THIS isn’t going to prove popular because Jürgen Klopp is universally loved by Liverpool fans young old and new.
For the majority of supporters; desperate that Liverpool become successful again, and in particular successful under this magnetic, “cool” personality, he can do no wrong. Journalists, too, even when he is spiky towards one of their own, fawn and guffaw at his news conference put-downs.
The German comes with a CV that apparently gives him a divine right to be a success — a record seemingly that we cannot doubt. Though by own admission he isn’t Jesus and he can’t walk on water, he has everyone in a thrall that suggests he is and that he can.
Let’s try and be balanced about this. He is new to the job — only two months and a couple of weeks in — and as a result he is still learning. What do they say? That you learn from your mistakes? Yes, so there has to be an admission that mistakes can be made, if there is to be learning. No-one is flawless.
We all make mistakes and Jürgen Klopp has made his fair share over the last few weeks. In his defence, he is still figuring out English football and he is still assessing the playing squad at his disposal; working out a hierarchy that determines his selection of players.
In terms of addressing important points about the atmosphere at Anfield he’s trying; at least recognising there is a problem and making an attempt to rectify it. He is doing his best to recreate a Holy Trinity between fans, manager and players, even if for now it is an extremely messy love triangle with the lads in Red being frozen out.
He also made a very good start to his Liverpool career. A solid draw at buoyant Tottenham, a notable win at a failing Chelsea, an outstanding victory at Manchester City; plus the Southampton League Cup goal-fest. It was a very good start, in fact.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSegCT9eZoc
Therefore, we empathised and laughed along with when he bemoaned that “fucking Crystal Palace” loss. We forgave him that because things were immediately looking up; he had instilled in his players belief, increased work-rate and superior organisation. The above mentioned results had some of us talking about title challenges in this topsy-turvy league — about lads being transformed, about new-found defensive solidity, about scoring hatfuls with no strikers and false nines.
Not only were fans upbeat, players too were queuing up to go public on how Klopp had re-energised Anfield, Melwood and their enthusiasm for the fight. Underperforming players like Alberto Moreno, Roberto Firmino, even Dejan Lovren were being viewed by fans in a different light, the seasoned Lucas Leiva suddenly looked five years younger, and Philippe Coutinho had rediscovered his spark. Instantly we were talking about a squad with options all over the field.
Since then, we have taken one point from nine. The run of difficult away fixtures out of the way, people were predicting a glut of points from three very winnable games and an assault on the top four. Newcastle (away), West Brom (at home) and Watford (away) is a run of matches that should bring points no matter who the Liverpool manager is, and two abject defeats and an arguably fortunate home draw, deserve critical analysis that can’t be exclusively laid at the door of the players.
In the away fixtures particularly, at Newcastle where we didn’t register attempt on target until the 82nd minute, and at Watford where we had no discernible shape throughout, the performance level was as least as bad as anything that went before Klopp’s arrival.
Perhaps the results at The Etihad and Stamford Bridge falsely reappraised our thoughts on the quality of the squad, but to argue that Newcastle and Watford were down purely to a lack of fight, character and belief is too simplistic. If you do want to go down the road of players being gutless, and having no brio from the off, is it not fair to ask whose job it is to have the team bouncing out the tunnel in the first place?
At Newcastle, was there the intensity — the rotational, organised pressure on the ball — to Liverpool’s game that we saw at Spurs and in Manchester? Was there the considered, calm but defiant response to conceding early at Watford that we saw against Chelsea? Can some of that be attributed to the respective set-ups, and not entirely to inconsistent players incapable of sustained effort and ability?
In the North East, when the Reds went into the game full of confidence after the 6-1 Capital One Cup win, Christian Benteke was reintroduced and Liverpool were reduced to a statuesque, error-strewn imitation of what had gone before. There was little high-energy pressing of the Newcastle back four; the reborn Adam Lallana was omitted and the petrified Geordies were allowed to feel their way into a fixture they shaded and deservedly won in the second half.
At Watford, on a small unreliable pitch, the pressing trio of Lallana, Roberto Firmino and Coutinho were re-united but against a team unlikely to spend long on the ball at the back there was nothing to press. Through the middle, Lucas was left exposed centrally, with Henderson and Can employed wide right and left respectively leaving Liverpool’s defence susceptible to Watford’s direct running and early balls forward.
When Klopp was forced to introduce the more rudimentary presence of Divock Origi, and later Benteke, and eschew the shorter passing, Liverpool made some belated inroads at the other end. A more simplistic approach from the off, against opposition known for their own uncomplicated tactics, might have paid greater rewards.
In the wake of these two recent surrenders criticism seems to all too readily have fallen on the shoulders of the players. The same lads who were going to launch a title charge under Jürgen a few weeks are now being labelled a useless shower of shrinking violets. Moreno is again “brain dead”, Firmino newly “anonymous”, Lucas “finished” and Coutinho once more “disinterested”.
