Approaching four months in charge at Liverpool, Jurgen Klopp has the chance to secure his first cup final spot with the club. We take a look at an up-and-down start to the German's tenure, and what he will hope to achieve over the remainder of this season?
Liverpool’s breathless victory over Norwich
at the weekend felt like a neat summation of the Jurgen Klopp era so
far – an erratic mix of both the good and then bad, ending in a
generally positive fashion that, upon further reflection, leaves you
dwelling more on the mistakes that were made than the good things that
were done.
Since arriving at Anfield at the start of October it feels like
Klopp has already been hailed as the new messiah and then dismissed as
another over-hyped pretender, as Liverpool’s results have failed to
significantly improve upon those that saw predecessor Brendan Rodgers lose his job.
There have been moments of shining class (the two away victories over Manchester City and Chelsea) and games of surprising failure (home defeats to Crystal Palace and Manchester United,
a battering at the hands of Watford). Injuries have played a part but,
as events at Carrow Road showed, Liverpool have often been gloriously
unpredictable.
Tuesday’s game against Stoke City
gives Klopp an early chance to make a statement about his Anfield
tenure, and guide Liverpool to another League Cup final appearance. 1-0
up after the first leg, the Reds also have home advantage but, if
Klopp’s time so far has told us anything, it is that nothing can be
taken for granted.
“In life, four months is not the longest term, you see something
[and] you try to understand it,” Klopp said on Monday. “So, we have to
push ourselves, but [against Stoke] we don’t have to think about it.
It’s go, fight for every single ball, every single yard. It’s easy."
WHAT WE WERE EXPECTING WHEN KLOPP SIGNED
When Klopp arrived, the immediate expectations were that we would see an implementation of the system he utilised at Borussia Dortmund – with the word "gegenpressing’" coming into wider circulation in the days and weeks after he became a Red.
This was to be the hallmark of the Klopp era: Red shirts
swarming the ball in the middle of the pitch, winning it quickly and
engaging in quick, incisive counter-attacks. Klopp’s arrival was to be a
boon for the likes of Philippe Coutinho and Adam Lallana, the creative attacking mdifielders becoming the difference-makers for their side just as Nuri Sahin, Shinji Kagawa and Marco Reus had been at the Westfalenstadion.
Under Rodgers the Liverpool squad had looked bereft of
confidence, cohesion and talent – but Klopp was going to overcome the
latter problem by restoring the former two attributes.
As Jim White wrote in these parts:
" It is going to be a joy on Merseyside over the next few months. Where there was paranoia and empty management speak now there will be honesty and jokes. Where there was nervy edginess now there will be bold aggression. Where there was a default urge to stifle now there will be an urgent striving forward. The discordant whine of off-kilter electro-pop is about to be replaced by the rib-rattling rumble of heavy metal. Strap yourselves in: this is going to be some ride."
There was a word of warning, however:
With
his shirt off, Liverpool's English midfielder Adam Lallana (C)
celebrates scoring their late winning goal with teammates and
Liverpool's German manager Jurgen Klopp (3rd R), as Norwich City's
Scottish coach Alex Neil (R) looks on during the English P - AFP
WHAT WE’VE SEEN SO FAR
We have seen glimpses of this new style in the four months since
Klopp arrived, notably in the away wins at Stamford Bridge and the
Etihad Stadium, but it has not been a constant – or, at the very least,
it has not been consistently executed.
Most early prognostications about Klopp’s XI thought Christian Benteke and Daniel Sturridge would by vying for the one central striking role in Klopp’s 4-2-3-1, but in recent weeks it has instead been Roberto Firmino
who has regularly played as a sort of false nine, with Benteke
relegated to the bench and Sturridge left alone to sort out his injury
issues.
Benteke’s fate has been particularly surprising: Despite reports
that Klopp wanted to sign the Belgian for Dortmund back in 2013, it
appears he remains unconvinced of the former Aston Villa
man’s value to his cause. In general, however, Klopp's influence has
been seen in a subtler way - the team tends to attack more centrally now
than they did under Rodgers, while the pressing is most noticeable when
Liverpool players pin their opponents down the flanks.
Beyond that, Klopp’s plans have generally been undermined by
injuries – particularly in defence, where he has struggled to keep any
pair of centre-backs fit for a sustained run in the side (or the
defensive midfielders in front of them, or indeed sometimes the
goalkeeper as well). This has perhaps had a knock-on effect on the
club’s abilities from set-pieces, which has been a huge issue all season
and has seen them leak goals (and, invariably, points) with alarming
regularity.
Part of the problem might be the fact Liverpool are not exactly a tall team – Nathaniel Clyne, Alberto Moreno,
Lucas and any of the attacking players not named Benteke are on the
diminutive side – but clearly it is an area that needs more
training-ground work.
“We know about this problem, I am sorry to say it is not a
problem we can ignore,” Klopp acknowledged on Monday. “It is obvious we
didn’t handle it too well. We are a football team and we always work on
our weaknesses.
“It is not too easy in this short period in between [matches]
but we spoke about it really intensively. We had good talks together –
it’s not the first one but hopefully the last one.
“It is not about the formation because we changed the formation,
it is not always about the quality of the set plays it is about what we
are doing. We defended the first ball well but then struggled with the
second or third so that’s a normal reaction. We were fully concentrated
in defending the situation but then we closed the book too early.”
It is tempting to suggest that this set-piece frailty (no side
has conceded more goals from corners this season than the Reds) has
created a general skittish edge to the team, which has seen an unusually
high number of individual errors from players contributed as well.
