This week’s Blood Red column on what has been an inspired season so far for one man in particular at Liverpool
Choosing a standout performance from a congested field at Liverpool this season has been challenging.
A quartet of long-serving superstars are back to their best following a disappointing year last time out. Alisson Becker is once again receiving great plaudits as the top goalkeeper in world football. Virgil van Dijk, in front of him, is once again approaching imperious heights. The Reds captain has been a superb defender for a club that now leads the Premier League by three points and has the finest defensive record to match.
Mohamed Salah’s 18 goals in all competitions put him on track for another stab at breaching the 30-goal mark, while Trent Alexander-Arnold has been in exceptional form. All four have serious arguments to be Liverpool’s player of the season thus far.
But certainly the Reds’ most significant operator has been working in the technical area? If it is true that players may have changing levels of productivity, it might be claimed that managers can as well, and Jurgen Klopp has been inspired since August.
The Liverpool manager is having a significant influence on his team’s fortunes by skillfully mixing his alternatives, resting and rotating, and making in-game tactical alterations that are reaping rewards alongside his substitutes. Less than a fortnight into 2024, the Reds are Premier League leaders, with one foot in the League Cup final and a fourth-round home encounter in the FA Cup, followed by a last-16 match in the Europa League in March. Things haven’t been this good at Anfield for over two years.
It was intriguing to hear Pep Lijnders, who stood in for Klopp this week to discuss Wednesday’s first leg against Fulham. In July, the assistant manager told the players to leave all of the negativity, baggage, and unwelcome memories of last season at the entry door of the AXA Training Centre or risk “a punch in the face”.
The ability to discard last season’s events has helped provide the team with the basis to build from as a quartet of new midfielders have added to a squad that was already brimming with several high-class performers seemingly hell-bent on turning the page and changing the narrative.
None more so than Klopp, whose expertise has kept the side on track during a punishing, crippling period that has seen them play 13 times between late November and early January.
Klopp has always preferred solutions over excuses and problems and the way he has kept the plates spinning at speed in the midst of an increasingly debilitating injury list has been masterful.
Since the 1-1 draw with Manchester City on November 25, Klopp has seen so many of his key men succumb. Alisson, Joel Matip, Alexis Mac Allister, Ryan Gravenberch, Kostas Tsimikas, Diogo Jota, Dominik Szoboszlai and now Alexander-Arnold have all pulled up during that period and even Van Dijk missed the game arsenal at Fa cup last week through illness, while Salah and Wataru Endo are currently on month-long jaunts for Egypt and Japan, respectively.
First-choice left-back Andy Robertson has been sidelined since October with a shoulder problem that required surgery and Thiago Alcantara, arguably their best midfielder, hasn’t kicked a ball since April. Last season’s breakout youngster, Stefan Bajcetic, has featured just once too, as a right-back at LASK in the Europa League back in September.
That Liverpool played their 13th game in 46 days on Wednesday without as many as seven first-team starters in Alexander-Arnold, Robertson, Van Dijk, Matip, Thiago, Szoboszlai and Salah – while also choosing to omit Alisson – for a semi-final they won speaks volumes about both the manager’s tactical ability and also the strength in depth available to him.
While Klopp was able to steer the FA Cup tie at Arsenal back in his team’s favour with some tactical tinkering that saw him move four players’ positions in Darwin Nunez, Cody Gakpo, Luis Diaz and Harvey Elliott for a much-improved second period, it was his use of the bench on Wednesday that helped them secure a first-leg advantage against Marco Silva’s Cottagers.
Liverpool looked like the injury-hit and overworked squad they are for the first 55 minutes before Nunez and Gakpo turned the game around to ensure they will head to west London later this month as firm favourites to make the Wembley showpiece. Once more, it was about how Klopp reacted to the developing situation in front of him.
Jota’s assist for Luis Diaz at Arsenal and Nunez and Gakpo’s contributions against Fulham mean the Reds have now had as many as 30 goal involvements off the bench this term. It’s been a defining factor in their surge for honours
The decision to bring on young hopefuls Conor Bradley and Bobby Clark at Arsenal last week led to some instant mocking on social media about how the Liverpool manager was so desperate to avoid a replay that he was prepared to throw the tie itself.
Those naysayers were forced to keep schtum when Bradley nullified Gabriel Martinelli and Clark thundered into a cynical foul on Declan Rice that halted a late counter-attack and drew a chant as loud as the goals from the away end. Once more, it was an inspired piece of management.
The Liverpool boss is providing a compelling argument for that manager of the year award and if he has so many in his team back on top form, he can consider himself as one too.
