THERE are days when football makes you wonder why you bother with it all. The pain, the fury, the anguish, the sheer and utter, sickening disappointment. Liverpool have produced several of those days of late.
In football, there are blips and there are crises. While January could be regarded as something of a prolonged blip, I’d argue we’re heading towards crisis point. That’s zero league wins in 2017 — still just the one victory in all competitions, an FA Cup replay against Plymouth.
Southampton away was woeful. Swansea at home nightmarish. Southampton at home agonizing. Wolves at home shambolic. Hull away, though. That tops the lot. The very predictability of it was concerning, but Tuesday night’s spirited performance against Chelsea at Anfield conjured hopes of Liverpool stopping the rot and kicking on from there. But no, we’ve slumped to our lowest point of the season so far.
I’m not sure I’ve ever felt so dejected in my 15-odd years watching Liverpool. There have been plenty of crushing blows. Athens 2007 hurt a lot. The Chelsea game in 2013-14 was a sickener. Basel 2016 wasn’t nice either. I was at Selhurst Park for the infamous 3-3 draw in 2014, for Christ’s sake. The Hodgson era, although relatively brief, was bleak in the extreme.
This hurts a hell of a lot, though. It’s the feeling of what might have been. I look back to the moment when Bobby Firmino chips in the fourth goal against Crystal Palace away in October, whipping his shirt off in celebration before the ball even crossed the line. At that moment, I thought this could well be the best Liverpool side I’ve witnessed in my lifetime.
I believed we had a genuine shot at achieving something special this season. The 6-1 thrashing of Watford at Anfield a week later confirmed that feeling. Liverpool irresistible. Ruthless. Rampant. The football on display among some of the most entertaining I’ve seen.
There are other moments, too. The comeback against Swansea away. Sadio Mane’s 94th minute winner at Goodison. The defeat of Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City on New Year’s Eve. These displays or grit and determination felt like the hallmarks of potential champions elect.
In hindsight, it was probably wishful thinking. Liverpool’s squad was never adequately equipped to be competing on all three domestic fronts. To expect Jürgen Klopp to deliver title number 19 in his first full season in charge was, on reflection, unreasonable. We had dared to dream. Those dreams have now been shattered.
I cannot recall a season quite like this where the wheels have fallen off in such spectacular fashion. The Liverpool side who lost to Hull were unrecognisable from the irrepressible machine of the early months of this season. All the zip, the creativity, the almost arrogant swagger, gone. What was a perfect jigsaw now seems to have been totally deconstructed.
It was difficult to watch. I feel like I’ve seen that exact football match played out a million times over. Liverpool dominant, but not creating chances. Sides don’t have to create anything to score against Liverpool these days. Sling it into the box enough times and they know a mistake will come. All they have to do is sit deep, stay patient and take advantage when the chance presents itself.
These Liverpool players look devoid of all confidence. They don’t look like a team who believe they can win football matches, which is mad when you consider what they have already done to so many sides this season. Phil Coutinho looks like he’s never seen a football before. Adam Lallana misplacing two-yard passes. Emre Can taking five touches when one or two would suffice. James Milner looking on his last legs, as he has done for several weeks now.
What is most worrying about this current predicament of ours is that nothing in the Hull game was a surprise. Virtually every team sets up according to an identical template against Liverpool. We should be used to this by now, yet every game it’s the same problems showing up time and time again. Lessons not learned, the same mistakes repeating themselves. No-mark players constantly being made to look exceptional by our dysfunctional back line. We can’t buy a goal at the moment, either.
The players themselves must take some responsibility, but Klopp too has plenty of questions to answer in his most challenging period at the club so far. He chose not to go out and bolster his squad in January, despite a glaring need for reinforcements at both ends of the pitch. Klopp would argue he did try for Julian Draxler, Christian Pulisic and Julian Brandt, but clearly he (or FSG) wasn’t prepared to pay the premium it would take to secure their signature. Were those the only three players out there, available, who could have improved Liverpool’s squad, though? I doubt it.
