While his touches were not vital in winning the game – those came from Dejan Lovren and Jordan Henderson, with a killer assist from Philippe Coutinho – this was yet another powerful, meaningful and technical display from Adam Lallana; a player who, to me, was only ever going to accomplish the third of that triumvirate of adjectives.
I owe Lallana an apology of sorts, although I think he himself will admit that his first two years at Liverpool were mediocre at best. He began improving last season, but ever since the preseason game against Barcelona – where he began his tenure as part of a midfield three – he has looked a yard quicker, and considerably stronger.
Lallana now epitomises everything that’s good about this Liverpool side. In the front three, with his lack of pace (and also über-fitness), he’d drive me insane; he’d slow the game down, take the ball for a walk, beat his man, beat him again, Cruyff turn him, drop his shoulder, roll his studs over the ball and beat his man another dozen times, only to find himself ten yards further back. His qualities on the ball – the near-perfect close control – were always clear. But he seemed so wishy-washy; indeed, I’m sure I’ve described him with that very term before.
Apparently he’s a good character, and something of a leader, which seems odd as he just doesn’t look like one. Again, maybe the past impressions partly gained from a Nivea advert added to my difficulty in moving past his weaknesses – but not every leader has to be a big ugly bastard who screams phlegm-strewn instructions and headbutts the dressing room wall before the match, at half-time and at full-time, win, lose or draw.
As well as reducing the over-egging of various puddings, Lallana needed to add goals and assists, and right from that prestigious preseason game he’s done just that – setting the tone with a brilliant midfield robbery against the Catalans.
In a weird way, he’s more constructive – more dangerous offensively – played further back, and facing the play (the subscriber-only part of my post-Leicester piece was all about this, and how Klopp has moved several players back one ‘row’). Liverpool now have technical players – Lallana, Wijnaldum and Henderson – facing the play, and defending by running hard and closing down, rather than carrying a destroyer/bruiser in there who clatters people but can’t join in the attacks.
Lallana also shows that even into a third season, at the age of 28, perceptions can change. A lot of credit must go to the player, for it’s him on the field (and working so hard in training), but also to Klopp, for getting the player back to the hard-pressing fitness levels he had at Southampton, and for redefining his role. Lallana had years to adjust to life at Southampton, but he arrived at Liverpool with a here-and-now price-tag. We never got that, and it was part of the reason things fell away under Brendan Rodgers, but the player is now totally reborn.
It’s never nice being proven wrong as a football writer but it’s great, as a fan, when being proved wrong benefits your team (and we must all acknowledge both our mistakes, and also the potential for players to improve. It’s probably rarer for someone to do so at such a late age, but Jamie Vardy is another example.)
Likewise, Jordan Henderson’s fitness was an issue before this season, due to a serious heel condition. Hopefully people will now see that he’s a much better player than many give him credit for (as they conveniently write off his great form from 2013/14), even if he’ll never be even 80% of what Steven Gerrard was at his best. But he doesn’t need to be, as this is a wonderfully-functioning fluid Liverpool midfield that presses here, pops up there, and plays in devastating triangles. Again, Henderson isn’t an archetypal captain, but sometimes it’s good enough to lead by the example of tireless effort, rather than raging like a lunatic.
And let’s remember, Liverpool have just gone to Chelsea and won without Roberto Firmino, Emre Can, Mamadou Sakho and the first-choice goalkeeper, whose introduction will now come against Derby County in the cup (not that Simon Mignolet has done a lot wrong this season, but he still looks so nervous in possession. Equally, as I said when Karius got injured, it would be tough to throw the new guy in partway through the season). When Klopp said he didn’t want to spend anymore money than he did in the summer, maybe people can now see why.
Danny Ings – like Sakho and others – can’t even get in the squad, although he, like Joe Gomez and many other long-term absentees, needs extra time to be ready for this kind of football. It’s no country for infirm men, Kloppoland.
