The Klopp Effect

The last time I spoke about Liverpool, we were five games into the season, made a decent start with 3 wins, a draw and a loss. The loss was something that concerned many at the time, it was against Burnley who are showing promise in the league and away from home so I suppose we were reading too much into it. After that loss though, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said something that proved to be profound, it wasn't about reflecting about the loss but how we reacted to it. And that was going on a run of six games unbeaten in the league and unbeaten in all competitions and now sitting on top of the table just before the untimely international break.

It's not just that we won a lot of games but the manner in which we are doing it, Klopp's high pressing style of play almost bully's the opposition and forces them on the back foot. Teams who came and tried to disrupt this type of play paid the consequences with only United showing the only way to nullify it was to be on full defensive mode with no counterattacking. It made for a real dull game that, and I for one went to bed frustrated and angry but you have to hand to to Mourinho, he knew his team were not playing at their expectations and to avoid defeat he had to play ugly football. 

Since that stalemate Liverpool have scored 14 goals in 4 games, that is  3.5 goals per game, an insane statistic in it's own right but the concerning factor is the number of goals we've leaked through. Getting a clean sheet of late has been difficult with silly errors costing us. I say costing us because although it's all good and dandy on the opposite end of the pitch, those goals we concede could come back to hurt us when goal difference comes into play. We saw that over the past few weeks 3 teams were tied for 2nd spot with goal difference separating them so come May next year, it could be a problem for us. While many supporters might be saying, "as longs as we're winning", it's really a matter of concern but Klopp recognises this and hopefully has a plan to sort this out. 

Going back to our front players, the trio of Mane, Coutinho and Firmino are proving to be a menace of note to teams. The tricks and pace these three have and combine is nothing short of sublime. Many questioned the Senegalese signing at the beginning of the season but he's proving to be a bargain for us and probably the signing of the season if he continues the way he's playing. While they may not be topping the lists for highest goal scorers in the league, they're spreading the goals amongst themselves, with Mane currently on 6 and the Brazilians with 5 each. Their number of assists are climbing up as well. It will be a tough losing Mane for International duty during AFCON but we trust there will be another player to stand up and fill his place.

Watching Liverpool play is becoming addictive, almost like a drug, even watching highlights is satisfying. On Sunday the game was so high paced and action packed that even when I switched over to watch a bit of the United game during the half time break I found it boring and dull, even though they scored 3 great goals. We just want more of it and while many "experts" claim that players of Liverpool will tire out by next year, that remains to be seen. Klopp has always had this vision for his teams so obviously he has a strategy in controlling the players fitness levels, he did at Dortmund and won 2 league titles, so it's not something he's doing for the first time. So underestimate him at your own peril.  

Close but no trophy

The Barclays English Premier concluded this past Sunday with Manchester City claiming their second title in 3 years. It was a 2 horse race till the last day but it was obvious with City having the advantage that they would do the business. For my team Liverpool, at the onset there was always doubt by others on whether achieving a top four finish was possible but they proved everyone wrong, surpassing their target and challenging for the title till the very last day. 

Although disappointed, after the games were over I was damn proud of what they achieved in the season, they didn't get the trophy but they got the respect they deserved and made it known that Liverpool were back and they mean business. Brendan Rodgers and his troops brought back the old Liverpool, the one that sent shivers down opponents when playing against us, we were ruthless against teams, the fast style passing caught many off guard and most of the games were sealed within the first 25 minutes. The passing, the flow and the dedication of the players needs to be commended but what let us down was our defence.

Even though we scored 101 goals, just 1 behind champions City, we conceded 50 goals which is not champion quality. Hopefully over the summer break, the manager and his scouts will find the necessary players needed to strengthen the squad in that particular area. It's difficult to pin point players because they all had good and bad performances, Martin Skrtel for example, he was always in the spot light for tugging on players shirts during set pieces, also he had a habit of tracking back instead of going for the attacker, he also scored 4 goals in the wrong net but on the other hand he made countless goal saving tackles and blocks not to mention the 7 goals he scored in the right net which was a record for a defender. 

Other positives to come out of this season was the transformation of the younger players, Sterling, Henderson, Allen and Flanagan all who relatively young proved the doubters wrong. By the end of the season all of them were good as any of the first team choices, the maturity they showed in their game play, passing, thinking and vision only means that they have a bright future ahead for them. Henderson and Sterling have been rewarded with call ups to the England World Cup squad with Flanagan on standby.

