Jurgen Klopp is already the ‘flopped one’. After just over 80 days of being in charge. What many don’t realise is that his predecessor played a big part in putting us in this mess.
Inconsistency. That’s the word which describes us perfectly at the moment. It’s always been one step forward and two steps back in the last few months. The question that most ask is why has Jurgen Klopp been unable to make us better or why does his record look worse than Brendan Rodgers’. An illogical expectation and one made worse by the fact that people overlook the cancer that Brendan left behind. Yes, cancer. There is no other word for it. He left behind a thin squad and a mentality so weak that even a two goal lead feels insufficient for a win. Cancer cannot be overcome overnight. It takes an awful amount of hard work and pain to win the battle against it. And that’s what Jurgen and by extension we, the supporters, are facing. Rodgers’s decisions are still affecting us and we must keep that in mind.
1. The mentality
Klopp often stresses the psychological aspect of the game. Games can be won here and there but to win championships, the team needs to have that winning mentality. The strength to keep pushing forward even after going behind. We don’t have that, yet. The players don’t have the belief required to succeed.
These are the same players who played under Brendan and consistently lost games even after leading at some point. The 2014-15 season was a horror show and this does not get mentioned enough. It has affected the players and the supporters far more adversely than what many think. It’s the biggest reason Anfield is so quiet these days. That’s what Jurgen is trying to change. And we must accept that it’ll take time and a change in personnel to achieve that edge back.
2. Persistence with mediocrity
LFC are a team that aspires to play in the CL. So, logically, it follows that the team cannot have any mediocre players. And yet, Brendan chose to add three more years to Martin Skrtel’s contract and made Lucas Leiva an undroppable part of the first team. The evidence against both of them is overwhelming, yet many still think they’re good enough to play for LFC.
A defensive midfielder is vital to any team and is often the difference between a win and a loss. But instead of fortifying that position, Rodgers made sure we had just one unreliable specialist DM in the entire squad. And tying Skrtel to a new contract meant that he’d be a starter, no matter what because the only other alternative was an aging Kolo Toure or the inexperienced Joe Gomez. Half our defensive problems would be solved if we could sort those two positions.
3. Shipping key players out
The word ‘key’ here implies the positions in the team where we are a bit short. The only wide player we have in our ranks is Jordon Ibe and both our current RCBs are not quite upto the mark. Lazar Markovic and Tiago Ilori have never been given the chance to prove themselves. It won’t be unreasonable to say that both those players would’ve played a part in our season. Even Andre Wisdom, who made his debut under Rodgers was never trusted again and sent out on loan. We have four competitions to deal with and not enough backups in key areas. Another youngster who could’ve helped is Javier Manquillo. He had a decent start to his LFC career but was never given enough chances and later was unceremoniously sent back. And now we are left with just Nathaniel Clyne in the RB position. Suffice to say that this was a bad move on Rodgers’s part and the main reason we have a paper thin squad.
4. Buying Benteke
Knowing Sturridge, it was clear that we needed a striker of his caliber (or atleast someone who possessed some, if not all, of his talents). Spending £32m on a striker with a skill set so dissimilar to the way our team plays was not a wise call. Money which could’ve been better used had Rodgers not been adamant. Sturridge was never going to play more than 20 games and the only alternative was a raw and untested 20yearold youngster (Divock Origi) and Danny Ings. And now, with injuries to those three, we have just Benteke who hasn’t been able to improve our goal tally. We don’t create many whenever he starts and when he does get those chances, he is unable to make them count, leading to the team having a total of just 22 goals scored after 20 league games. Benteke was never the answer and although he has his strengths, his weaknesses make him more of a liability.
To summarise, our squad depth at certain positions is non-existent. Out of five CBs, we have just two good CBs (Sakho and Lovren). Skrtel’s not good enough while Kolo is too old and Gomez is still inexperienced. We have no cover for Clyne and Alberto Moreno except for young Academy graduates – because of this, both have been starting almost all our games without a break. We have just one specialist DM, who isn’t up to the required level and is inconsistent. Just one natural wide player in Ibe, who is too inexperienced to make a big impact for the team. And the only option we have up front is Benteke who does not suit our playing style and does more damage to our attack than good. The starting team may look good, but we cannot win trophies if we don’t have squad depth. This was Brendan’s biggest mistake; not addressing this key issue of squad depth.
All in all, the options Klopp has are not sufficient nor are they good enough at some vital positions. He needs to be given appropriate amount of time before he’s judged. He will take this entire season to decide which players have a future with the club, so expecting quick results is foolish. And not to forget, he started his tenure in the most unlucky way possible, with most of his players already out injured. We, as supporters, need to be patient with him. Jurgen Klopp is a special manager and we are lucky that he’s ours.
