It’s a virtue that most of the Liverpool supporters lack. As Klopp would say, ‘we have to change…now’.
It’s been little over three weeks since Rodgers was sacked. A surprise for nearly the entire fanbase, when the news broke out hours after the derby. Also, one could add, an occasion to celebrate. Anybody who had an inkling of what football is was sick of the way we were playing and knew that it was time for a change. It should have come sooner (precisely four months sooner) but at least the right call was made. Then, the owners did something unthinkable. They made Klopp their main target and after a week of negotiations, he was appointed as our manager. It was the biggest call FSG ever made and now we have one of the best managers in the world. Few weeks ago, most of us were resigned to watching Liverpool falter in the league and Brendan being in charge until the end of the season. Now, we have the best man (arguably) suited for the Liverpool job. Couldn’t have imagined a more unlikely scenario at the start of the season.
Liverpool supporters celebrated. Nothing had previously united the entire fanbase as much as this appointment did. The previous weeks of suffering and disappointment was replaced by a feel-good factor which made even the most pessimistic of supporters jump up and down in ecstasy. Many began to dream about the things we could achieve under Klopp. How our entire club could be transformed and be back among Europe’s elite. People began to discuss the different changes which could be implemented, like a Dortmund-esque style of play, constant and unrelenting pressing for the entire 90 minutes, an improved defence but most importantly, a change in results. That is the crux of our problem; inflated and unrealistic short-term expectations.
What we must realise is that an appointment of a new manager, even someone of Klopp’s aptitude, does not translate to an immediate upswing in terms of results. Watching three consecutive draws has frustrated a lot of supporters, who seem to have been expecting 3-0, 4-0 thrashings in each of Klopp’s first few games. This frustrated group has used various arguments to back their claim of ‘We are still shite’. Some even believe that we were lucky against Spurs, atrocious and devoid of ideas against Kazan and Southampton. The Kazan game was when many of the supporters began to lose it. Twitter was full of statements like ‘Jeez, we can’t even beat a midtable Russian team! We’re dire!’, ’10 men down for more than an hour and yet we draw…pathetic!’, ‘This is Carlisle all over again!’, and so on. The latest 1-1 against Southampton drew the same impatient groans. Some sections of the media even criticised Klopp for that performance. The same people who hyped Klopp so much had already begun to doubt him.
The Spurs result was a good one because we went to White Hart Lane with an acutely depleted squad to face a team who were finding form. On the contrary, we weren’t good enough in the last few games and our confidence was well below the required mark coming to this one.
Make no mistake, this was the same Spurs which had defeated a full-strength City handsomely. We defended really well and Mignolet was on top form. Not to forget, we came close to scoring ourselves. We even saw what we could expect in the coming games and seasons; pressing and compactness. Not a bad way to start at all. It takes nothing but common sense to realise that the Carlisle result was absolutely unacceptable because it was Brendan’s fourth season in charge and we didn’t look like we had a plan even after so many years. We were simply shooting from distance hoping that the ball would go in. The biggest difference between that game and these two is that this isn’t even Klopp’s fourth week in charge. Such an obvious fact ignored in the melodramatic criticisms and rants on social media by a certain section of supporters.
This is what Klopp meant when he said we must give him time and that in football, things don’t change overnight. It’s a completely valid statement, one which must be heeded by those who watch Liverpool play and only criticise after the game. There are subtle differences between the previous games and the last three; we have changed our approach.
Another factor which is not considered is that this is mainly Rodgers’ team. And three (maybe even four) of the first-team players are out injured. Henderson, Firmino and Sturridge are sure shot starters for Klopp. We could argue that Benteke could also make Klopp’s starting 11 every week. This is because he did play a diamond formation in his formative years at Dortmund; so, Benteke and Sturridge could feature together. This is without even considering the long-term absentees, Ings and Gomez. There is little doubt that Gomez would have taken over Skrtel’s spot had he been fit, the latter being one of Liverpool’s worst players in the past few years. Keep in mind that Klopp may not even favour a few of these players in his plans. He cannot do anything about it either, not till January at least. Even then there is no guarantee that he’ll get his choice of players because it’s hard to find suitable players who’d be available mid-season.
This is where we, as supporters, must show patience. It was never about this season, we didn’t bring in Klopp to get us into the top four this season. It was always about winning the big trophies in the coming two or three years. So, it should come as no surprise if we lose games like City and Chelsea away, because let’s be honest, this is a transition, albeit it’s not like the ones we’ve had to face in the previous years whenever a new manager was appointed. There was always going to be a bedding-in period for Klopp and supporters who expected instant change of results and style of play need to take a good, long, look at themselves.
Recently, there has been another alarming issue which has been trending on social media; the criticism of Daniel Sturridge by our own supporters. It’s mind-numbing to read the thoughts (and the reasoning behind it) of so many of fellow Kopites who come up with statements like ‘Enough is enough, lad’s got attitude problems!’, ‘Why doesn’t he just take an injection and play?’, ‘What a soft guy, doesn’t even try to get 100% fit!’. Some even go as far to suggest that we sell him in January itself and that he isn’t worth the wages we pay him. Sell Daniel Sturridge. Our best player on his day. The same player who has got the best goals to game ratio in the history of LFC. And a scoring rate bettered only by Aguero in the PL since he joined Liverpool. Yes, tweets about selling Daniel Sturridge. Words fail to describe the levels of stupidity and ignorance of some who think that he’s got attitude problems and that we should sell him because he only plays 15 games every season (which is not an accurate number).
