Where do we go from here?
After our latest dismal display saw us lose our sixth consecutive home match without scoring a goal from open play, where exactly do we go from here?
Formation
For some time now, myself and others have been calling for us to switch to a 4-2-3-1, at least for some games. With neither Fabinho or Hendo playing the six role, our midfield has no bite or balance to it and would be better suited to Gini and Thiago for example sitting deep, protecting the back four and covering for our fullbacks. Trent and Robbo haven’t been close to being the attacking force they’ve been over the past two seasons and part of that (at least for Robbo) I believe, is not trusting the CB’s enough to go marauding forward at every opportunity, knowing the CB pairing are far from solid and we don’t have our usual midfield shields.
Switching to 4-2-3-1 also allows us to get Jota on the pitch alongside our regular front three, something Klopp has seemed unwilling to try too often but I don’t know why. Bobby’s overall form but particularly his finishing has regressed so much in the past two seasons that he’s really struggling to justify his place in the team but perhaps dropping a little deeper would suit him better and take some of the pressure off. Personally I’d like to see Jota given a run in the team at CF now he’s returned to fitness but Salah up top works too.
We have to do something though and we absolutely have to drop a bit deeper. That high line is suicidal with the players currently at our disposal, we don’t have the pace at CB for it, or the midfield cover without Fabinho and Hendo. We’ve been getting done by that ball over the top down our right hand side all season and yet we seem to have done nothing to address it. We need to adjust our system to suit the players that are available, not ask Rhys and Nat to be Van Dijk and Gomez when they just don’t have it in their locker.
Back to basics
The team look like they need a lot of time spent with them on the training pitch. There’s absolutely no cohesion to any part of our game. Our passing is slow and ponderous, our pressing is non existent, I watched last night as our forwards all just backed off and let Fulham’s back four knock it around between themselves. Eventually Milner ran forward to initiate the press and Jota half heartedly joined in but it was a shadow of what we’ve been used to seeing under Klopp.
This leads me once again to the high line. It’s only an effective tactic with the high press, if nobody is pressing then the opposition have time to get their heads up and pick out that ball over the top. When we’re pressing properly, they can’t and more often than not just hoof it clear and it comes straight back. We have worn teams down through this tactic under Klopp but I f we physically don’t have the legs to do it this season due to injuries and lack of rotation, then it’s all the more reason to adjust the formation and drop deeper and look to play more counter attacking football – something else we used to excel at that seems to have deserted us.
I also couldn’t tell you the last time we scored from a set piece. Can anyone remember? This is all basic stuff that even with players missing, we should be able to improve on. You just have to play your way back into form and that starts on the training pitch.
Transfers
I’m a big fan of FSG and have staunchly defended them for years, as the lads who have known me longer will attest to. There are times however, that you need to act like a big club. Our net spend in the Klopp era is dwarfed by our top 6 rivals, even Spurs who have built a stadium in that time and even (whisper it quietly) West Ham! Now I’m all for a sustainable club but when you have a top class manager in place who has delivered the biggest trophies in the game, there are times you need to back him. I’m not suggesting a Chelsea style spending spree but for example, instead of spending £18 million on Kabak, who might be a good player in three years time, go and try and get Varane for example, rumoured to be available for £60 million. The manager has proved he can improve players and make them superstars as I suspect he will try to do with Jota but he has also shown the immediate impact and transformative effect that the signing of Van Dijk and Alisson had on the team.
In terms of our own players, Salah’s agent has been at it again, posting a cryptic tweet when subbed against Chelsea that was simply a full stop. This comes a couple of months after Salah gave a couple of random interviews – one to Madrid’s pet tabloid AS and another to a Norwegian radio station of all things, where he cast doubt on his future. I don’t like this behaviour from players, he’s either angling for a move or a new contract, regardless of which it was poor timing and brought further pressure and scrutiny on the team and manager.
My message to not just Salah but the whole squad would be simple. If you want to go, then go. If you have a club prepared to pay your market value then off you pop. There’s no point in keeping unhappy players and we’ve seen from the sale of Coutinho that if reinvested wisely, selling your most valuable asset for big money can sometimes be a blessing in disguise. If there’s been a falling out in the dressing room and that’s the issue, then Klopp needs to be ruthless and decide who he needs to get rid of.
Whatever happens with players leaving however, we need to address CB and in my opinion, the false 9 has served us well but I would like to see us sign a proper number 9 and evolve our attack, which seems to have become stale and predictable.
The manager
I’ll end on Klopp. Anyone who thinks Klopp should go is a fool who doesn’t understand football. Yes he’s made some bizarre decisions at times this season but the man has been under immense pressure and trying to grieve for his mother at the same time. The man who normally galvanises the team maybe doesn’t have that in him right at this point in time but no wonder, he’s just lost his mother!
I’ve heard people saying Klopp out, Simeone in. I mean really? You’d want to get rid of Klopp, the most likeable man in football, who has also delivered us all the big trophies and done it in swashbuckling style and replace him with that cheating, ultra negative snake Simeone? Are you serious?? Within a month, the very same people would be up in arms at his grotesque style of play, even if we’d won every game.
Ultimately the end of the season can’t come soon enough and I’m sure Klopp feels the same. Let’s allow him bit of time off over the summer when hopefully travel restrictions will have eased and he can go back to Germany, grieve with his family, say goodbye to his mother in whatever way he can after he missed the funeral and hopefully he comes back refreshed and more at peace. It’s the very least the man deserves after everything he’s done for the club. He has more than enough credit in the bank to be allowed to go again next season.
Anyway that’s my take on things as they stand. We’re square in the eye of the storm right now but we do all we can do in our situation… Walk on!
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