The argument that January isn’t a good time to buy also doesn’t hold when you look at the list of players Liverpool have recruited in the January window in past seasons: Javier Mascherano, Daniel Agger, Maxi Rodriguez, Luis Suarez, Coutinho and Daniel Sturridge, to name a few. Sound business can be done if it is planned for.
Klopp also chose to persist with the same 4-3-3 system which seems to have lost all functionality for a while now. Where is the alternative? Is he too stubborn? Does Klopp have too much faith in his ability to improve average footballers? Why is Can starting ahead of Gini Wijnaldum? These are all legitimate worries.
I’m no fan of blaming the owners after every defeat, but we’ve reached a point here where a discussion needs to be had. Liverpool have finished in the top four just once in the past seven seasons, which simply isn’t good enough. As it stands, top four is still an achievable goal this season but only if Liverpool buck their ideas up immediately, because if this current form continues much longer, that too will become quickly out of reach.
It’s difficult not to ask questions about the wider strategy of FSG’s ownership. They have done plenty of good in their time, starting with saving the club from administration in the first place. They’ve paid for the new Main Stand, bought some excellent players (and plenty of dreadful ones too) and appointed a proven top class manager in Klopp.
Yet when you look at the current situation, having made a net profit in the summer transfer window, fans are bound to get frustrated when the squad remains obviously lacking in several key areas. In Klopp, FSG appointed a manager who fits their philosophy of buying value and potential rather than splashing out on experienced pros.
There’s a danger, though, that such a relationship could hinder Liverpool’s prospects of success if the same transfer policy continues. Can Liverpool really afford to keep buying potential, for Klopp to improve the players he has at his disposal, in the aim that eventually this masterplan will all come together and deliver long-term success?
When rival clubs are investing vastly superior amounts of money into their squads, it is difficult to see how Liverpool compete without compromising on the established transfer policy. A heavy dose of pragmatism is undoubtedly required this summer — the modern game won’t wait for all the pieces to fall into place as FSG might hope.
Liverpool’s squad needs more depth and more quality and while Klopp has made his fair share of mistakes recently, there is only so much he can get out of the current crop of players. The blunt reality of it is that too many of them aren’t good enough for what we want Liverpool to achieve.
A reliable goalkeeper is an obvious place to start — neither Loris Karius or Simon Mignolet should be starting in goal for Liverpool next season if they want to challenge for the title. A premium quality centre-back to partner Joel Matip is needed, so that Dejan Lovren becomes the third choice, rather than Lucas Leiva or Ragnar Klavan.
The experiment of playing Milner at left-back began well but has run its course, and an actual left-footed left-back who isn’t Alberto Moreno would seem another obvious area for improvement in the summer. Central midfield could certainly do with at least one more body, while a wide forward and an established goalscorer should also be on the wish list.
In short, almost every position could do with strengthening, especially if Liverpool are to be playing European football next season — hopefully in the Champions League. For that to happen, Klopp must recognise and address the key areas for improvement and FSG must back him with the funds to do so with the right signings to take Liverpool to the next level.
What makes this such a precarious time for Liverpool fans is that we are all so desperate for Klopp to succeed that the prospect of it not working out is not one we want to contemplate. If it doesn’t work for Klopp under these owners, then the FSG model really would be dead.
Where would we go from there?
It would be very tempting to just say the season is over and decide to pack it all in. It does feel that way, but Liverpool have a job to do and that job is getting into the top four, by hook or by crook. It’s not where we want to be and we will most likely look back on this season as a huge missed opportunity, but right now that’s all there is left to play for.
It feels rubbish, but I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, top four would still represent significant progress for Liverpool this season. Champions League football will be a crucial factor for both retaining and attracting high-quality players in the summer.
Heads have, quite understandably, fallen off, everywhere, after Hull. It was grim. But one thing history teaches us is that football does change quickly and we absolutely must stay right behind this manager, because he’s shown he’s one of the best in the business.
Any questions over his position in the job are, quite frankly, absurd. If, by the end of his contract, it hasn’t panned out as we would have hoped, so be it. We’re in it for the long haul with Klopp and we’ll have to take the rough with the smooth. Right now, though, we need him, more than ever, to show his mettle and find a solution to drag Liverpool out of this mess, before the season plunges into total oblivion.