The best thing about this season is that every time a key player drops out there’s no discernible change in quality (bar the Burnley game, but I labelled that a blip at the time and stand by that; and maybe Sadio Mané’s pace was missed that day. And even then, Liverpool were not as bad as the scoreline suggests). Coutinho missing? No problem. Firmino missing? No problem.
Within the first five games Liverpool have gone away to two of last season’s top three, plus faced the champions at home, and now gone away to the previous champions. Result? Ten points. It was a deserved win at Arsenal, a deserved win versus Leicester and a deserved win at Chelsea. And it should have been a deserved win at Spurs.
It’s the toughest start on paper that I can recall for Liverpool – the quality of opposition and the weighting of away games at 4:1 (and even the two cup games have been away) – and yet to average two points per game from this hellish fixture list (four away, four top teams faced) is testament to how far Klopp’s side have come in less than a year; and how much the new additions are bringing to the equation.
Of course, the trick will be to retain this kind of intensity in the lower-profile games, but Klopp’s side have been steamrollering the elite for 11 months now. And the success in those big Europa games last season made it virtually impossible to pick strong teams in the league, leading to these perceptions of inconsistency.
Remember, some of the defeats to minnows last season were in Klopp’s early games, with players learning the system (and getting fitter), and later, with a makeshift team, due to heavy rotation. And as much as the cups took it out of the league campaign, and left Liverpool empty-handed come May, I think it proved a good learning experience for the manager and his players – all those extra games giving the German ample opportunity to assess his first team and to also throw in some kids and reserves. It gave him a chance to use the fast-improving Kevin Stewart as an example for anyone who works hard.
And the balance of the side, and the way it shape-shifts, looks more suited to facing packed defences; indeed, Leicester are hardly noted for being wide open, and Chelsea also looked to sit deep with numbers. Liverpool just put six past two notable defences, by dragging them this way and that.
By having two semi-forwards in midfield who can defend with running – closing the space, denying opponents time on the ball to get their heads up and pick passes if they are lucky enough to have possession– allows Klopp’s side to be more constructive in possession. Indeed, Liverpool’s possession football this season has been excellent, and something of a surprise; it’s certainly more than just counter-attacking.
Having James Milner as a full-back also turns him into a more special player – at most clubs he’d be too good to “waste” there, and yet his qualities are still clear to see, wherever he plays.
And of course, although a bit lax on the Chelsea goal, Joel Matip brings a midfielder’s presence of mind to the centre-back role, where, by virtue of being 18 feet 9 inches tall, he’s also pretty useful in other ways.
Gary Neville made a point of talking about how Liverpool are still vulnerable defensively this season, but we must remember that the Reds have faced Arsenal, Spurs, Leicester and now Chelsea, who, with Hazard, Costa and Oscar, are always likely to create something at home. You will never play a perfect game, everyone in position for 90 minutes, against such elite forward lines. Liverpool managed to control the tempo and slow the game down in the final stages, even though it’s difficult for any team to shut up shop completely in this hectic, frantic league.
I have to admit that I didn’t expect ten points by this stage, given the fixture list. To draw at Arsenal, Spurs and Chelsea would have been notable, and yet to then beat Burnley and Leicester on top of those three draws would still only lead to nine points.
And weirdly, even though the Reds dropped points at Burnley, they haven’t given anything to top four rivals, bar a point to Spurs who, at home (and as title challengers last season), probably ought to have been favourites. Arsenal and Chelsea have dropped three points against Liverpool, and Spurs two.
While not perfect, there have definitely been far more positives than negatives this season, as I ramble on into the Friday nighttime (forgive me any typos, but this is an odd time to write about football). Liverpool have a style of play that makes sense, and a desire to win games. They can speed games up and, if needed, slow them down (well, a bit). The goals are being spread across the team, rather than relying on one or two individuals.
Surely this can only bode well.
