Iīve lots of slacking to make up for from when Real Life took over. Life as a freelancer can be rough So starting a few round tables, or a million of them, is the least I can do on behalf of the RAWK scribes.
The important things for me about the running in behind is, itīs something we are now working on. Which tells me Klopp/Buvac are now happy with the progress being made off the ball and are now working on how to be more penetrating with our possession. I thought it would be 6-8 weeks before we saw any shifts in our attacking while we worked on our shape and being compact. This is great news though for us. Itīs something we were not doing at all for the past season and a bit under Rodgers. This is one area where Lewandowski & Benteke will be very similar. Defenders are terrified of letting them go unmarked and so a CB would rather risk following him into somewhere they shouldnīt go, rather than let him go alone. The result is they end up creating little pockets of space for runners to get into and hurt opponents. The shift from this match to the last in that sense was huge. I already canīt wait to see what we do the next 2 games nevermind after the international break. Henderson will fucking LOVE playing in this side. I also think this is what made Origi look so poor initially. Nobody was getting in behind him when he was making the same movements to create space. Perhaps in a few weeks we wouldnīt look as toothless with him as a lone striker as before?
Ibe was fantastic to watch. Would be very curious why he all but stopped running the ball once we scored though considering the great success he was having with it.
Iīll be honest, Iīve been one of the most critical people of Clyne on here. I worried that he didnīt fit the mould of a Klopp fullback. I didnīt think he would be poor for us or let us down, I just figured it was a position we would upgrade on when Klopp solved other more pressing areas in squad building. BUT, he has already changed his game in the short time Klopp has been here. Heīs still a young guy and is clearly eager to learn and willing to do anything the manager asked of him. I think Iīve probably got this one wrong, in hindsight. Clyne will be fine *that rhymes*
I remember under Rafa going into European games against literally anybody at any stage of the competition and not having an concern, nevermind fear, about what would happen. Since then I was terrified of fucking Trabonspor under Roy and never quite got back to feeling at ease in Europe. Klopps going to bring that back, you can just tell.
My running joke about Klopp throwing CBīs into midfield for a little jog about at the end of games continues. In all seriousness though, I do wonder if Ilori was here, is it something he would do for 20 minutes to see what happens with him. He wouldnīt be getting much minutes at CB anyway right now but we badly need a destroyer to backup Lucas. Ilori probably wouldnīt read the game anything like as well in here, but has far more recovery pace and aerial ability.
Think we will buy someone in January now anyway making it a moot point. Klopp does love his CBīs in midfield and DMīs at CB though. Iloriīs ability on the ball & pace makes him the most likely candidate for an experiment out of him, Lovren and Skrtel.
Glad you find time to contribute. As you know I always enjoy reading your insightful posts
Agree on the movement up front improving. It's interesting to see how Benteke's role has seemingly become increasingly well-defined. From doing a bit of everything before, he's now primarily coming short and playing quick passes and lay-offs to players running towards him or past him before getting into box himself. He did this amazingly well vs Chelsea, and his evolution is a very clear sign that Klopp and Buvac know exactly how to use him to get maximum use of his skill set. Players around him are also starting to learn how to pivot around him, and even Sakho is purposefully aiming well-timed balls at him for him to flick down to AM's around him. It's just much more in sync now.
Further to that, I do agree that Origi had a bit of a thankless task to hold the ball up before players learned how to support him effectively, but he'll probably start to be more effective soon once the team develops more of an understanding in the final 3rd.
As you say, Henderson is going to be a revelation in this team. I'm admittedly quite an optimist, but I think under Klopp's guidance he can become one of the very best midfielders in the league, and perhaps even pushing for double figures in goals. His forward runs are incredibly industrious and he's likely to get goals from quick one-two's on the counter in a similar manner to his 4-3 goal against Swansea in 2014.
Even if I never agreed with your concern about Clyne in Klopp's system, I did see where you were coming from. His strength
is defending, but I think that overshadows his skill going forwards somewhat.
I don't often criticise players myself so it's perhaps easy for me to take credit when players inevitably do well, but I'm taking great satisfaction from how well Benteke and Lovren have performed recently as they're two players I was very proactively positive about before and just after we signed them. I'm particularly glad to finally see Lovren playing in the sort of system I thought we were going to play when we signed him, and hopefully he can get a goal or do something extraordinary to get some credit from fans for sticking it out in the bad times and slowly turning it around.
Two other players who I did criticise recently who have surprised me in recent games are Skrtel and Allen. Skrtel always has one of those last-man or backtracking moments in him, but he's been largely rock-solid since Klopp arrived and hasn't looked uncomfortable in a high line at any time. Perhaps his time adjusting and playing it out from the back under Rodgers has been very beneficial. I was also vocal in my criticism of Allen, but he also impressed me vs Kazan with a very tidy and professional performance to help us dominate the midfield. I still think Allen is the most "expendable" of our midfielders, but performances like the one against Kazan won't hurt his chances.
I didn't quite expect Can to improve so quickly under Klopp as he's done, but he's getting better with every game. Against Southampton he was good, against Chelsea he was strong, and against Kazan he was dominant.
Speaking of Can, I said before Klopp arrived that I could see him tried at CB, but his performances in midfield probably make that highly unlikely. He's the one DM/CB I could see realistically swapping between those positions for a duration longer than a few minutes at the end of a game. Your comments on Ilori are interesting but as I have never seen Ilori play there I'm having a hard time seeing him adjusting to that position. That isn't to say that he doesn't have the natural abilities (ie. Height, speed, technique), it's just that it's a position that takes years to understand properly, and with extremely limited experience of playing there the likelihood of that happening outside of a late sub appearance there is minuscule. Would love it if he were to come back and take a place in the squad though, as he's a very elegant CB to watch.