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Good piece, well written.
Joel, you have not exactly written much that is useful that reflects the title of your post.
Also hindsight is brilliant for all of us. For instance you wrote:
“The argument that January isn’t a good time to buy also doesn’t hold when you look at the list of players Liverpool have recruited in the January window in past seasons: Javier Mascherano, Daniel Agger, Maxi Rodriguez, Luis Suarez, Coutinho and Daniel Sturridge, to name a few. Sound business can be done if it is planned for.”
Please refresh my memory as to how many of those players you mentioned actually hit the ground running that led to trophies/titles, or at least changed the season massively during the second half of the season?
Most of what you have said has been turned into cliches by repetition by fans and other journos. I was looking for what Klopp needs to do as he says “in the moment” with what he has. So what do you suggest then?
Why does a new signing have to mean a trophy/title challenge?
Can a new signing not contribute positively on the pitch, help out in a problem position without it leading to a trophy?
If a new signing came in, fired several goals in for the rest of the season and ensured a 2nd/3rd place finish would that not be considered a positive signing?
“Please refresh my memory as to how many of those players you mentioned actually hit the ground running that led to trophies/titles, or at least changed the season massively during the second half of the season?”
No suggestion was made that these players contributed to trophies or titles. The assertion was that they were sound business, which indeed they were. It was just a list of good January signings we have made over the years.
http://www.thisisanfield.com/2017/02/liverpool-fc-january-dispelling-myth-winter-signings-need-time-settle/
Thanks Dan, and Michael for posting the link to the article.
I do understand that a signing or two might have helped, but that is something the article also presents as a difficult one to assess given that we were pushing for two cups, and EPL title, and it’s not what I was expecting this post by Joel to be.
Firstly, the title is “What does Jurgen Klopp need to do to rescue the reds season” and I was expecting something other than what has already been stated since the season is not done yet.
It would have been constructive to see a perspective about what to do with what we have if we were in Klopp’s position with the remaining games. It’s all speculation but at least it is different from the same rhetoric of buying players for this and that position, etc, etc which we know is not possible now until the summer.
While I do agree with the need for players, I didn’t see the point of rehashing a discussion of players to be bought. I added the list of players quoted in the post as I wasn’t clear as to how these players all impacted in the second half of the season, and playing under different circumstances and football climate/philosophy.
As per the article that Michael posted it is a gamble rather than some sure thing based on results and other variables, and the question for me is who would those players have been or were considered if at all and judging by the outcomes listed below, with the exception of Masch who already slotted into a really fine team who made it to the finals of the CL:
“In came Daniel Sturridge and Philippe Coutinho, two relative gambles for Liverpool, but players with quality who could hope to make an impact in their first five months on Merseyside.
Both did just that, with Sturridge scoring 11 and assisting five in just 16 games in all competitions, while Coutinho scored three and assisted seven in 13, lifting the Reds to seventh come May.
In previous years, too, the additions of Daniel Agger, Javier Mascherano, Alvaro Arbeloa, Martin Skrtel, Maxi Rodriguez, Luis Suarez proved hugely successful, with some immediately influential.
Mascherano lost just twice in 11 appearances for the Reds following his winter loan move from West Ham in 2006/07, with both coming in the Champions League—one of which was the final against AC Milan.
Rodriguez, a free signing from Atletico Madrid, slotted to play an invaluable role for Rafa Benitez‘s side in 2009/10, helping push Liverpool from mid-table to a sixth-placed finish.
And in 2010/11, Luis Suarez’s £22.7 million move from Ajax was followed by four goals and five assists in 13 league games, going on the cement himself as one of the best players in the club’s history.
While the lack of January signings in both of Liverpool’s most recent title challenges in 2008/09 and 2013/14 goes against the theory, it is clear that well-planned mid-season reinforcement can be pivotal.”
I find it strange that in recent Jan windows we’ve had this line constantly pushed out from the club that it’s too difficult to do business in Jan, there’s not enough quality available yet in the previous windows we didn’t seem to have much trouble bringing in quality players.
Hi Michael, yeah it is something of a head scratcher.