Klopp needs to get them back to the level they were at a few weeks ago — that is his job. When we were beating City and Chelsea, no-one was saying results have to “get worse before they get better”. You change a manager to get better results, in the short and the long term.
At Anfield, too, we have witnessed a succession of home performances that have failed to raise the pulse. There has seldom been a tempo — when Liverpool will automatically enjoy a majority of possession — to unsettle a deep-lying opposition defence. Despite the apparent creativity of a glut of number 10s, there has been a stark absence of guile and chances created. It hasn’t been good to watch, and nor have the results been good enough with just one win from four matches for Klopp in front of the Kop.
It is absolutely fair to recognise that Klopp is working with players brought in under an old regime. It is an unbalanced squad, lacking in quality in several areas, but is a collection of players far better than the results and performances served up in the last three weeks. Everyone has to take a share of the blame for that.
January looms as an opportunity for Klopp to begin to redress that balance of personnel, and buy players to suit a style of football he is renowned for. In the shorter term, adaptation might have to be his new virtue; to get more from players more suited to different styles of play. It is incumbent on him to restore the belief and verve we saw from those very same players during that very definition of a honeymoon period.
Jürgen Klopp is at the start of his Liverpool journey. Like Rafa Benitez who arrived with similar credentials from his homeland but as a tyro in English football, he’s making mistakes along the way. The results bear that out. All managers make mistakes and Klopp is no different. It is alright to say that and our relationship with him long term will be better served by an understanding that he won’t get it all right all of the time. If we put him on an unchallenged pedestal, the fall will be a heavy one.
Hopefully, Jürgen will still be making mistakes — and learning from them at Anfield — in five years’ time.
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I worry about his overuse of certain players as well.
The fullbacks have barely got a rest. How’s that gonna affect them/the team come the last 10/12 games of the season?
I’m also slightly concerned that he views Mignolet as our long term keeper given that he’s gonna be given a new contract. There’s prob 6/7 better keepers in the league than him. All the teams that finished above us last year have a better keeper while Chelsea also have Begovic as 2nd choice.
I’m a big believer in having the spine of your team sorted is off great benefit and keeping Mignolet doesn’t marry with that.
This season in terms of the league is a write-off, a chance for Klopp to assess the squad he has inherited….and he’s still finding out. We must back the manager unconditionally at this stage no matter how painful that is this season. If by chance we win games then so much the better but it’s a bonus. Patience is the name of the game at this stage and we will only get where we all want to be by giving the manager time and by backing the team 100%
I am still unclear as to what the criticisms of Klopp are in this piece. I read quite a bit of description of problems but not enough direct assigning of “blame” or pointing to causal connections between choices made by Klopp and actual outcomes.
Given who has been available, through long- and short-term injuries, and the number of games (and the timing thereof, relative to each other) we’ve played, a good case can be made that the dip in performances and results is the result of mental and physical fatigue.
There is an actual, empirically well-established causal connection between and among mental and physical fatigue, neuro-muscular coordination, and mental/cognitive & affective performance and resilience.
No amount of “leadership” and “character” and “inspiration” and “charisma” can reliably overcome such causal connections.
Made sense, scientifically.
However, we had a full week of training/rest before Watford game. And now another week before Leicester. Let’s see what would the result be on the 26th.
I do believe that JK, and his team of brain trust, will learn from the games against Palace, WestBrom, Newcastle and Watford a great deal, and will apply in our upcoming matches against so called ‘underdog’ teams, home or away.
Give him time that he deserves — in my opinion, he should be judged only at the beginning of 2016/2017 onward, and not this season.
Regarding our keeper situation, someone posted here before that JK might just be offering the new contract to Ming (1) to motivate him during the remainder of this season and (2) to offload him with some ‘value’ at the end of the season with proper contract/period in place. JK did not bring in his own brain trust goalkeeping coach, so he is relying on the old/existing coach for now, but if the situation does not improve he really needs to bring in both new keeper and new goalkeeping coach for sure.
I won’t press any panic button on JK yet, (not this year, not for another 5 years, really, although I may start to judge him from next season onward). Don’t forget he is possibly the ONLY World Class manager who is ‘crazy’ enough to have chosen us, to turn us around and win things with us, We needed him more so that he needed us. And I truly believe that a world class manager like JK would be able to bring us up to where we belong after 25 years long…Don’t stop BELIEVING in JK…
well said..
In answer to TheOriginal Grkstav I think the article is critical of Klopp’s approach to the last few games and his selection.
As mentioned in the article Watford were never going to play it about at the back so pressing with Firmino, Coutinho and Lallana was always going to be redundant.
Benteke’s come in for a lot of flak but I’m dying to see him play with one of Sturridge or Origi from the start of a match instead of the last ten when the cause is lost and he’s starting to tire.