Paul Tomkins
The creator of this website; author of several books on Liverpool FC, and of one novel. Co-creator of The Transfer Price Index (TPI). Columnist on the official Liverpool FC website between 2005-2010. International man of mystery. Possibly bald.
The animated map shows how the world was painted red from Liverpool’s first season in 1892 to the most recent season that ended in 2016. A country is painted red on the world map when a player who was born in that country appeared in the Liverpool squad for the first time.
Red Shift
At the end of season 1976-77, the season when Liverpool won their first European cup, only seven countries had been painted red: England, Scotland, Wales, South Africa, Northern Ireland, Ireland, and USA.
At the end of season 2015-16, 44 countries had been painted red. This is a remarkable increase, illustrating the globalisation of LFC and football. The graph below describes that growth.
The creation of the Premier League in 1992 and the Bosman Ruling in 1995 influenced this growth. For example, Fabio Aurelio (Liverpool’s first Brazilian) joined Liverpool in 2006 ‘on a Bosman’. The new freedom of movement of players worked both ways of course. Steve McManaman was one of the most high-profile Bosman departures when he moved from Liverpool to Real Madrid in 1999, making him the highest paid British footballer at that time.
Liverpool’s ‘global revolution’ started slowly with three new countries painted red from season 1977-88 to 1987-88, taking the total number of countries to 10. These three countries were Egypt (Avi Cohen joined in 1979), Denmark (Jan Molby in 1984) and Jamaica (John Barnes in 1987). From 1988 to 2016 the number of countries represented in Liverpool’s squads increased significantly with 34 new countries painted red.
Red All Over The Land
The graph below shows when each of the 44 countries were painted red. For example, in season 2004-05, following Rafa Benitez’s appointment as manager, Liverpool signed the first players from Spain and Argentina. Josemi Rey was the first of a quartet of Spaniards to arrive at Anfield in the 2004 pre-season and Mauricio Pellegrino became the first Argentine to sign for Liverpool in January 2005.
As you can see, Liverpool’s search for new talent has resulted in at least one new country being painted red in most seasons since 1996.
For how many of the 44 countries can you name a Liverpool player? If you are scratching your head wondering wondering which Liverpool player resulted in Zaire being painted red in season 2015-16, the answer is Christian Benteke. Note that the map (and the graphs) shows a player’s country of birth, not their chosen nationality. Christian’s family emigrated from Kinshasa, Zaire (now The Democratic Republic of the Congo) to Belgium when he was a child.
Most Red Countries
Here are the top 10 countries sorted by player league appearances.
And here are the top 10 countries sorted by player league goals.
Where Next For The Red Army?
The map of the world at the end of season 2015-16 is shown below. Liverpool FC has marched out from its British and European roots, like some crazy game of Risk.
So where next for Liverpool as Klopp seeks players with the skills and desire that were once easily found in England and Scotland? Will the next big splash of red paint be applied to Asia?
The first transfer window for season 2016-17 has just closed and Liverpool has painted Estonia red for the first time, with Ragnar Klavan joining in July 2016. We will have to wait and see if Klopp decides to paint another country red in January, perhaps to buy the next Luis Suarez.
Acknowledgements
Thanks to the excellent LFChistory.net for the base data.
During the summer I noted on this site that, excluding the first couple of months of following his arrival, almost every time Jürgen Klopp fielded a strong team in his partial debut season he got a performance (and usually a win).
The immediate form after he took over was very mixed – in part due to fitness issues, and tactical misunderstandings – but the later form was almost always excellent, except when he had to resort to weaker line-ups to balance the insane number of games.
I think this created the narrative of inconsistency, which is something of a myth; especially when considering that a team on Liverpool’s budget will rarely excel every weekend and midweek when in Europe as well as reaching a domestic cup final. As I’ve said before, Liverpool average a win rate of around 50% in the Premier League era, and maybe this rises a little over 60% in really good seasons; it’s never 80% or 90%, let alone 100%.
