Topic: Team Analysis: Jürgen Klopp’s Liverpool Tactics (*)

[JackWard33]

We wouldn't be second team in the league possession wise if our midfield wasn't technically good. Lads at the back right now are a huge problem.

Well we get beat when we have a ton of possession. Actually what happens is teams drop off us to nullify our forward line which is why our possession numbers go up in games we're struggling in as well as games we're doing well in. It's some sort of curved graph!

I don't dispute that we have good 'technical' players but that wasn't his post. There's no question to me that our midfield struggles when pressed.
Mostly this is the system - we're playing a 1-2 shape with our full backs super high up the pitch. This makes it really hard for us to move the ball into penetrating areas because our centre backs and our '6' have few options when the team. People have used this to criticise Henderson but you can see the same thing happen in the same midfield shape to Gerrard in 14/15. It's just very tough for a deep lying midfielder if they get isolated without obvious out balls.
To me the biggest weakness is our 2 CMs that aren't the 6 (and yes I know that a lot of people think its the complete opposite) but you can see the problem as early as the first half of the season against Arsenal. Wijnaldam and Lallana are often too far away from the play and don't give effective options also neither of them are great at affecting the game off the ball. I know Lallana has a reputation for pressing but this has been exaggerated a bit because his energy is phenomenal and but more importantly he's doing it higher up the pitch.
The most obvious area to upgrade in our team (apart from keeper) is the Wijnaldam position - this should be a more box-to-box player who can sometimes sit in with Henderson but also join attacks and is better at affecting the game without the ball.

We're playing a system that commits a lot of players up the pitch very early in us having the ball (basically the 5 front players and the 2 full backs almost run away from the ball when we get it). This can sometimes overwhelm teams which is when it looks great but when it doesn't because they either press high effectively (first half Swansea, United at Anfield etc) or because they drop off and cut off passing lanes it can get ugly because we can't attack effectively and we leave gaps behind us because so many bodies are up the pitch.
It's not that its a bad system - there are obvious examples of games this season where its worked beautifully, but there are also obvious problems with it against teams that are good at pressing high or good at shelling deep.
To make it work consistently we need a keeper who can sweep, quick centre backs who do well 1 on 1 (if they still exist in football!!), at least one attacking full back (or player from another position playing there) whose dangerous when left in space, and a more effective second CM (the one in-between the deepest lying and Lallana) and probably more pace on the left of our attack to have more than one threat in behind 

[fowlermagic]

We wouldn't be second team in the league possession wise if our midfield wasn't technically good. Lads at the back right now are a huge problem.

Right now?? There always was a huge question mark over our backline and the defensive / depth quality of our holding midfielders. We had an ok run there for a couple of months where we held the shots against us to a league low I believe but the odd chance we were giving the opposition were excellent. Quantity of chances limited (excellent) but the quality of chances led us to an inability to keep a run of clean sheets. As I said previously we badly need a natural left back to (1) challenge Milner for his spot & (2) allow us the option to bring Milner back into CM when required. A Henderson - Milner combo in front of an upgrade backline would surely be a nice option to have against certain sides. Honestly we don't need much and it wont break the bank as a Clyne type on the left and an additional central defensive option would be huge for our squad. Add another CM to the mix and we could then have a very good balanced backline to go along with a talented attack. As Klopp said we are playing for our futures and honestly right now the likes of Moreno, Can, Sturridge & Co must be wondering if they will be around next season. Personally I snap the hands off of any suitors if they were willing to bulk up our wallets by 50m plus if those lads were sold.

[SerbianScouser]

We can look at it from any which way but the bottom line is that with Mignolet, Lovren and Henderson as a 6 we'll never match the technical qualities we have at 8 in Gini and Lallana with a little help from Phil. It's practically a mid-table mentality at the back with precious little courage on the ball which then results in too many long balls and aimless hoofs when teams press us high up the pitch even a little bit.