I'll touch on it again, it hurts us the fans for coming so close to that elusive 19th title but imagine how the players feel. We saw the raw emotion come out the night after the Crystal Palace draw, as much as we are gutted they were even more so. Many mocked them but at the end of the day, it's them who are snapping up all the prizes now. Luis Suarez has been named Player of the season by many organisations as well as getting the golden boot for most goals scored in the league, the other night, Brendan Rodgers was name Manager of the season by the League Managers Association, so all was not lost.

But to quote the great Bill Shankly, "If you're first, you're first. If you're second, you're nothing" which is a very strong sentence but I believe we were not entirely nothing, with some tweaking this summer and the players keeping the belief we could be a force to be reckon with come the start of the 2014/15 league. We'll come back stronger, hungrier and with bigger challenges in store in terms of Europe, with our long standing captain, he'll rally the players as he always does for the challenge, WE GO AGAIN!

Make us dream

I've been adamant from the get go, this season (2013/14) all I want is for Liverpool FC to finish in the top four. But ever since that first game against Stoke, when goal keeper Simon Mignolet made his first league début for us, with many of the fans questioning his ability seeing that we all were pretty happy with outgoing keeper Reina, even with his selection shrouded with uncertainty, he stepped up and saved a penalty in the dying seconds of the game. It ultimately gave Liverpool the win and their first 3 points of the season along with full faith given to the new boy. Ever since that moment you couldn't help but wonder, maybe this is it?

It wasn't going to be easy for this side under the guidance of Brendan Rogers, the previous season we finished strong but we were no where near close to match the top four. With our key striker, Luis Suarez serving the rest of his ban carried over from last season, the team knew they had to dig deep and others needed to stand up, so did Daniel Sturridge. He fitted into the line up like a snug fit glove, his continuous scoring game after game didn't even make us miss Luis the slightest but we all knew that El Pistolero was itching to come back into the team. 

After he served the 6 game ban, he and Daniel forged a partnership that the Premier League hasn't seen in a long time. Dubbed SAS, which ironically is also the abbreviation of the British Special Air Service, they went rampant on teams they faced. The link up between the two was even better than Gerrard and Torres. Forget about mind reading, its like they both know each others movements before it can happen. We all knew at the time that what Liverpool have is something special but as we move into the business end of the season, we really are seeing how ruthless and commanding this strike duo are. 

Luis, even after serving a 6 game ban at the beginning of the season is the leagues highest scorer with 28 goals, Sturridge isn't that far behind the Uruguayan with 19. Combined the two have netted 47 goals in the league, that's more than the total managed by 15 other clubs! The current league partnership goal record is held by Beardsley and Cole, who managed 55 in the 1993/94 season. That's just 8 off SAS, with 8 games still left for Liverpool, many tipping the duo to break that record. Luis is also on course to break Alan Shearer and Andy Cole's joint record of 34 goals in one season, again with 8 games left I wouldn't put it past him. He's been in fine form with a short dry spell not to long ago saw him go 3 games without scoring but that fear was quickly put to bed after scoring in both of the last fixtures, including a hat trick on the weekend. 

The run in till the end isn't an easy one with Liverpool having to face both teams that are above them, Chelsea and Manchester City, along with top four challengers Spurs. They have also got to rely on the top two dropping points to take advantage and given the form they have been in, it isn't looking likely. Like I've said from the beginning, give me a top four finish and I would be happy, Brendan Rodgers also admitted that the team we have now is still short from a title winning team with some improvements and players needed to get us there. I tend to agree with the manager seeing that our defence isn't the most solid one in the league and our midfield is sometimes lacking but the work rate from most of the individuals is nothing short of brilliant. Guys like Henderson, Allen and Flanagan that don't often make the headlines put in the hard graft required of them week in and week out. They have got to be commended for getting the team where it is currently. 

If you look at statistics, everything points at Chelsea or Manchester City lifting the trophy in May and if they do it would be well deserved but there's something I heard during the course of this season, to win the league, the team has to have some luck on the way and I won't lie, there have been some times where we did get lucky. Also if Brendan Rodgers was planning on leading this team just to finish in the top four, I'm guessing Luis and Daniel didn't get the memo because they're making us believe we can achieve something greater!

You'll Never Walk Alone