Getting through to the League Cup final is a massive opportunity for both Jurgen Klopp and the club to get some much-needed silverware. Although it’s an impressive feat so soon after arriving in England, I would still evaluate Klopp’s start as just okay.
In fact, the word underwhelming comes to mind. He came with a lot of noise and I think he changed the mood around the club, bringing a lot of euphoria into the city. But while he’s had some good results – wins at Manchester City and Chelsea – he’s also had some very average ones. For that reason, I’d rate his start to life at Liverpool as a five out of a 10.
I don’t think much has actually changed since Brendan Rodgers departed because obviously it’s still the same squad. Regardless, I’ve not seen enough change in the areas he can affect, especially the home form because the team has been struggling at Anfield.
I went to see the Manchester United defeat a couple of weeks ago and that was very, very poor. They’re not firing now and that’s still the case despite two good results coming against Norwich and in getting past Stoke.
Their form under Klopp has been very sporadic. If they are to make a genuine top-four challenge then Liverpool must collectively find a formula to win games when they’re not playing well. You can’t play well all the time but they need to find a way of grinding results out.
One of the ways they can find that consistency is by getting the most out of the players already at his disposal. You look at the likes of Adam Lallana, Christian Benteke, Dejan Lovren and Roberto Firmino, these are players that came to the club with big reputations. It would be easy to say we need to bring in five or six new players but they’ve done it for the last five years and nothing changed. Something has to give.
Of course, players will be signed but in terms of a big overhaul, I’d like to see him get more from the current crop first. For too long now they’ve under-performed.
Buying in new players will be no easy task for Klopp. It’s going to much more difficult for him to be shrewd in the English market comparable to Germany because although Borussia Dortmund were struggling when he took over they were still the second-biggest club behind Bayern Munich. There isn’t that intense competition for players that you get in the Premier League.
Having said that, he brought in Robert Lewandowski and Jakub Blaszczykowski who he turned into exceptional players. However, what you’re finding now that is the more money manager’s have at their disposal, the harder it is to spend.
You look at Firmino, a £29 million buy, he is under more pressure to improve the team because of the fee he commanded. Whereas someone like Danny Ings doesn’t have that weight on his shoulders. It will be a harder task, too, because it is a league he’s not too familiar with yet so I do think it will be much more difficult to spend wisely at Liverpool.
It’s been a bit of a wake up call for Klopp coming to the Premier League. In Germany you do have games where it’s possible to have bagged the three points by the 45th, 50th or 60th minute. That is a rarity in England.
I think that is a lesson he’s learned the hard way because you look at teams like Crystal Palace who are able to bring back Yohan Cabaye from Paris Saint-Germain and Bournemouth paying £10m for Benik Afobe, that type of money isn’t available in Germany.
5 - Jurgen Klopp has advanced from all 5 semi-finals he’s contested as a manager (three cup and one CL semi-final at Dortmund). Expertise.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) January 26, 2016Now, you’re seeing most of the sides in the Premier League even down to the promoted teams with squads of 22-25 proper players. I think if he didn’t know it before he certainly knows now there are no easy games in England.
Set pieces. Two words that have sent shudders down Liverpool supporters’ spines this season. They’ve conceded eight goals from setpieces this season but as a manager you can only do so much. You can mark man-to-man, zonally or a bit in between but personally I always thought marking in a zone is the best way to defend set-pieces. But then again, you can tell players so much.
Once you’re out they have a responsibility. The thing with the team I played in, is that I knew if I missed a header Sami Hyypia would be right behind me, and there doesn’t seem to be that at Liverpool at the moment.