In big games is not a big issue because when that happens and we just give the ball away , big teams actually want to pass the ball around which is where our work on the shape and pressing comes into play allowing us to gain foothold in these kind of games. But if you play Leicester that doesn't want to build their attacks from the back this hoofing from the back turns games into scraps for second balls and then you have to wonder what is the point of having highly technical players in the team like Gini, Lallana and two brazilians if we can't get the ball to them on the deck.

Our build-up play is poor throughout this entire season and like I said it's not so much an issue in big games but there is a reason somebody like Pep is insisting so much that they pass it out from the back, we can't cheat this, if hoofing was the answer Pep would be doing it as well.

There aren't many midfielders in the league as good as Gini and Lallana when it comes to receiving passes under pressure and then turning on the ball. We're either going to need a proper playmaker at the the back or we'll need to find much more courageous passers than Mignolet and Lovren.

[killer-heels]

We are probably as good if not better than most outside our box and before we get to the opposition box at the moment. Unless Klopp goes full defensive or maniac attack then how does he change it?

Ultimately, we need to be better inside our box and inside the oppositions. A striker, keeper and centre back should be where the priority is come the summer.

[fowlermagic]

We can look at it from any which way but the bottom line is that with Mignolet, Lovren and Henderson as a 6 we'll never match the technical qualities we have at 8 in Gini and Lallana with a little help from Phil. It's practically a mid-table mentality at the back with precious little courage on the ball which then results in too many long balls and aimless hoofs when teams press us high up the pitch even a little bit.

In big games is not a big issue because when that happens and we just give the ball away , big teams actually want to pass the ball around which is where our work on the shape and pressing comes into play allowing us to gain foothold in these kind of games. But if you play Leicester that doesn't want to build their attacks from the back this hoofing from the back turns games into scraps for second balls and then you have to wonder what is the point of having highly technical players in the team like Gini, Lallana and two brazilians if we can't get the ball to them on the deck.

Our build-up play is poor throughout this entire season and like I said it's not so much an issue in big games but there is a reason somebody like Pep is insisting so much that they pass it out from the back, we can't cheat this, if hoofing was the answer Pep would be doing it as well.

There aren't many midfielders in the league as good as Gini and Lallana when it comes to receiving passes under pressure and then turning on the ball. We're either going to need a proper playmaker at the the back or we'll need to find much more courageous passers than Mignolet and Lovren.

Personally I don't think we need to be more than about Top 6 when it comes to our backline in terms of goals against ...if we were achieving Top 6 defensive numbers right now I truly believe we be romping 2nd this season. Tactically we just need to be a bit tighter as a unit especially when it comes to set pieces. While hoping to play like Barca from the back is a goal worth reaching for I just don't see it working for us as you don't get the time/space in the English league to play intricate football btw full backs & your goalie. What are the chances of acquiring the likes of an Alves, Pique, Busquets etc tomorrow morning without breaking the bank .....why would they currently join us without CL football and other more likely candidates would surely be vying for these type of players too.

Personally I think most managers hell every one have their strong points whether it be defensively or attack minded. We just need to have a wee bit better balance in ours and it starts with adding a couple of defensive starters to the mix. They don't have to pass the ball like Alonso I wont say No of course but as long as they crave for a clean sheet first we have 5 or 6 other match winners in the first 11 that can build on a secure base.

[Chakan]

[SerbianScouser]

While hoping to play like Barca from the back is a goal worth reaching for I just don't see it working for us as you don't get the time/space in the English league to play intricate football btw full backs & your goalie. What are the chances of acquiring the likes of an Alves, Pique, Busquets etc tomorrow morning without breaking the bank .....why would they currently join us without CL football and other more likely candidates would surely be vying for these type of players too.

In that case we need to change the profiles of our advanced midfielders. Gini, Lallna, Coutinho are simply not built for direct play and second ball battles. Klopp is clearly not building his team to be like that. So there is a huge discrepancy in styles right now between our front 5 and our back 6 , so something has to give and we need to achieve the balance in the sense of all of 11 lads on the pitch trying to do exact same thing or else we'll continue to be this schizophrenic team that consistently plays well against certain types of teams and consistently struggles against another type of teams on the road.

