{"id":825,"date":"2017-02-16T17:34:17","date_gmt":"2017-02-16T17:34:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/?p=825"},"modified":"2017-02-16T17:34:17","modified_gmt":"2017-02-16T17:34:17","slug":"liverpool-football-club-jurgen-klopp-whats-next","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/liverpool-football-club-jurgen-klopp-whats-next\/","title":{"rendered":"Liverpool Football Club & J\u00fcrgen Klopp: What\u2019s Next?"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a blog post last week<\/a> I had a little look at where everything had gone wrong for Liverpool Football Club in January. If you haven\u2019t already then obviously I\u2019d encourage you to give it a read. If you can\u2019t be bothered then I\u2019ll sum up what I think were the major issues that saw us pick up just one win in the entire month: Player absences, a drop in form and a weak squad. Those things, combined with the fact that we\u2019d been very unlucky with certain decisions and<\/strong> the notion that it hadn\u2019t actually been that terrible a month, means that we\u2019re in a recoverable position.<\/p>\n

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The big question is: What does Klopp need to do moving forward? Here I\u2019ll attempt to find some answers to that particular conundrum. Obviously our win over Tottenham changes the complexion of things slightly. The win over Spurs was overwhelming and total, with the Mauricio Pochettino lucky to head back to London with just two goals against his team\u2019s name. If I felt confident that we\u2019d play like that in every game moving forward then I might not bother with this follow up post. Sadly this Liverpool team is about as consistent as a Simon Mignolet goalkeeping performance, so nothing is a guarantee. Here, then, are the things we need to do moving forward:<\/p>\n

Improve Our Squad<\/h2>\n

Arguably the most important thing that the manager needs to do is also the one that can\u2019t be done right now. If one of the big problems that Liverpool had over January was the weakness of our squad then it naturally follows that we must improve on said squad. I\u2019ll be honest, if you\u2019re hoping for a host of names of players that I think we should sign then you\u2019re going to be disappointed. I rarely watch matches that the Reds aren\u2019t involved in, so I have no clue about the talented lads across Europe that would make a massive difference to our starting XI.<\/p>\n

What I do know, though, is that too many of the players in our current squad aren\u2019t reliable enough in the long-term. I have to hold my hands up and admit that I was pleasantly surprised by the level of Lucas Leiva\u2019s performance against Spurs. When I saw his name on the team sheet I feared a mauling, but he proved me wrong with a dominating display that ensure that Harry Kane didn\u2019t get a sniff. However the truth of the matter is that he\u2019s a converted midfielder who is getting slower with every passing day. Can he really be relied upon to produce the goods week after week?<\/p>\n

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almonfoto \/ shutterstock.com<\/p><\/div>\n

You can add a whole host of names to Lucas\u2019. The performance of Gini Wijnaldum against Tottenham showed exactly why Emre Can shouldn\u2019t be starting games for us. He might develop into a brilliant player further down the line, but Daniel Sturridge is a brilliant player now and yet shouldn\u2019t be in the starting XI. They\u2019re both examples of talents who simply don\u2019t suit our style of play. Klopp needs to find some lads who do suit our style and upgrade to them. Likewise he needs to find suitable understudies for the likes of Philippe Coutinho and Sadio Man\u00e9, especially with the latter obviously being so crucial to the way that we play.<\/p>\n

As I say, this is something that can\u2019t happen immediately. It\u2019s also true that the level of player we\u2019ll be able to sign depends entirely on whether or not we qualify for the Champions League. Supporters might not like it, but the reality of football is that talented players go where they\u2019ll be able to play in the best competitions. That hasn\u2019t been Liverpool for far too long, with the club having failed to qualify regularly for Europe\u2019s premier competition since the days of Rafa Benitez. Get into the top four is absolutely vital for our hopes of signing the best players that Klopp wants and that want to play for him.<\/p>\n

Play Loris Karius<\/h2>\n

Simon Mignolet earned lots of plaudits for the save he made from Son in the game against Spurs at the weekend. It was a fine, if not spectacular, save and the Belgian\u2019s all-round performance was decent enough. The problem with Mignolet is not that he never makes those sorts of saves or gives those kind of performances, however. The issue is that we\u2019ll get \u2018good\u2019 Mignolet for a while and then he\u2019ll chuck in the sort of performance that we saw against Hull, where he fails to deal with an easy enough clearance and suddenly we\u2019re 1-0 down. Pretty much anyone who knows football knows that Simon Mignolet should be on his way this summer.<\/p>\n

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mooinblack \/ shutterstock.com<\/p><\/div>\n