(And even the elite teams have an aberration or two every season, often early on; not that Barcelona would ever lose to a promoted side before mid-September, or even, say, whilst I’m working on this article.)
Indeed, the myth of inconsistency was bolstered by people talking as if three away games to start the season – Arsenal, Burnley and Spurs – were representative of a normal league table: when a) the games were not the usual mix of home and away but all away, and b) they were, on average, tougher than normal, with visits to two of last season’s top three, plus a promoted team of hard-working battlers, fighting fit and fresh before they run out of steam in the winter.
Now – and has this happened before? – we’ve seen Liverpool play all of last season’s top three in their opening four games, with the 2015/16 champions arriving at the vastly improved Anfield, and another away game – at the 2014/15 champions – to follow next (to shift the home/away ratio to 1:4; or 1:6 if including the two League Cup away ties by the time of the Reds’ second home game).
People have talked about Liverpool being a better side away from home, but my sense is that Klopp had worked this summer to improve the home form as much as anything else. (Which I will come onto.)
When I analysed Klopp’s XIs from last season, and how they did when he wasn’t having to call upon squad players who he probably wouldn’t have chosen (several of whom he subsequently moved on, while others were youngsters being blooded), there seemed to be a pattern of big wins; or, in the case of the Europa League final, at least the chances to have racked up the goals to put the game to bed.
(And finishing is somewhat random: take Daniel Sturridge’s efforts that were saved by Kasper Schmeichel yesterday: on another day the close-range ‘lift’ over the keeper goes in, because a different keeper – or even the same keeper on a different day – may make a different decision or be slower to react, or not spread himself quite as fully as Schmeichel did in familial style. The striker obviously doesn’t always know for sure what the keeper will do and vice versa; just like anticipating a penalty, where it’s shown that a keeper cannot save one hit into the corners unless he dives before the kick is taken – i.e. pure guesswork, perhaps partially based on the player’s history and his run-up – it’s almost a game of paper-scissors-stone. Be aware that any time a striker keeps his shot low and the keeper saves it, the reaction is “he should have lifted it over him”. But if he tries to lift it over him and his effort is saved, then suddenly he should have tucked it under him. And yet how many goals are scored by hitting it straight at the keeper – something you should apparently never do – and then it slips through his legs? Loads. I guess my point on this digression is to judge “good finishing” whether or not it goes in – because as with the penalty example I just mentioned, you will see many examples of an average kick that goes in because the keeper dived the other way based on guesswork described as “great”.)
I found it interesting that last season, even without a super-sharp Sturridge, and with Origi and Firmino still bedding in, the Reds were able to put three or four past Man City, Borussia Dortmund, Chelsea and Arsenal, plus six past a Southampton side that were no mugs. For the most part, these were not games where the Reds took all of their chances to lend some flattery to the scoreline (although if I recall correctly, the City game seemed one when most chances were clinically taken).
The Reds also put three past a defence-oriented Manchester United side over two legs in Europe, and could easily have had double that amount. (Plus four against Everton, five against Norwich and six against Villa, even if these weren’t tough opponents, with Everton strangely lame in what is usually a feisty game.)
I repeated this assertion earlier this season, after the Reds had put four past Barcelona in pre-season, even if the Catalans weren’t at their sharpest and it was only a friendly, and then four more at Arsenal – which is not something we’re used to seeing.
To score four again, this time against the reigning champions, leaves me with the sense that there are the seeds of something very special, and that this is not a freakish big-scoring win here or there, but an actual trend. Liverpool are now the league’s leading scorers in 2016, and that’s without buying megastar strikers; and that obviously doesn’t include some high-scoring cup wins, too.
Equally, at this point there may be some level of inconsistency – it’s a young squad (although an older XI than usual was deployed against Leicester), still within the manager’s first 12 months, and without the kind of mega-investment that richer clubs can use to bypass aspects of the building process – but it’s important not to throw into the mix the stodgy results of last season achieved with shadow XIs, in between huge cup games, as if they were representative of Klopp’s progress, or blots on his copybook.