My thought is that there is way more spin in the media, false advertising that agents and their players use to negotiate or open the doors to a club. This is just conspiracy theory so I don’t know why. Maybe Klopp has earmarked players for summer to leave and bring in, but I think there still needs to be a large room for the Alexis Sanchez type scenarios that may happen.
Anyways like yo know what you would do with our current lot for the remaining games or at least expect from Klopp to do?
I don’t see how Can starts over Wij for a start.
We also have this strange affliction of trying to break down these low block, 2 banks of 4 teams by going straight thru the middle. Surely that’s playing straight into their hands?
To get past a defence ya have to thru, over or round. Sitting deep with 2 banks of 4 doesn’t allow to go thru or over so that leaves one option, around.
That doesn’t necessarily mean swinging crosses into the box every 2 mins but you certainly need to be attacking from the sides at pace.
Liked what you have written and my biggest problem is why Lucas is preferred ahead of Wijaldun and Gomez he gives away fouls and is to slow as we seen again on Hulls second goal. Klopp needs money our American owners seem to be very tight fisted when it comes to cash for players we have to be like the other top six clubs they buy big players who cost a lot but they get the results.Is there anyone at the academy who can defend or play in midfield like Jamie C. and Stevie G.
The Problem with Liverpool is they are a very fragile team. It has been the same for a few years now. Mentally weak. Look at the opportunities lost since 2012: FA Cup Final 2012 lost Chelsea, April 2014 lost Chelsea (Gerrard infamous slip), League Cup Semi final 2015 lost Chelsea again, League cup Final 2016 Lost to City, Europa League Final 2016 Lost to Sevilla, League Cup Semi final 2017 lost Southampton, and now most likely blown our top 4 chances?? 6 times we have blown chances of trophies!! We need more leaders in the team. Warriors that are hard minded. We are too much of a soft touch.
You forgot the Villa FA Cup semi at Wembley but I can understand why. We do seem to lack leaders through the team and when it comes to the decisive moments in semis and finals don’t seem to have the nous, experience and the qualities that we associate with leaders to get us over the line and turn ourselves into winners. This needs to be addressed through the spine of the team otherwise we are going nowhere.
What you seem to be saying is that we miss a Graeme Souness type. If so, you’d be 100% right.
Just to be clear I am 100% behind Klopp. BUT, i am amazed that this run of form has been allowed to go on with zero change in playing style and very little in personnel. There is a very clear pattern. We play well against good teams who play with the ball, because we can press. We hugely struggle against more limited teams who are happy to let us have the ball. This makes it all the more negligent that we keep setting up in exactly the same fashion and losing in exactly the same way. Either a defensive mistake or a long ball after a ponderous attach breaks down.
In my humble opinion we should keep things as they are against Spurs and then change it for the next team outside the top 6.
So, my two point plan to stop the rot (after Spurs):
1) Change the personnel: There are people bang out of form. Change them. Lallana, Milner, and clyne (positional) needs to stop becoming our attacking option – he isn’t good enough going forward. These guys can always come back in and the likes of lallana would benefit from playing in a team in better form. Change things, start winning (hopefully), and ease out of form players back in.
2) Change of formation. At least that gives the oppo something to think about. Means they can’t simply follow the same blueprint that everyone else has.
Play a 3-4-3. Matip in the middle, Clyne to the right and Degsy to the left. Forces opponents down the wings rather than their continual scything through the midddle. Hendo and Gini (holding) in the middle providing further defensive solidity, Trent and Albe on the wings playing as wing backs. Phil, Bobby and Sadio upfront with licence to not tract back too much.
This league is unbelievably tough. Especially us. Given the competition, top 4 would be a fantastic achievement. It is ours for the taking, just. but we need things to change. CONFIDENCE is key and at present we have none. Man U were the same pre Jose, Man City have suffered recently too. Given our lack of depth, recent history and the way we play, it is no surprise that when we suffer from it, it hits us harder.
Back at em Redmen.
It’s radical, but worth a try. I wonder if he tries different formations like 3 4 3 in training, does anyone know?
Thanks Tom L. This is what I am interested in reading now. Forget the doom and gloom, and what should have and could have.
