Klopp

Virgil van Dijk and Liverpool’s Defensive Resurgence

Liverpool’s bumbling back-line was the subject of intense, often deserved, criticism in the early part of the season, but improvements since the turn of the year have been drastic. Now the much-maligned individuals, and indeed the manager who was slammed for supposedly failing to address this debilitating weakness, are due some considerable praise. It’s important...

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain – The Perfect Klopp Midfielder

As a raw teenager at Southampton in the 2010-11 season, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain carved out a reputation as one of the hottest prospects in English football. A clamour for his signature ensued in the Summer of 2011, and it was Arsenal who staved off interest from a number of suiters by completing the signing of...

The Klopp Revolution

The year is 2016, the date April 14th. Liverpool welcomed hordes of Dortmund fans as they flooded the city. The Germans had finally landed on English soil. It is the second leg of the Europa League Quarter-final, with Liverpool managing the all-important away goal in a 1-1 draw at the Westfalenstadion the week previous. The...

Could Gini Wijnaldum be Liverpool’s Future Number Six?

Setting the tempo, demanding the ball and creating passing lanes - that's not Gini Wijnaldum is it? When Jordan Henderson picked up a yellow card for tripping up Raheem Sterling in the second-half of the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final at Anfield, ruling himself out of the second leg because of suspension, Liverpool...

European Adventures Raising The Bar For This Liverpool Team

Liverpool are riding high right now. That fantastic feel-good factor, as we approach the season’s run-in, brings back memories of the good times under Houllier, Benitez and Rodgers. When we were fighting for targets and silverware at the business end of the season. A team playing terrific, brave football, in fine fettle as rivals...

Liverpool’s Underappreciated Midfield

The consensus of this Liverpool team seems to be that the three attackers are world class, our defence still needs some serious work (although the emergence of Robbo, the signing of VVD and the form of Karius are mitigating this) and our midfield is … alright. The subject of our midfield is an interesting one,...

Key Stats from Liverpool 3-0 Bournemouth. Easy Street.

Liverpool turned in another comfortable win at Anfield, this time against Bournemouth, with the Cherries routed 3-0. But what were the key stats from a happy evening for Klopp’s Reds? Goals Galore Liverpool notched their 300th goal under Jürgen Klopp, in just 148 games. The team that has been scoring at a clip of two goals a...

Observations as Liverpool Topple The Cherries

Liverpool maintained their present momentum with a routine win against Bournemouth on Saturday evening, scoring three goals as they surge ever closer to the top-four. Mohamed Salah was on the score-sheet once more, extending his tally as he chases down the Golden Boot award, while Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mané also converted. Maybe Mo can...

Alexander-Arnold’s Coming of Age

City’s tactics over the 180-minute contest were obvious. The outcome was not. Crystal Palace clearly identified Alexander-Arnold as a weakness; diagonal balls were launched in behind to allow Wilfried Zaha a clear one-on-one against the 19-year-old in the first forty-five minutes. Inevitably, that’s where they got their goal; a lovely weighted through ball saw Trent caught...

Manchester City 1-2 Liverpool (1-5): A Tactical Breakdown

When Liverpool lost 5-0 at the Etihad earlier this season, I mentioned in my breakdown that typing in the scoreline just felt wrong, but there is something immensely gratifying about typing out the aggregate scoreline for the Champions League tie: 5-1. I might even do it again. 5-1. Lovely. Anyway, there are five minutes until...