I was pretty surprised at the selection in both games. Far too much respect for the opposition. Especially Newcastle, who were firmly on their arse before the match. Watford have done alright but I’m betting they’ll get a hiding from any team that goes at them with a couple up front in their next three games – Chelsea, Spurs and City.
The only time Klopp’s started with two up front was the Southampton match, which went quite well actually.
Early days obviously but you have to assume JK’s unsure of quite a few teams and the way they set up. Let’s hope for a fast education for the second half of the season.
Tough to know which way to jump on Saturday though with Leicester scoring for fun. Difficult to know if they’re there on merit or just on a bizarrely good run. It’ll be interesting to se what happens if they lose a couple on the spin.
would love to see two up front (Benteke and Origi) with a diamond midfield for Leicester match.
Southampton was the only time Sturridge was for to play 60 mins and as you mentioned it was the only time JK used front 2.
Lineup at Southampton: Bogdan, Randall, Skert, Lovren, Moreno(Smith 77), Lucas, Allen(Hendo 74), Can, Lallana, Sturridge(Ibe 59), Origi
I would love to see a similar diamond with 2 front:
Bogdan
Clyne, Kolo, Sakho, Moreno
Can, Allen, Hendo, Lallana
Benteke, Origi
(bench: Lucas, Courtinho, Firmino, Ibe, Smith)…good enough to win 3-0 at home in boxing day!
You seem to have the wrong end of the stick here Mike.And hindsight is an easy thing to master.But I reckon Klopp will make a better job of it when looks at what happened.
Article made me think (kudos), but having thought it through (and read it twice), it seems a little overstated in the title and first part (click bait-ish). Not in keeping with the reasoned quality I usually enjoy on TAW.
Hindsight reveals that Klopp is trying to learn more about his players and a new league in difficult circumstances (injuries, number of games, etc.). Agreed. Obvious, but agreed.
This should make us more realistic in our expectations of Klopp. “Let’s be balanced about this.” Agreed, and so does every Red fan I know. (I don’t do Twitter so can’t speak for that.)
So why the title and opening line, Mike? Is this written for Twitter? Are you expecting a fight? (Genuine questions.)
There’s a good article in there (and one that’s probably needed), but unless I’ve misunderstood the target, I find it difficult to swallow.
The opening “won’t prove popular” comment was because – suggesting any criticism of Klopp doesn’t go down well. The headline I didn’t write, but it’s panto season. Take your point. It’s a balanced appraisal of him so far. Some outstanding highlights but lots to learn yet, which is far from the general Klopp LFC narrative. Personally, I think this CV thing is a modern obsession. Look at Van Gaal. It helps that he has a track record but it isn’t a cast iron guarantee of success. Thanks for commenting. Always appreciated.
Thanks for replying. Agree with the CV thing and that Klopp is on a steep learning curve. Actually, agree with all you said, just struggled with what felt like an overplayed first hand. But again, I appreciate your reply.
I remember when I saw Adam and Migs in training session organised on the pre season tour of Aussie , Adam was so bad at saving those shoots from the GK coach , half of them were going in , I had a feeling then that this guy is not upto it.
Migs was decent but again , not confident enough and dosent have that winner mentality which adds that extra 5% on the pitch during pressure times. That is the difference between winners and mid tablers. I am afraid by making Migs the main man again , Klopp will be ignoring the fan sentiment and also what seems obvious.
Was it Adam Bogdan or Adam Lallana in goal in OZ? haha…
Well, after various unforced errors by Ming, I have been routing for Bogdan…and what did he do to ‘us’ at Watford? wow, just wow…unbelievable.
Even the shadowy dude from snow-covered basement in Siberia, Russia, did not defend Bodgan this time (due to fatigue blah blah : -)
This reminds me so much of Rafa’s first season with us, where the realities of English football were a real culture shock to him. I can see the same thing happening to Jurgen that happened to Rafa, in that his misunderstanding of just how batshit mental English football is compared to other countries will lead to some abject results and baffling tactics. Like Neil said the other day, Klopp will have never seen anything like Pulis before, and it was probably a real eye opener for him. But he will learn, just like Rafa did.
We’ve got to play the long game on this and remember that, just like foreign players coming over here, it can take time for foreign managers to adapt to our game as well. I personally don’t believe that we will see the very best of Klopp until the 17/18 season, so we are going to have to be patient!
Also remember that this is a poor squad, built by someone else, that he has inherited. I doubt he would have signed half of these players given the choice.
Spot on, Pablo. We need to keep urging patience or we may well chase the best thing to happen to us away. I still can’t believe Klopp chose us. (And as Mike has stressed in the article, yes, the man’s got a lot to learn. But he will … if we’re patient. Yeah, I know, I sound like a stuck record. Did I mention that we need to be…)
INRAT
Summary in 5 words anyone?