To your points:
1. Agree. Maybe give Firmino a rest too. Why not give Sturridge a chance, and switch him with Origi in the game.
2. Switch Milner or give him a rest. Can Milner do a job in the midfield? What about switching Albie Moreno to a attacking winger? I mean he is not great but his speed, and some work on shooting and dribbling is enough to earn penalties at least. ;)
You are right it is bleeding tough this league, but it’s time to change things up, and take some risks like you iterated by going to 343 or wingers, etc.
Anything to revive the hope and confidence in this team that they still have something left to offer than what we have seen over the last 5 games.
Keep the suggestions coming – much more uplifting and positive.
We have had different players, different managers but the results are always the same. For achieve change we need new owners. Trying for top 4 with a squad that has neither the depth or quality to compete in Europe, or as we are finding out, the league. Last season we said it was positive we had no euro footy so we could concentrate on the league. Now the team looks uncompetitive. There is no plan B as the same players are tasked week in week out as there is no competition for places. This is the owners fault. Mid table budgets. Mid table performance. The most profitable business model is competing for 4th with the cheapest, meanest squad , which is what we have. FSG have been here long enough to prove they are not the owners to win the league or compete for top honours in Europe. Profit is all that matters. Fuck, we even profit in windows. Klavan for Skyrtl?? I am sick of it. FSG out.Go. Sell up and fuck off. It looks to me manager and players expected some strengthening in January and it didn’t come.
This club needs a huge shot of a “win-at-all-costs” mentality. It just isn’t there. So much focus on how we play, about our “philosophy”.
I don’t care how you play, just win.
I don’t care about possession stats, just win.
I don’t care about shots on target, just win.
Just. Win.
If it means going long, or playing on the counter at home or any one of the scores of unfashionable things pundits would have you think are sacrilege to the game then do it. Fuck what anyone says. You’re going to get criticised by someone for something all the time. Criticism is a hell of a lot easier to take when you’re winning.
Klopp would argue he did try for Julian Draxler, Christian Pulisic and Julian Brandt, but clearly he (or FSG) wasn’t prepared to pay the premium it would take to secure their signature >>> what is the premium? How much? 5m? 10?20?
For 2 of these lads their clubs are still in the CL and a half decent run makes the premium we offer look worthless compared to the money the CL could bring and with it, the improved status to replace with better players. So of course their clubs didn’t want to sell.
As for Draxler – lad signs for PSG in hunt for trophies and guaranteed CL football shock!!
My thoughts too. No one seems to ask the question, “what does it mean that we tried”?
Sure we tried, to buy players at a certain valuation. What is obvious is that we aren’t willing to buy at a premium. And at the end of the day, this is what all the top Clubs across Europe do. Champions League has nothing to do with it, as City and PSG proved in their early buying stages, or even Chelsea this past summer. Money talks in this game. It is as simple as that. That model works, and our model doesn’t.
ok, how much do we “overpay” to get Julian Brandt or Christian Pulisic – 5,10,20m? How much is it? And frankly, its typical PL arrogance to think European clubs will always bend over to our will (or cash). Dortmund are on a par income wise with us. They have a track record of not selling if they don’t want to. What’s an extra 5 or 10 m to them?
I don’t really care how much we overpay. Just get the right quality player in that our team is crying out for. The teams that win things… that’s what they do. And our owners clearly aren’t willing to do it. They have been here 7 years, and it would have to be the worst 7 year stretch since Shanks took over. One top 4 finish. Always 4-5 players away.
And don’t get me wrong, I am genuinely someone who tries to see the glass half full. I try to stay positive to counterbalance all those who lose their heads.
But at the end of the day, The fluke of Leicester aside, the writing on the wall is pretty easy to read. Spending money, yes even excessive money, works. Budget shopping, doesn’t.
Dear me.
“If it doesn’t work for Klopp under these owners, then the FSG model really would be dead.”
The model – as has been said many times – relies heavily on training and development so that young and/or subpar players improve and the team succeeds. The problem is that other than preseason and the first few weeks of the season, when does the first team actually get the chance to train regularly, and all together? If we want to compete in 3 or 4 competitions, midweek and weekend matches and recovery days make regular training impossible. Even if the kids play midweek there usually are 2 or 3 key players from the first team included, preventing them from taking part in training drills. So if for most of the season the training drills and exercises that the model depends on are not happening on a regular basis, doesn’t this imply there is faulty logic in the model? How is it ever going to work in the premier league?