In that sense Klopp will need to decide in the summer which direction he wants to take and how he wants to go about making his team/squad complete.

[killer-heels]

In that case we need to change the profiles of our advanced midfielders. Gini, Lallna, Coutinho are simply not built for direct play and second ball battles. Klopp is clearly not building his team to be like that. So there is a huge discrepancy in styles right now between our front 5 and our back 6 , so something has to give and we need to achieve the balance in the sense of all of 11 lads on the pitch trying to do exact same thing or else we'll continue to be this schizophrenic team that consistently plays well against certain types of teams and consistently struggles against another type of teams on the road.

In that sense Klopp will need to decide in the summer which direction he wants to take and how he wants to go about making his team/squad complete.

The problem at the moment is that although our possession stats are high, shouldnt they be with 8 midfielders in the side? When you watched Dortmund they were much more direct in their play and got the ball forward quickly.

We can do that as we illustrated vs Spurs it almost seems to me that we could do with less focus on possession and more directness. That said, without the personnel not sure how we do that.

[diegoLFC7]

Its so obvious Klopp planned the season up until December. He hasnt transitioned into the PL winter months.

[RedSince86]

The problem at the moment is that although our possession stats are high, shouldnt they be with 8 midfielders in the side? When you watched Dortmund they were much more direct in their play and got the ball forward quickly.

We can do that as we illustrated vs Spurs it almost seems to me that we could do with less focus on possession and more directness. That said, without the personnel not sure how we do that.

Well we have been strongly linked with Julian Brandt and Naby Keita the last week or so.

One is a winger the latter is a force of nature in CM.

[Miltonred]

The problem at the moment is that although our possession stats are high, shouldnt they be with 8 midfielders in the side? When you watched Dortmund they were much more direct in their play and got the ball forward quickly.

We can do that as we illustrated vs Spurs it almost seems to me that we could do with less focus on possession and more directness. That said, without the personnel not sure how we do that.

I think the problem is twofold.
1- We can be outstanding and direct and ruthless, but we are not able to duplicate that ruthlessly game after game - even our best players are inconsistent.
2- There are a few players who should not be in the side at all, because they are not even able to get up to a level of being effective for 90 minutes. On Monday we saw without naming names who those players were.

I hope Jurgen has it in his mind where we need to significantly strengthen, and I hope that ownership is ready to step up and pay for those changes. I am fairly confident about the former, but not at all confident in the latter.
With the right players Jurgen Klopp wins this league.

[Zoomers]

What a disgrace if true.

[fowlermagic]

In that case we need to change the profiles of our advanced midfielders. Gini, Lallna, Coutinho are simply not built for direct play and second ball battles. Klopp is clearly not building his team to be like that. So there is a huge discrepancy in styles right now between our front 5 and our back 6 , so something has to give and we need to achieve the balance in the sense of all of 11 lads on the pitch trying to do exact same thing or else we'll continue to be this schizophrenic team that consistently plays well against certain types of teams and consistently struggles against another type of teams on the road.

In that sense Klopp will need to decide in the summer which direction he wants to take and how he wants to go about making his team/squad complete.

I have seen a couple of very attacking sides over the years under the stewardship of Rodgers, Rafa briefly, Evans and Kenny and only one brought the title to us and did so on a consistent basis. There has to be a better balance and I don't see why we have to tinker with our attack too much to ease a left back, another center back and goalie probably into the starting 11. Surely we can strive to score 80 league goals a season while hoping to only concede 40 or less. Those goals should be pinned on the wall side by side in terms of what we may need to achieve a league title. Lets be honest for a second, if we had a natural left back, a consistent central defence pairing and perhaps a more defensive minded holding player the team as a whole could be better prepared for all types of opposition they face over a season. If we qualify for Europe, especially CL next season then those positions are the first that need strengthening. Tactically we will be facing better teams in terms of possession next season as you only have to see how English sides fare against the best in Europe. There is no way we will out play every team every week but we can outwork them (we have that spirit in droves) & out think them (short of options right now). Certain games in the league and Europe a clean sheet should be our priority with still an eye on taking all three points but there is no way a side with converted full backs, central defenders and holding players (Henderson is a baby when it comes to that position) has the tools to achieve success on several fronts. 

