Following back-to-back wins against Manchester City and Swansea followed by the 6-1 thumping of Southampton in the League Cup, December was considered to be the month in which Jurgen Klopp’s side would kick on among Liverpool’s supporter base.
Although Reds fans’ eternal optimism is often mocked, there was bulk to these claims, too, as their German coach had settled and seemed to have remedied the problems of the Brendan Rodgers era.
Alas, the talk of a top four finish and even a title charge have been ruthlessly questioned in the weeks since the start of the festive month, with a meagre haul of one point from games against Newcastle, West Brom and Watford concerning to say the least.
The Magpies loss looked like one of those days, but a point at home to the Baggies, rescued by an injury time deflected Divock Origi goal, before the frankly embarrassing 3-0 loss at Vicarage Road has proven that it was not merely a blip in the North East and there are deep-rooted issues.
Luckily for the charismatic Klopp the January transfer window is just over a week away now, and with reports claiming that he will have money to spend, he will be able to address some of his major problems.
But what are they? Here are the FIVE we think are the most pressing at Anfield…
The goalkeeper situation…
Many Liverpool fans got their wish against Watford when the starting XI was released an hour before kick-off as Simon Mignolet dipped out wit a slight hamstring injury allowing Adam Bogdan in. But, this joy lasted all of two minutes when the Hungarian pulled off a clanger that would make even his senior team-mate blush as he failed to catch a tame corner before losing out to Nathan Ake in a dramatic scramble. Replays showed that the Watford defender did actually kick the ball from Bogdan’s grip, but the mere fact he couldn’t deal with the sort of a ball a five-year old would calmly catch in their back garden was unforgivable.
As alluded to before, the goalkeeping situation has been a problem at Liverpool for a while now, and even though Klopp himself has publicaly backed Mignolet, the fact that his error against West Brom recently was his eighth in three seasons that led directly to a goal being conceded (the most of any Premier League goalkeeper in the same period) is sure to be weighing on the German’s mind. Naturally, there have been links between the ex-Dortmund boss and moves for a host of Bundesliga-based goalkeepers, with Bernd Leno and Timo Horn the standout names, but it remains to be seen if he’ll react. The fans certainly hope he will, though!
Getting something from the big summer signings
One of the more worrying afternoons of the Klopp reign came at Newcastle as the Reds slipped to a 2-0 loss. However, it was not so much the result – the Magpies had one shot on target over 90 minutes yet managed to claim victory by two clear goals – but rather the relationship between Firmino and Benteke that presented pressing questions. The pair – who cost around £60m altogether over the summer – were deployed as the two main attacking threats in the North East, yet they managed just ONE completed pass between themselves through the game and looked worrying out of sync.
Both Benteke and Firmino have looked good on other occasions, but it’s a source of concern that the two players’ games look poles apart, while both have struggled, on the whole, to look at home in the red shirt. Klopp cannot simply cast aside such huge investments and part of his appeal to Fenway Sports Group (Liverpool’s American owners) was his ability to get the best from players at his disposal. Although fans want attacking additions in the transfer market, the 48-year-old may have to resist any urges he has to do so and instead spend time working with the double act in training. After all, Benteke is a proven goalscorer and Firmino was one of the most talented attacking midfielders in the Bundesliga.
Stick or twist with Martin Skrtel
Liverpool have been pretty dreadful at the back for a few years now and a common denominator through this period has been their Slovakian centre-back. The weird thing with Skrtel though is the fact that he’s okay, on the whole. The 31-year-old rarely makes serious errors and doesn’t look untidy on the ball, yet the fact that he’s been around through the woeful defensive era of Brendan Rodgers and has contributed to shock defeats with Klopp in charge has to be looked at. Mamadou Sakho seems to be a player the now Anfield gaffer likes, so getting someone in to compliment the Frenchman could be wise in the long run, with Dejan Lovren still a worry and Kolo Toure now 34.
Neven Subotic is a defender Klopp has worked with and is thought to be available for a bargain fee this January after making only a handful of league appearances at Dortmund since his former manager departed. The Serbian is by no means a guaranteed source of stability, but with Skrtel either complacent or simply not good enough it could be a gamble worth taking.
Scoring goals
The Watford match presented Klopp’s first real error in terms of team selection. While the goalkeeper and the centre-backs will foot the majority of the blame, the way in which the German set out his attacking options was bizarre, with the technical trio of Adam Lallana, Philippe Coutinho and Roberto Firmino trusted to breach the Hornets’ backline. The two Brazilians and their English partner in crime worked wonders at both Chelsea and Manchester City in memorable wins, yet against a Watford side that were never going to come out look to dominate possession on a dreadful Vicarage Road pitch (the sheer number of poor touches and bobbles was astounding) perhaps the physical threat of Christian Benteke would have offered a tailor-made threat. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but many were worried prior to kick-off that there may not be a focal point, which proved to be true, and at least having a target to play for knockdowns from would have given something to worry the Watford defence.
With Daniel Sturridge waiting in the wings Klopp has one of the best strikers in the club’s history in terms of goals-per-game record to utilise but his horrendous injury record – Sunday marked the moment he’d officially missed more games than he’s played for the club since his 2013 arrival – is a constant headache. Perhaps the route forward is to go for a 4-4-2 formation, as he did in the 6-1 League Cup win at Southampton, or perhaps even pay big to get in a striker next month.
Building a side capable of coping with four fights
Liverpool have won just twice this season on weekends following a midweek match. The 3-1 at Chelsea and a narrow 1-0 at Swansea are the only occasions that Klopp’s side have been able to bounce back in a short space of time, and both of these ties had extenuating circumstances – the win at Stamford Bridge followed a League Cup match against Bournemouth in which a fringe XI was used and Swansea travelled to Anfield at the height of the woeful Garry Monk run.
It’s been tough for the German so far, who has been forced to attempt to implement his ideas and style without a substantial amount of time on the training ground, but there are two potential ways to get around this:
1 – Bring in one or two of the players he used so successfully at Dortmund.
2 – Add numbers to his ranks to allow for greater rotation.
As things stand, Liverpool are still battling in the Premier League, are in the last-32 of the Europa League, are set for a two-legged League Cup semi-final clash with Stoke and will be in FA Cup action come January. Fixture congestion will not ease any time soon.