Daniel is injury prone, yes. But his injury issues have been exaggerated to the point where people think he is the sort of person who misses entire seasons like Jack Wilshere or Abou Diaby. Sturridge has given us a fair amount of games in his first one-and-a-half years at Liverpool. He played in 29 PL games in 13/14 and 14 PL games in 12/13. Those are not bad numbers for an injury prone player. It was when he was terribly mismanaged by both Rodgers as well as Hodgson in 14/15 that his number of appearances for LFC fell. In the very first international break, he was forced to play despite warnings that he could get injured. They weren’t heeded and Danny did get sidelined for a long time. To make matters worse, Liverpool had no quality strikers, with Lambert and Balotelli failing to make any kind of impact and Rodgers desperately needed him back. Sturridge was already carrying a serious, undiagnosed injury during this time, which was apparently the root cause of all his injury problems in the recent seasons. Also, he was not 100% fit when Brendan chose to bring him on against West Ham at Anfield last season. Of course when the manager takes risks with a player like that, there was always going to be consequences. Sturridge was in action for another month or so, after which he was out for the rest of the season. He went to the States to have his hip problem sorted. The main reason behind his injury troubles was finally identified and there was hope that this surgery would be a long term solution for his troubles.
Two factors needs to be considered here; Sturridge’s mismanagement by Hodgson and Rodgers as well as the medical staff at Melwood who couldn’t identify his long-term hip problem. Yet, it’s Sturridge who bears the brunt of the supporters’ ire. What exactly is he supposed to do? Ignore his doctors and kit up for training? The argument that ‘Suarez played with niggles all the time, why can’t Sturridge do the same?! It’s all his attitude!’ is completely devoid of logic because every player has a different body type and what Sturridge suffers from time to time aren’t niggles but serious problems. He cannot play even if he tries to.
People fail to realise that in all this, it’s Sturridge who feels most disappointed and is the angriest. They need to remember how passionate he is about playing for us. He has still not forgotten that it was LFC who gave him another shot after Chelsea rejected him. And he has been an exceptional player for us. There is no logic in selling him simply because ‘He doesn’t play enough’. Why do Man City still have Aguero on their payroll then? Why do Arsenal persist with Wilshere? And people who criticise Sturridge and blame his attitude without a shred of proof, would they be fuming if we make Marco Reus our number one target? How many would say no to that magical player? Again, we must be patient with Sturridge, his current injury was caused by unfortunate circumstances and is completely unrelated to his previous injuries. Selling one of the best players in the league is not the solution.
On a related note, the criticisms of few of the new recruits like Roberto Firmino and Divock Origi along with Lazar Markovic. With our current injury crisis, we’ve had no choice but to play Origi as our main striker. And he has done reasonably well for us, for someone who’s a fourth-choice striker. Yes, the goals are missing at the moment, but how many clear cut chances has he got until now? Also, how many 20-year-old strikers are banging in goals game after game in Europe? Not to forget that he’s new to the league and is still adapting to the culture. It is unfair to expect so much from a player who has barely made 50 appearances in top-flight football.
Coming to Firmino, there are a lot of myths surrounding this player and it is because most have not watched him even once and have barely taken the trouble to read about him. He is not an injury prone player; in fact, he rarely got injured playing for Hoffenhiem. Secondly, he is not a lazy player who refuses to press. He wins balls high up in the opposition and half and is an intelligent presser. But many doubt him already, without even noting that he hasn’t played much for us and that in the games he did play under Brendan, he was used in unfavorable positions. He deserves time. Klopp has been a huge admirer of him and knows how to get the best out of him.
And lastly, the enigma, Markovic. The general consensus is that he has been a flop and a waste of £20m. Again, the obvious reasons behind his ‘failures’ have been ignored. A 20-year-old moving to England on a huge fee, who never really got to start in his preferred positions or given enough opportunities under Brendan is labeled as another ‘committee debacle’. We’re unable to break down organised defences like Kazan and Southampton because we lack players like him. How many wide forwards do we have and more importantly how many have pace? Markovic would have thrived under Klopp and was needed this season because we cannot score goals against teams who line up seven or eight players in front of their goal without fast wide forwards. Loaning him out to a lower league wasn’t a good decision at all. It is unfair to judge Markovic now, it certainly is an overreaction to label him as a ‘flop’.
Lastly, the issue of supporters leaving Anfield before the final whistle. This is something which is completely inexplicable. It’s a common sight these days to watch supporters make way to the exits around the 85th minute; some even leave at the 80th minute. Why? What could be more important than the match where your favorite team is involved? The worst part is we are not even losing when those in attendance leave and we still have a chance to win the game. Yet, apparently, it’s better to start the journey back home because who knows, there might be traffic on the way. It happened in Klopp’s first home game.
Imagine calling ourselves the ‘best supporters in the world’ and turning our backs on the team and the manager who has just taken the post – one who considers the supporters to be one of the best himself and respects our culture and traditions. It is not even an atmosphere at Anfield anymore, but we can at least stay until the end of the game to show our support? Why do we have to rush towards the exit once the clock crossed the 80th-minute mark? Leaving 5-10 minutes before full-time makes no sense. Surely we could do better to show our support and be patient enough to stay. This might seem like a small thing, but it all adds up. Klopp deserves our support; he needs to know that we are with him.
Looking at the entire picture, it’s clear that our frustration with the team, the players, and the results would reduce considerably if we choose to be patient. We must take a deep breath and consider all the factors before formulating an opinion. Blind criticism does nobody any good. If we are patient and accept that some things are beyond Klopp’s control, it would be easier to notice the more subtle changes in our games. After all, a little positivity and patience is better than constant ranting about every small detail. Good for the mind as well.