[didi shamone]

Karius- Matip-wijnaldum -Firmino. There's your new spine. Sorry about the herniated discs

[cdav]

The most obvious area to upgrade in our team (apart from keeper) is the Wijnaldam position - this should be a more box-to-box player who can sometimes sit in with Henderson but also join attacks and is better at affecting the game without the ball.

Could just be paper talk, but do you think these links with Naby Keita could be to solve this issue? He seems to be the perfect fit for all roles we require in the box to box position.

[killer-heels]

Could just be paper talk, but do you think these links with Naby Keita could be to solve this issue? He seems to be the perfect fit for all roles we require in the box to box position.

With all due respect to JackWard, the most obvious positions to upgrade after the keeper position is at centre back and up front. Any other suggestion is a bit mad.

Considering however that a winger and midfielder seem to be linked i think one of the positions is going to be kept as it is due to cost. Then again if Sakho, Lucas and Sturridge leave then it will be bordering on sabotage if they are not replaced.

[Suareznumber7]

While hoping to play like Barca from the back is a goal worth reaching for I just don't see it working for us as you don't get the time/space in the English league to play intricate football btw full backs & your goalie.

 

What an absolute bullshit statement.  You can count on 1 hand the number of teams in this league that press high up the pitch.  And, against the teams that do, we do quite well against.  It's the teams that park 11 players 25 yards from their goal that we struggle with. 

[Suareznumber7]

[Klippity Klopp]

Snip

 

[Bend It Like Aurelio]

All this talk about positional upgrades and Barca emulation, most people forget that we did quite well this season up until December, when it started falling apart. Our attacking play, even against the bottom sides, wasn't such a debacle until the turn of the year.

With Coutinho injured and Mane off to AFCON, I think Klopp made the mistake of trying to rectify a problem my making it into two problems. By moving Lallana up into the top 3 instead of slotting in an Origi for example into that hole, he put us into a position where the midfield lost it's effectiveness, and Lallana, who had played poorly up front in his Liverpool career, into a funk. Which was inexcusable up to that point as he was on a tear playing in midfield.

Then with six days between the Sunderland match and the FA Cup tie with Plymouth, he played the reserve side instead of the first string, who would have to wait until the Southampton cup tie in order to play again, which was a 10 day break. This in my opinion did two things, one was to break the team's rhythm, and two it meant that they went into the EFL Cup tie with Manchester United on their minds three days later. The latter meant that the team were probably weary of fatigue, and didn't want to expend too much energy dealing with a Southampton side that were in a lull at that time. This I think broke the team's momentum. And the most important of all, it dented their confidence. Because, with the draw with Sunderland, Plymouth and the loss to Southampton, the familiar refrain of us not performing against lower sides became a self fulfilling prophecy.

But honestly, looking back at it all, I think Klopp was to blame largely for what happened, because I think he has a very positive mentality towards football in general. This is good if his players had the same mental fortitude as he does, but in my mind I think most of our players are severely lacking in that area. His thought throughout, and it reflected in his interviews, is that the players should be strong enough to handle these situations. But either he wasn't aware of their mental fragility, or he wasn't able to influence them in the way that he wanted to.

In any case, if we were to address any sort of hole in our team in the summer, we need to buy players who are (in addition to technical and physical attributes) intelligent, humble, and most of all, strong leaders in their own right. The former I believe we lack in our squad at the moment (Moreno, Can, and Mignolet, no matter how smart Klopp says he is), the latter we just don't have much at all to be honest.