I hope now that the club’s finances are in a healthy state the club changes its recruitment policy and goes for more experienced and better players, especially in key areas like the defence. As for the rest of the season, I think the time on the training ground will help, but I hope any improvement won’t be seen as justification to continue with the current model.
Really good piece Joel, thoughtful and well written.
Klopp wanted the Emre Mor kid last June. Mor chose BVD and CL. Klopp didn’t make a serious move for Pulisic, even though he is American and so FSG-favoured and he was right. Against Real Madrid he was a child out of school, and replaced. Mor came on 5 minutes later and was instrumental at turning the game around for BVD to come from behind and win, topping their group. In the process he embarrassed the great Marcelo into fouling and he delivered the tackles, play-offs and then a killer pass to set up the assist for the winning goal. Mor is twice the footballer Pulisic is imo and Klopp isn’t prepared to compromise for fad’s sake. He knows what and who he wants and isn’t prepared to waste a place in his squad for the compromise and the sake of appeasing supporters calling for fresh meat.
His issue doesn’t seem to be money as he has said this so many times- it’s value for money and future prospect. It’s getting in the right player he wants. I reckon he has 10 so far with an eye on 3 of the kids, but we all know you need 15-18 like C, MU, MC, ARS with a good manager that’ll maximise them and appease the benched Internationals at the same time. He’s done well on a squad that’s not the envy of those others, so far, along with the recent non-availability of key ones during Dec/Jan. There’s 14 games to go.
A major problem is inflated prices on these player types he wants especially without the CL to tempt them atm (fee plus wages need to be astronomical to compensate for lack of CL- Teixeira for example “Disney World” money). He admittted recently in that Times interview of his loyalty and belief in any squad he works with and his aversion to disrupt it with ego-maniacs costing the earth that can disillusion his squad morale unless those coming in are truly special and fit into the group ethic and cohesion (are these Shankly Socialist values being revisited!:))
Either we believe Klopp when he says money is not the problem but the right players to be available at whatever he regards as the right price, or we don’t believe him. There’s no point in saying we believe in Klopp as a manager when we then doubt his own words.
One thing for sure is his plans need to have us in the CL in order to be attractive to those players he wants, to give us the depth and skills needed at this top 6 PL level that’s never been higher.
That’s his challenge, not FSG’s as they’ve given him Carte Blanche by giving him a 6 year deal he wouldn’t have accepted without the full control he needs (and didn’t have at BVD). But do consider what a 6 year contract means….patience…?
Insofar as the old “FSG OUT” chestnut is concerned (Zzzz) can someone please answer my question posed 5 months back i.e. Who do you want in instead? And at what price to the traditions of Liverpool or us? Do you want just a bottomless pit of Oil or Chinese or Russian gas money at any cost to the values and culture of our club? So what’s it to be..and who’s it to be…?
“And at what price to the traditions of Liverpool or us? Do you want just a bottomless pit of Oil or Chinese or Russian gas money at any cost to the values and culture of our club?” You think “Dunkin’Donuts” and selling old main stand seats is in the club’s tradition? Putting profit before all else is tradition? Our tradition is winning, and in the Modern game that means oligarchs or sheiks. Or FSG and competing for nothing with the blue shite.
Sponsorships are part of the game since we were one of the first with ‘Candy’ on our shirts and if selling old seats helps, I’m all for that too- plus it’s good for the environment:).
But selling out the club like City and Chelsea have done from under the fans, all for a few pieces of silver?…. to become a plaything and pastime of a select few…. even if it buys some quick success… well that’s a bigger question.
As Tom L below says ‘Until Klopp starts letting it be known that he is not being supported in the transfer market, in my mind at least, we have to buy in to this way of doing things.’