I also don’t believe Liverpool are as bad defensively as some suggest; not least because the opposition have scored from an unusually high percentage of their shots – which has to revert to the mean – often to punish some often minor positional errors. (And while I’m on the subject of errors, I thought Lucas defended superbly against Leicester, but had the kind of slip that can befall any player in any area of the pitch – but was of course the major error of the season so far.)
I actually think that this is a beautifully balanced team that Klopp has assembled, as I will go on to explain in some detail; albeit a side/squad that is isn’t without some understandable weaknesses, given that almost all teams (bar the truly generation-defining sides) have areas that can be improved upon or exploited by opponents. But we also have to accept that improvement often needs time, too.
Klopp has preferred to build without mega-signings, choosing to work with a core of what he inherited while adding some new dimensions (and depth) – but even if more cash had been splurged, we could now be looking at different weaknesses, such as a lack of unity (the “Di Maria effect” of star players who don’t want to be there) and absent understanding based on the higher churn of players, as well as the loss of what last season’s squad learned as a unit and as individuals working with Klopp for seven months. Every new player added would be a gamble of sorts, not least in how it would still often be 50/50 as to whether he succeeds. Every additional new player would have to get used to the new dynamics.
And it’s not like Klopp inherited a mega-squad that was massively underperforming, as has happened this summer at both Manchester clubs, and at Chelsea – clubs where perhaps a spark is all that’s needed. So this was never going to be Liverpool springing to a 90-point season in one summer, even if more players had been bought with the money that was there for the manager to spend.
It’s horrible to say that this is a “transitional period”, as no one wants to hear those words, but this is just the second month of a Jürgen Klopp Liverpool side that he helped shape (rather than just train). To me, this should be the transition from an erratic collection of players (as far as Klopp’s needs are concerned) assembled by various managers and scouts/analysts to the one where it has his stamp. It just probably won’t have the all-conquering nature, at this point, that some fans seem to expect, or the consistency and machine-like drive of his Dortmund side at its peak.
But I do still find it extremely reminiscent of the early periods in the tenures of Rafa Benítez and Gérard Houllier – the last two Liverpool managers to really build something vaguely sustained – in how an ethos and identity have been installed, and four or five first-team players have been added to give the side new dimensions and eradicate some previous weaknesses.
Both of those managers needed time to create their best sides: Houllier’s team peaked in years three and four, while Benítez’s won trophies in years one and two, but were a better team in the Champions League final of his third season, and his fifth season saw a vintage that would have won the league (86 points, top scorers, best goal difference) if not pitted against an especially strong Man United side. (This is all ifs and buts, but my point is that that was a great Liverpool side, and sometimes your success can hinge on the quality of opposition, which varies from year to year; had Cristiano Ronaldo had missed as many games as Fernando Torres did that season then the odds of a Liverpool title would have massively increased.)
And while a lot of Liverpool fans talk of the title right now (which is of course a natural desire), my wish is simply to see the Reds at the kind of competitive level they were from 2000 to 2002, and from 2004 to 2009. It’s obviously complicated by the greater number of contenders these days, but if the aim last season was to stand up, the aim now is to walk; with the ‘running’ maybe next season.
And to me, the ‘running’ means being title contenders (if not favourites) whilst winning a trophy here and there; or, fighting for the top four whilst competing strongly in Europe, which is always a tough dual-challenge. I’m not sure that this season is definitely too soon (barring doing well in Europe, which is off the table), but it should be about marked progress.
And if anything, as seen with clubs promoted via the playoffs – and certainly with Brendan Rodgers’ Liverpool – sometimes the success can appear to come too soon. Rodgers’ Reds made a remarkable leap in his second season, but there was none of the drama and silverware of a build-up over, say, three seasons, where methods become deeply ingrained (as was seen with Houllier and Benítez) and there is a machine-like quality, as previously mentioned about Klopp’s Dortmund in years three to five.