[rawcusk8]

Are we all agreed that defence is surely the main area that needs fixing first? I mean we need a keeper, centre mid and a genuine number 9 but CB and LB must be the main priority. Since Rafa left our defence has been shit, please Jurgen sort it out. Couple of nasty bastards would be nice too, seems we tend to shrivel up when teams get into our faces.

[Chris~]

Are we all agreed that defence is surely the main area that needs fixing first? I mean we need a keeper, centre mid and a genuine number 9 but CB and LB must be the main priority. Since Rafa left our defence has been shit, please Jurgen sort it out. Couple of nasty bastards would be nice too, seems we tend to shrivel up when teams get into our faces.

Needs fixing through personal and team/shape tactics, just fixing one isn't going to solve everything and I think just changing the players won't improve it that much.

[rawcusk8]

Needs fixing through personal and team/shape tactics, just fixing one isn't going to solve everything and I think just changing the players won't improve it that much.

No offence to them but a defence of Lucas, Milner, Klavan and Moreno can 100% be improved on. Agree with team shape and tactics helping but the players mentioned above, if they are anywhere near our defence next season we are buggered.

[Chris~]

No offence to them but a defence of Lucas, Milner, Klavan and Moreno can 100% be improved on. Agree with team shape and tactics helping but the players mentioned above, if they are anywhere near our defence next season we are buggered.

Assumed we were talking about first choice defenders.

[cdav]

No offence to them but a defence of Lucas, Milner, Klavan and Moreno can 100% be improved on. Agree with team shape and tactics helping but the players mentioned above, if they are anywhere near our defence next season we are buggered.

Agreed.

New quality cb signing, Matip, Lovren, Klaven and Gomez is good enough as long as the new singing isn't as injury prone as Lovren/Matip. Plus a left back to come into the first 11 and we should hopefully improve quite a bit with less of a drop off in quality. Matip and Lovren have conceded at less than a goal a game- what would really improve us is having a settled and consistent back 5 who can play the vast majority of games.

[RyanBabel19]

What was the defence like in Klopps dortmund sides?

I simply cant claim to watched them on a regular basis so dont really know.

[jillcwhomever]

I think his first team let in quite a few goals. But it improved season by season, and one of the years he won the title it was the lowest ever goals conceded total.

[KiNki]

http://www.empireofthekop.com/2017/03/02/what-ancelotti-told-fsg-when-they-spoke-to-him-about-liverpool-job-is-truer-than-ever/

He's wrong.



We need a new spine, a left back and a left winger.   Apart from that we are not to bad.

[Flaccido Dongingo]

Maybe I'm in the minority here, but I'd just like LFC to sign good footballers, irrespective of age or this fucking obsession with them having a sell on value, was Kenny worried about "sell on" when he signed 29 year old Aldridge?, no, he simply wanted a fella to stick the ball in the net, likewise Hysen, he wanted a cultured centre back and signed him at 30 years of age, Houllier wanted an experienced midfielder, so he signed 35 year old Gary Mac, players are an asset, if you pay £20m for a 31 year old striker with no reslae, and he bags you 20 goals a season, is that money well spent?, of course it is, signing the "next big thing" time and time again is hit and miss, centre backs and goalkeepers should only be signed when at their peak, we always sign goalkeepers and centre halves that are on the cusp of top class, never actually signing top class established players.

Just sign good players, it didn't do sir Bob, Bill or Kenny any harm, so what if you only get two years out of them.

[SerbianScouser]

What was the defence like in Klopps dortmund sides?

After few years of buidling his team it reached it's peak and they conceded only 22 and 25 goals respectively in two consecutive championship seasons. After that defence relented a bit in following seasons.

[diegoLFC7]

Were the only so called top side that only buys youngsters with the look to sell them in the future. If you really think about it we are a "better" southampton. Our scouting is atrocious, and we need to stop with all these for the future players. Julian Brandt is a terrible signing if we pursue him considering the whole squad is as soft as him. If we had a Souness, Gerrard, Mascherano, or Carragher type player in the side id be ok with signing 1 or 2 dilly dally players. Too soft.