From my reading, FSG were looking for Klopp from the off but his loyalty to Dortmund kept him at bay, so others were in to hold the fort until he came. When he did come, they since tied him up with a deal that’d cost any other club heavily to prise him. He’s nobody’s fool and he’s already done incredibly well against the odds from meagre beginnings with his 2 previous clubs plus within whiskers of 2 cups last year for us. To me that contract looks like good FSG business too.
Others have also asked here recently for some evidence that FSG are holding funds back on Klopp and we’re still awaiting answers – as we are to the alternative to FSG so we can have a reasoned discussion at least.
we were the first in England – with Hitachi
Oh yeah. Forgot that- then there was Crown Paints I think before Candy
Peter, great comment as usual mate. I am with you (and Klopp) on this whole business of who to bring in, when, why and what for.
I’ve heard and read all these quotes from Shankly in articles and fan comments, when it’s convenient. Then the shit hits the fan and suddenly Shankly’s quotes are quietly and quickly forgotten.
Klopp is building something here. He may seem like a clown in front of the camera or whatever, but he did some serious business at Dortmund in his first two years clearing a lot of players and he worked with what he knew was best for him and the club.
He is trying to repeat his philosophy here and maybe in the hard way he is also assessing who is really up to the task to implement his style of play. He must have earmarked players he wants to stay and build around them with players he has on the radar. I expect to not get all of them even then and leave a large room for error for various reasons in the transfer window. But he will get two or three he wants and continue to build and learn from what he has done so far.
It takes time as you and Tom L have pointed out. So I am with you even Dunkin Donuts is not part of the tradition. I don’t run the club I am just a fan and will continue to support the team until it’s no longer sensible to do so.
YNWA!
Cheers Sash, I think we’ll all continue to support even when ‘it’s no longer sensible to do so’ too mate:) YNWA.
Christian Pulisic is only 18 years old. He’s not going to dominate right away. If Klopp were able to acquire him, which I think is more driven by FSG wanting an American to promote, it’s with one eye on the future(See Woodburn and TAA).
Peter, fwiw, i agree totally with your last 4 paragraphs, especially the last one.
Until Klopp starts letting it be known that he is not being supported in the transfer market, in my mind at least, we have to buy in to this way of doing things.
Look at Spurs. How many Spurs fans would have wanted to get Daniel levy out and change the ownership over the last 10 years. The man followed a plan, seemingly to build a sustainable business model and grow a football club over the long term. he is now appearing to see some of the fruits of his labour as a long term plan appears to be blossoming.
We aren’t man U. We fucked that up 25 years ago. We don’t have mountains of cash, so we need to run a prudent but ambitious business. Hiring Klopp was unbelievably ambitous and i for one am happ yot take the rough with the smooth for at least another few years to allow him (and FSG) to build something that brings us the team/club that can challenge for the league on a regular basis.
Dead right Tom. We all want it tomorrow but we don’t want to be another Leeds. Others built their success commercially with vision and foresight and with the right manager it can be done and sustained for years to come- not just at Senior level but at Reserve/youth levels too.
I see your logic on player changes above have a lot of merit. Personally, I just want us to take the points from Spurs and use the 16 days break to reform as before, but reinvigorated. I think he’ll only make one change for Saturday though- Gini for Can and it’s last chance saloon for the keeper, again
To your point Peter, on the keeper situation just to put it out there, what if Klopp rotated keepers? I mean migs seems to have one mistake every three games or so, what would be the plus and minuses to this approach? Can it be done? Just seems so helpless and I do genuinely feel bad for our keepers, so grasping at straws.
He is FSG’s appointment and they appointed him for a very good reason-he won’t spend. Any questions about Brendan Rodgers position in the job were absurd until the day they weren’t.
Quite simply whilst we agonize with matters on the playing side, the owners aren’t really interested, they are business money people and whilst they deserve credit for their investment in the outstanding new Main Stand and increasing both capacity and income streams off the pitch, their lack of investment in just two or three top quality players this season which could have taken us easily back into the top four tells me their ambitions are purely in obtaining the maximum sale price (probably fairly soon).
At that moment, I thought this could well be the best Liverpool side I’ve witnessed in my lifetime.
Isn’t that just poor on your part? this team is nowhere near the tactical level of a benetiz team or the excitement of the suarez team.