The title bid of 2014 was an attempted smash-and-grab, as obviously had to be undertaken when things started going so well – with Suarez sensational and an unexpected number of games being won (a bit like Leicester last season); and when you can’t turn away from the possible success unfolding before your eyes – but perhaps the lack of a sustained period of building up to a title challenge made it more of a flash in the pan. Rather than having a great side, or an excellent tenure, Rodgers ended up with ‘just’ an excellent season. I’d like Klopp to be about more than that.
So far with Klopp I’ve seen a lot of evidence – albeit within a small sample of games – of Liverpool being better than last season. I have a sense of gradual development.
There is evidence of improvements in various areas, if not anything nearing perfection. And it may just be my skewed perception, or early season optimism, but I have a much better feel about this team and its many strengths than I’ve had in most of the recent seasons. Aside from Klopp himself, it’s not built around one or two men, but a team ethic and gradual development.
Two games, both away from home: one superb win, one surprising – yet unsurprising – defeat. The “end of the world is nigh”, the “old problems are clear to see”, and the sample size is … tiny.
The first three games of any season are almost always the worst to judge. New players are adjusting, and rust is still in the system. So early in the season is it, the Reds have yet to even wear the red kit this season. (Last week it was black; today it was Toxic Chunder.)
Liverpool started brilliantly last season under Rodgers in terms of results (less so performances), and won all three of the first games in what turned out to be Souness’ final season back in 1993. Man United under Alex Ferguson often started with dropped points in the first couple of games. And already this season, Newcastle were in free-fall under Rafa Benítez – cue a hysterical post-mortem on the Sunday Supplement last week – and in the past few days they’ve won back-to-back games … crisis over. Lose a game and they’ll be back in crisis. Win another and the crisis will be over again. (If you wondered why modern football can be so draining, here’s your answer.)
I’ve seen today’s deserved defeat – to an incredibly plucky Burnley – being described as the worst performance in years, even though we lost 6-1 at Stoke just over a year ago. All I could see today was Liverpool keeping the ball (mostly) well, winning loads of corners and having loads of shots and crosses, all of which came to very little; while Burnley had three shots all game.
While Liverpool lacked composure and that extra level of creativity in the final third, this was not like some of the defeats of recent years. But what it does show is that you can’t go to hostile grounds – usually of promoted teams – and gift a 2nd-minute goal, as was seen at Watford last season. They can’t keep conceding from the very first shot at goal. But this looked like a much better – or rather, much less horrific – display than at Watford.
Indeed, Burnley seemed to follow the Watford/Leicester tactical template, of eschewing possession and defending for their lives. Today they got away with it, because they got in the way of everything, in a way that won’t happen on other days. Today they rode their luck, but also earned it, too.
I’ve also seen it said that Liverpool haven’t upgraded since last season, but Sadio Mané was the clearest upgrade of recent years; unfortunately he had a collision in training and got injured. We saw in preseason, and at Arsenal last week (just as we had during his time at Southampton) that he can be the very thing that the Reds lacked last season – an über-quick dribbling wide-man who scores goals and creates openings. Unfortunately he was missing today, and well, shit happens.
My only issue with Klopp’s selection was the lack of pace, although in the case of Mané he had no choice. Equally, in the case of Moreno he dropped a player everyone said should be dropped, and suddenly the Reds had no pace on the left. (James Milner has done really well at left-back in a couple of previous showings; here he showed his limitations.)
And up front, Daniel Sturridge’s once-glorious pace continues to look a thing of the dim, distant past. And while I’m one of his biggest fans, when he’s unhappy it sends a bad vibe around the team. Seeing him trying to chase a pass is quite painful.
Divock Origi and Emre Can had less of a preseason than most of the others, so they’re working their way back, but that’s another two quick players who will surely be in the side soon. They’re not just quick, but technically gifted, too.