I\u2019m quite sure that J\u00fcrgen Klopp was hoping that Loris Karius would solve that particular problem. The second the German shot-stopped had recovered from his broken finger he was put into the first-team. The issue was that he hadn\u2019t yet settled into life in English football. He had some difficult performances and became the centre of attention, with the likes of Gary Neville getting on his back and doing their best to unsettle him further. Even some Liverpool supporters developed selective amnesia over Mignolet\u2019s time at the club and decided that Karius wasn\u2019t good enough.<\/p>\n

In truth I don\u2019t know whether Karius is good enough or not. I\u2019m quite certain that the level of performance we witnessed from him isn\u2019t a true representation of his ability – if it was he wouldn\u2019t have been getting games for Mainz and we would never have signed him. We need to find out just how good or otherwise he is. Can he cope with the physicality of the Premier League or not? The only way we\u2019ll get an answer to that question is, quite obviously, by seeing him play regularly in the Premier League. We know that Mignolet\u2019s not good enough, is Karius?<\/p>\n

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Loris Karius<\/p><\/div>\n

It would be a big call for Klopp, of course. I felt that the Spurs match would have been the perfect one for him to come in for, especially considering Mignolet\u2019s mistake versus Hull. Everyone would have understood the manager\u2019s logic, yet he choose not to make that decision. What he and Liverpool fans need to know is how many goalkeepers we need to by this summer. If Karius comes in for the rest of the season and proves to be good enough, Klopp could choose to use Danny Ward as our number two next season with the German as our out-and-out number one and Mignolet someone else\u2019s problem. If he struggles like he did earlier in the season then it\u2019s back to the drawing board and two new \u2018keepers need to come in in the summer.<\/p>\n

Play The Best Players<\/h2>\n

This seems too simplistic a solution and in a sense it is. One imagines that J\u00fcrgen Klopp would very much have liked to have played his best XI all season long, but as I discussed last week that option was taken out of his hands owing to injuries, the Africa Cup of Nations and the continued but unsurprising incompetence of FIFA. Even the side that so comprehensively out-played Spurs wasn\u2019t what you assume would be the manager\u2019s first-choice line-up, with Lucas needing to be called upon to deputise for Dejan Lovren.<\/p>\n

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mooinblack \/ shutterstock.com<\/p><\/div>\n

The fact is, though, that Klopp made the Wijnaldum v Can debate a thing when it really didn\u2019t need to be. One of those players fits perfectly into a side that likes to move the ball quickly and put opposition defences under pressure with a smart interchange of passes. The other is slow, ponderous, takes too long on the ball and tends to cause our attacks to breakdown because defenders have enough time to reset themselves whilst he takes repeated touches in order to look for the right ball to play.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t get me wrong, I don\u2019t think Emre Can is a bad<\/strong> player. I just don\u2019t think he\u2019s good enough to play in this team and I\u2019m disappointed to see his name on the team sheet. Yes he was impressive against Chelsea and won the physical battle at Old Trafford when we played Manchester United, but it\u2019s not enough. Our biggest issue is beating the so-called \u2018lesser teams\u2019 and Can is not the sort of player that can aid us in our desire to break them down. When he starts running it\u2019s almost as though he needs to get a push start and he isn\u2019t intelligent enough on the ball to cause anyone any problems.<\/p>\n

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Emre Can In The Centre Circle v Rubin Kazan<\/p><\/div>\n

Equally neither Daniel Sturridge nor Divock Origi can add much to this team when it\u2019s at its free-flowing best. Sturridge will almost certainly be sold this summer and I think that will be the ideal solution for all parties. He doesn\u2019t suit Klopp\u2019s style of play in the same way that Sergio Aguero doesn\u2019t suit Pep Guardiola\u2019s at Manchester City. It\u2019s not a slight on either player, it\u2019s just a fact. Origi has youth on his side and last season in matches such as those against Borussia Dortmund he certainly proved his worth. He\u2019s still developing and may yet come good, but for now I\u2019m not keen to see either of them in the Liverpool team unless the majority of other players have lost limbs.<\/p>\n

Klopp Needs Time<\/h2>\n

Football is very much a \u2018now\u2019 business. Games are taking place right now. Points are available right now. Someone wins the league each season and Leicester City showed last term that it doesn\u2019t always have to be the team that is the best on paper. Because everything feels so immediate it\u2019s easy to imagine that J\u00fcrgen Klopp has been in power for long enough to mean that it\u2019s fair to judge him. That simply isn\u2019t true. Yes the German came in reasonably early last season, but he\u2019s still only been in charge for a little over a year. He has only had one summer transfer window – when the most business gets done – and one pre-season with his players.<\/p>\n

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We’ve blown this season. We haven’t been good enough when it mattered. Simple fact though: Liverpool will win the league under Juergen Klopp<\/p>\n

\u2014 Ian Salmon (@IanRSalmon) 4 February 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n