[thelinnen]

I think the biggest problem is the Mane has stopped copying Firmino and Coutinho's celebrations. The music stopped shortly after that.

[RyanBabel19]

After few years of buidling his team it reached it's peak and they conceded only 22 and 25 goals respectively in two consecutive championship seasons. After that defence relented a bit in following seasons.

Cheers mate, appreciate that

[fowlermagic]

What an absolute bullshit statement.  You can count on 1 hand the number of teams in this league that press high up the pitch.  And, against the teams that do, we do quite well against.  It's the teams that park 11 players 25 yards from their goal that we struggle with. 

We can look at it from any which way but the bottom line is that with Mignolet, Lovren and Henderson as a 6 we'll never match the technical qualities we have at 8 in Gini and Lallana with a little help from Phil. It's practically a mid-table mentality at the back with precious little courage on the ball which then results in too many long balls and aimless hoofs when teams press us high up the pitch even a little bit.

In big games is not a big issue because when that happens and we just give the ball away , big teams actually want to pass the ball around which is where our work on the shape and pressing comes into play allowing us to gain foothold in these kind of games. But if you play Leicester that doesn't want to build their attacks from the back this hoofing from the back turns games into scraps for second balls and then you have to wonder what is the point of having highly technical players in the team like Gini, Lallana and two brazilians if we can't get the ball to them on the deck.

Our build-up play is poor throughout this entire season and like I said it's not so much an issue in big games but there is a reason somebody like Pep is insisting so much that they pass it out from the back, we can't cheat this, if hoofing was the answer Pep would be doing it as well.

There aren't many midfielders in the league as good as Gini and Lallana when it comes to receiving passes under pressure and then turning on the ball. We're either going to need a proper playmaker at the the back or we'll need to find much more courageous passers than Mignolet and Lovren.

Have a look at the post I was replying to as Serbian basically said when we are pressurized our backline ends up rushing their passes thus he would love to see calmer more courageous passers in our backline. I just don't see us playing like Barca from the backline when that sort of pressure is applied as you need four Hansens in our defense to calmly pass the ball about when there is a full pitch press. That type of player comes along as often as the cuckoo does these days...anyway cheers for the comment as love a debate where a reply starts with "what a BS statement"

Of course we struggle with 11 players behind the ball, who does not as even Barca on their day struggle facing that style of football. My main point .....surely its easier to strive for a stronger backline esp when it comes to set pieces, its something we have not seen since Rafa was here. The idea that converted midfielders playing as full backs and central defenders, relying on freebies to bolster our defences is sufficient to achieve success....that idea is not paying off.

[Number 7]

Our problems are actually clearly evident, not only to us but the teams who we play against. The sight of that caretaker manager for Leicester standing on the side lines winking and smiling at his players ultimately rubbed salt into what has become a familiar story in our demise. 15 days off, but it was still so easy to prepare against. Whatever transpires now this season, I will not forget how we characteristically killed off our own season without even a whimper. Ironically, this is the same team who were evidently in a title race 2 months ago. It is bitterly disappointing, in fact even more so then had we been consistently shite through the season. We were led to a false dawn. Our problems are intrinsically tied to our set up, and will always be exposed due to our cavalier approach to the game. There is disproportion and imbalance all the way through the team. A centre midfielder playing left-back, a defensive midfielder playing centre-back, an attacking midfielder playing striker, an attacking midfielder playing central midfield, and one other floater with no defined role in the side. It functioned for a while. In theory it sounded enticing. It looked like a master stroke while we were winning but was flawed from the beginning. The only way it was sustainable was if the players were good enough. The defence and goalkeeper especially aren’t, and there simply isn't enough quality elsewhere in the side to compensate. There are very good players no question, but those very same ones are often guilty of going missing when we need someone to take the game by the scruff of the neck. In the last 2 months or so, only Henderson, Mane and Wijnaldum in my opinion have been at the required level. The rest have gone missing for large chunks. Eventually the tide was going to turn.
 
