nearer to them.

"You can't suddenly jump five steps forward at the same time. You need to take things step by step and that is what we are trying to do."