Defensively the team is living on a knife-edge that seems to be
replicated in the attack – which has games where intricate passing
around the box unlocks defences with precision but in others, where the
opposition ‘low block’ tends to iron out all attacking threat from the
Reds.
The result of all that is what we have seen from Liverpool in
recent months: Some games where everything comes together beautifully
and they score at will against top sides, others where they fall apart
against teams they should be beating … and then indescribable games like
that one against Norwich where they seemingly threw themselves into the
fire and then managed to extricate themselves about three times over.
Liverpool's German manager Jurgen Klopp arrives - AFP
WHAT COULD THE REST OF THE SEASON HOLD?
With another four months left to the end of the season, Klopp
will surely want to see a settling down in both departments, allowing
him to get a clearer picture of what exactly his squad can and cannot do
when it comes to his preferred playing style.
The prospect of a trophy remains alive – besides the League Cup,
the team is still in the Europa League and FA Cup – but a certain
tempering of expectations might be required in the Premier League, where
the club’s lack of consistency is always going to be more costly.
If some of Chelsea’s players still believe that fourth is a
realistic goal, then Liverpool (six points and six places better off
than the Blues) should surely be keeping in mind the same target. But
they are already eight points behind Spurs (the current side in
possession of fourth), a team about 14 months further along the
progression under a new manager. Klopp’s Liverpool in some ways look
similar to Pochettino’s
Spurs of last season – a potentially solid outfit undermined at crucial
points by issues of consistency. Next season might prove very
different.
At a certain point, the league might be about Klopp discovering
which players he wants to keep as part of his Anfield evolution, and
which ones are free to find their fortunes elsewhere come the summer.
Any January additions seem likely to be made through necessity – to
address the club’s injury problems – but it is in the summer where Klopp
might more firmly wield the axe and open the chequebook.
Christian Benteke in action against Exeter. - Reuters
WHAT HE STILL NEEDS TO ADDRESS
Klopp will surely feel there are a number of points he needs to work on.
1) The striker issue
The interest in Alex Teixeira may remain unconfirmed by the
manager himself, but a refusal to speak about the situation is not the
same as denying there is a situation to speak about.
“There’s absolutely nothing to say,” Klopp said on Monday.
“Maybe it surprises you. I have nothing to say to things like this.”
It is not rocket science, however, to work out that Liverpool
could do with a different striking option. Sturridge’s fitness remains
an ongoing problem, and you sense the longer it continues to be the more
inclined Klopp becomes to give up on him. Rumours linking Benteke with a
move away from the club have already begun, which is hardly stunning
news considering he cannot get in the starting line-up at the moment.
Danny
Ings is a long-term injury problem, but Klopp may already be of the
feeling that he is not of the quality to be a starting striker for a
club of Liverpool’s calibre and ambition. Firmino has scored goals from
an improvised No. 9 role but Klopp would be defying expectations if that
was going to be the preferred option in the long-term.
Signing Teixeira would build on what Firmino is good at – the
movement, the touch, the creative qualities – but add a more distinct
attacking edge and physical threat the Premier League invariably
demands. Firmino could then be dropped a little bit deeper, helping the
team in more ways than one (especially when Coutinho is also fit).
2) The goalkeeper situation
The club’s other main issue appears to be at the other end of the pitch, where Simon Mignolet
continues to make every Reds fan extremely nervous. Klopp has already
defended his No. 1 on more than one occasion – but even the decision to
sign the Belgian to a new five-year contract last week has done little
to dispel the assumption that it is a position Klopp will look to
upgrade as soon as possible. That is surely what the fans want: When
Mignolet is on form he is not far below the top tier of goalkeepers like
David De Gea and Thibaut Courtois but, unfortunately, he regularly throws in the sort of clangers that both men never seem to commit.
Klopp has perhaps had a bit of neglectful attitude towards his goalkeeper in the past (Roman Weidenfeller
was arguably the weakest link in his Dortmund side for a number of
seasons, but Klopp never seriously took steps to address that) so it is
possible that he really believes Mignolet is fine as the long term No.
1.
But if the club could lure away someone like Inter Milan’s Samir Handanovic, for example, or Barcelona’s Marc-Andre ter Stegen or even Hannover’s Ron-Robert Zieler then you wonder why they would not opt to do so.
3) General strengthening
Beyond that, Klopp needs to continue upon a general process of
strengthening the core of the side, one that has been weakened over the
seasons by an inability to successfully reinvest the money recouped from
the sale of players like Luis Suarez and Raheem Sterling.
Marko Grujic may be the first step in the path (although, at
just 19, he will probably not be ready to be a week-in, week-out starter
next season), but you feel Klopp will think he needs to find
alternatives at both full-back positions (Clyne has been over-used this
season, Moreno has been erratic), central midfield and even in attacking
midfield going into next season.
4) His glasses
Having lost one pair in the celebratory melee after the win over Norwich, Klopp is now down to his back-up pair.
"These are not new - they are my second pair of glasses. Now I
have to be careful," Klopp joked. "They are black and I look a little
bit like a serial killer."
Finding a new pair in the January window is surely a priority
for the German – you always want to have at least two options for every
position. But longer term he will surely want to have a reliable stream
of glasses options to call upon (ones that don’t make him look like the
star of ‘Making a Murderer’) … or - who knows? - maybe he could even try
contact lenses.
For Liverpool it is a similar situation – they need a more
clearly defined hierarchy of options within their squad … and maybe one
or two superior ones to enhance it as well.
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