Klopp is unquestionably the right manager for this team. His desire, track record, and pedigree speaks for itself. However, without any defined plan B (because Klopp has never played with a plan B), he needs to start to find yet another way to motivate these players. He has over trusted a lot of them and put too much faith in them to turn it around. They have let him down. He doesn’t have many options available, and the soft and gutless mentality of some of them (the majority of them in fact) cannot be addressed until the summer. A new manager at Swansea beat us, a new manager at Hull beat us, and a caretaker manager at Leicester beat us. Yet we continue to beat the likes of Spurs, Chelsea, City and Arsenal. Something just isn’t right somewhere. Whether we will find the solutions this season, I am not so sure. We are too inconsistent and lack any sort of resilience or character to get into the top 4 in my opinion. Also, the defence simply isn’t good enough. There will be wins here or there to get us believing again, but ultimately we will lose and drop points again along the way, and the other 3 teams ahead of us won’t drop as many as we do. If we do somehow get into a top 4 spot, our fortunes would have changed quite dramatically and there is really no evidence on the basis of our season trajectory that that will happen. How will we ever get out of this continuous rut where failing to qualify for the CL will not allow us to compete for the highest quality players on the market? There are no obvious solutions, but I trust Klopp to find them.

[deFacto please, you bastards]

Our problems are actually clearly evident, not only to us but the teams who we play against. The sight of that caretaker manager for Leicester standing on the side lines winking and smiling at his players ultimately rubbed salt into what has become a familiar story in our demise. 15 days off, but it was still so easy to prepare against. Whatever transpires now this season, I will not forget how we characteristically killed off our own season without even a whimper. Ironically, this is the same team who were evidently in a title race 2 months ago. It is bitterly disappointing, in fact even more so then had we been consistently shite through the season. We were led to a false dawn. Our problems are intrinsically tied to our set up, and will always be exposed due to our cavalier approach to the game. There is disproportion and imbalance all the way through the team. A centre midfielder playing left-back, a defensive midfielder playing centre-back, an attacking midfielder playing striker, an attacking midfielder playing central midfield, and one other floater with no defined role in the side. It functioned for a while. In theory it sounded enticing. It looked like a master stroke while we were winning but was flawed from the beginning. The only way it was sustainable was if the players were good enough. The defence and goalkeeper especially aren’t, and there simply isn't enough quality elsewhere in the side to compensate. There are very good players now question, but those very same ones are often guilty of going missing when we need someone to take the game by the scruff of the neck. In the last 2 months or so, only Henderson, Mane and Wijnaldum in my opinion have been at the required level. The rest have gone missing for large chunks. Eventually the tide was going to turn.
 
Klopp is unquestionably the right manager for this team. His desire, track record, and pedigree speaks for itself. However, without any defined plan B (because Klopp has never played with a plan B), he needs to start to find yet another way to motivate these players. He has over trusted a lot of them and put too much faith in them to turn it around. They have let him down. He doesn’t have many options available, and the soft and gutless mentality of some of them (the majority of them in fact) cannot be addressed until the summer. A new manager at Swansea beat us, a new manager at Hull beat us, and a caretaker manager at Leicester beat us. Yet we continue to beat the likes of Spurs, Chelsea, City and Arsenal. Something just isn’t right somewhere. Whether we will find the solutions this season, I am not so sure. We are too inconsistent and lack any sort of resilience or character to get into the top 4 in my opinion. Also, the defence simply isn’t good enough. There will be wins here or there to get us believing again, but ultimately we will lose and drop points again along the way, and the other 3 teams ahead of us won’t drop as many as we do. If we do somehow get into a top 4 spot, our fortunes would have changed quite dramatically and there is really no evidence on the basis of our season trajectory that that will happen. How will we ever get out of this continuous rut where failing to qualify for the CL will not allow us to compete for the highest quality players on the market? There are no obvious solutions, but I trust Klopp to find them.

Well said.

I hope he has something up his sleeve.