Sheyi Ojo, the quick understudy for Mané, is also out injured. And the quick (and gigantic) centre-back – Joel Matip – missed part of preseason with an injury, and has only made the bench as a result.
So Origi aside, and the gamble whether or not to trust Moreno, there wasn’t a lot of options in terms of pace. It was more of a patient passing XI, not a getting-in-behind or skinning-the-full-back-with-pace XI. And the patient passing was fine – but the end product was often woeful, and when it wasn’t, Burnley defended heroically.
Also, Loris Karius, the new keeper, broke his hand in preseason. So it would be wrong to suggest this is not capable of being a better Liverpool side, because most of the key upgrades (goalkeeper, centre-back and goalscoring winger) are out at the moment. Right now it’s quite like the Liverpool of last season in terms of personnel. There’s are no new dimensions as yet, for that reason.
And of course, someone has to tell Philippe Coutinho and co. to stop shooting from 30 yards, although again, it worked quite well at the Emirates last week, and turned the game. (Still, I’d limit any player to just three long-range efforts per match, although it becomes a nervous habit when time is running out. Free-kicks are different because there’s more time to shoot and usually ten yards of space.)
We can talk about Klopp’s training and high-intensity methods causing these unfortunate injuries, but this is patently untrue in several accidental cases; and Liverpool had plenty of injuries under Brendan Rodgers, who never trained the players anywhere near as hard (and who had seasons such as 2013/14 with less football). Again, we need to see more data, under the new fitness coach.
Lacking pace, Klopp picked a team to keep the ball, which it did well for large parts of the game (81% possession). But after going a goal down early on, there was not enough quality in the crossing and shooting, and by the time it was 2-0 there was a mountain to climb.
Even so, Liverpool (as expected) had a ton of shots – and worked plenty of half-decent shooting positions – that might have led to something more on another day, and bossed pretty much every meaningful statistic, bar the more random one of the scoreline.
Although at times the Reds’ play was often too ponderous, and there was no room for cute through-balls, it didn’t feel to me like some of the bad defeats of recent years where there were few shots, few corners and scant possession.
Of course, Burnley look like they’ve set the template to defend against Liverpool, but two banks of four, with another dropping in, has always been hard to break down. That’s why Mané is so important, as he offers something different to the “into feet” brigade of Coutinho, Firmino and Sturridge (and deeper, Lallana). Liverpool have plenty of lovely technical players, but pace and directness will be the new dimension.
So, before judging the “new” Liverpool, let’s see the team with a few of Karius, Mané, Matip and Grujic in; not just Klavan, who is very solid but one-paced, and Wijnaldum, who has yet to settle into the team.
And let’s maybe give it more than just two games; two away games at that. Liverpool have shown in 2016 that they can be a force to be reckoned with, and certainly in the bigger games, against teams where there’s some room to counter.
And I think, when everyone is fit, the Reds have the qualities to break down packed defences too, if they show sufficient composure.
Maybe there’ll be further additions, too; although that can lead to too much churn, and unfamiliarity, which takes time to overcome, as understanding is often not immediate. But no one has any time anymore.
These days, every game is in itself a summation of everything about a team – the latest game is a bubble in which everything is captured, and magnified, and is always the whole story – in a way that is maddening and indeed, a fast road to insanity. (And rivals winning only adds to the despair.)
Liverpool will continue to have maddening games, and bad days at the office. It’s gonna happen, whether this is a good season or not. The key is to not have too many of them – but two games is not a big enough sample to analyse. After two games in the Championship Newcastle were going to be relegated; now they’re probably favourites for promotion once more. So let’s see what the Liverpool pattern is after a few more games before writing off yet another season.
Paul Tomkins
The creator of this website; author of several books on Liverpool FC, and of one novel. Co-creator of The Transfer Price Index (TPI). Columnist on the official Liverpool FC website between 2005-2010. International man of mystery. Possibly bald.