[El Lobo]

Were the only so called top side that only buys youngsters with the look to sell them in the future. If you really think about it we are a "better" southampton. Our scouting is atrocious, and we need to stop with all these for the future players. Julian Brandt is a terrible signing if we pursue him considering the whole squad is as soft as him. If we had a Souness, Gerrard, Mascherano, or Carragher type player in the side id be ok with signing 1 or 2 dilly dally players. Too soft.

Which youngsters have we bought with the look to sell them in the future?

[Lycan]

Our problems are actually clearly evident, not only to us but the teams who we play against. The sight of that caretaker manager for Leicester standing on the side lines winking and smiling at his players ultimately rubbed salt into what has become a familiar story in our demise. 15 days off, but it was still so easy to prepare against. Whatever transpires now this season, I will not forget how we characteristically killed off our own season without even a whimper. Ironically, this is the same team who were evidently in a title race 2 months ago. It is bitterly disappointing, in fact even more so then had we been consistently shite through the season. We were led to a false dawn. Our problems are intrinsically tied to our set up, and will always be exposed due to our cavalier approach to the game. There is disproportion and imbalance all the way through the team. A centre midfielder playing left-back, a defensive midfielder playing centre-back, an attacking midfielder playing striker, an attacking midfielder playing central midfield, and one other floater with no defined role in the side. It functioned for a while. In theory it sounded enticing. It looked like a master stroke while we were winning but was flawed from the beginning. The only way it was sustainable was if the players were good enough. The defence and goalkeeper especially aren’t, and there simply isn't enough quality elsewhere in the side to compensate. There are very good players no question, but those very same ones are often guilty of going missing when we need someone to take the game by the scruff of the neck. In the last 2 months or so, only Henderson, Mane and Wijnaldum in my opinion have been at the required level. The rest have gone missing for large chunks. Eventually the tide was going to turn.
 
Klopp is unquestionably the right manager for this team. His desire, track record, and pedigree speaks for itself. However, without any defined plan B (because Klopp has never played with a plan B), he needs to start to find yet another way to motivate these players. He has over trusted a lot of them and put too much faith in them to turn it around. They have let him down. He doesn’t have many options available, and the soft and gutless mentality of some of them (the majority of them in fact) cannot be addressed until the summer. A new manager at Swansea beat us, a new manager at Hull beat us, and a caretaker manager at Leicester beat us. Yet we continue to beat the likes of Spurs, Chelsea, City and Arsenal. Something just isn’t right somewhere. Whether we will find the solutions this season, I am not so sure. We are too inconsistent and lack any sort of resilience or character to get into the top 4 in my opinion. Also, the defence simply isn’t good enough. There will be wins here or there to get us believing again, but ultimately we will lose and drop points again along the way, and the other 3 teams ahead of us won’t drop as many as we do. If we do somehow get into a top 4 spot, our fortunes would have changed quite dramatically and there is really no evidence on the basis of our season trajectory that that will happen. How will we ever get out of this continuous rut where failing to qualify for the CL will not allow us to compete for the highest quality players on the market? There are no obvious solutions, but I trust Klopp to find them.

Good post mate.

[Lycan]

This Liverpool side kind of reminds me of Tottenham sides of the past. Not so much these days, as they are showing a bit more mettle and consistency in their football. A side that has some technically gifted footballers, who are capable of playing some breathtaking football at times and blowing teams away. A side that goes on a good cup run every now and then, but ultimately shits out in the final or semi-final stage. A side with a soft centre who don't like it when teams get physical with them. A side who don't like have their feathers being ruffled(or their hair). Honestly, it's so Spurs-ish it's untrue.

[plura]

http://www.empireofthekop.com/2017/03/02/what-ancelotti-told-fsg-when-they-spoke-to-him-about-liverpool-job-is-truer-than-ever/

He's wrong.



We need a new spine, a left back and a left winger.   Apart from that we are not to bad.

That article is very much simplifying the choice of Klopp ahead of Ancelotti enormously. And even if I could feel some of the frustration it is trying to share I get more annoyed that it actually more says that Klopp is a cheaper second choice to Ancelotti.