Klopp’s Best Liverpool Team

TOP ARTICLE BY MATTY

With the Klopp era coming to an end, I thought this would be a fun exercise. Out of all the players who have played for Klopp, who makes up the best squad possible from his time with the club? And can they make a functional team? That’s the question I attempt to answer.

GK: Easy choice here, Alisson is the best keeper in the world and easily the best keeper Klopp’s had at Liverpool. Not much competition for the job, seeing as his main competition is the bumbling Karius who cost us a Champions League trophy, Mignolet who cost Gerrard a Premier League, and Adrian who cost us another Champions League. Kelleher is basically the backup by default, but he’s also easily the best keeper we’ve had besides Alisson.

LB: Another easy choice, Andy Robertson is the best LB in the history of the Premier League and has no competition for the spot. Backing him up is either cult hero Tsimikas or cult hero Albie Moreno. Tsimikas slightly edges out Moreno in my eyes.

RB: Trent Alexander-Arnold takes the spot, though I could be cheeky and put James Milner here. Conor Bradley has a shout for the backup role, but due to the glut of options in the midfield I might sneak Milner in as the backup right back.

CB: Virgil van Dijk and Joel Matip, and it’s easier than you’d think to choose Matip over the rest of the field. Gomez deserves a shout for his form in 2020 and this season as well, he’ll do well as a backup. Lovren deserves his flowers for being generally solid whenever he played next to Virgil, but I think Konate deservedly gets a spot in Klopp’s all-time team over Degsy.

CDM: Sorry Endo but there’s one option here for me and that’s Fabinho. At his peak there were few who were better. Endo and Mac Allister deserve spots in the squad, they can rotate in.

LCM: Gini Wijnaldum takes this spot for me over Henderson. Just a better technical player who adapted to whatever the team needed him to be. Keeps things ticking, and I could use some defensive prowess knowing who the final midfielder will be in my trio. Henderson is obviously a strong backup here, as is Mac Allister. Thiago could deserve a shout here but he’s gotten injured again while I’m writing this. He did have that one great season in 2021 though.

RCM: Phil the rat Coutinho. All I’m saying is that a goal was scored every 20 minutes when Coutinho, Mane, Salah and Firmino were on the pitch at the same time. Szoboszlai is the obvious backup here, Curtis Jones deserves a shoutout as well. Oxlade-Chamberlain was good when he wasn’t on the injury list and Keita had some flashes in a similar role too. Adam Lallana probably deserves to be the backup over all of them above but again, injuries.

LW: Sadio Mane is the man for the job. One of the more under-appreciated greats of PL history. Another player who sacrificed personal glory for the team, a rare trait nowadays. Diogo Jota deserves a spot in the squad somewhere, whether it’s as Mane’s backup or the backup to the starting striker. Luis Diaz deserves a shout as well.

ST: Roberto Firmino, couldn’t be anyone else. As Klopp would say, he was the system around which everything else thrived. His unique skill set made everything work in Klopp’s 1.0 team. Darwin Nunez has given us some fun moments, Divock Origi is a cult icon as well. Cody Gakpo deserves some love too. Daniel Sturridge does not.

RW: The best in PL history at the position, it has to be Mo Salah. Still the best in the league at his position even now. Sneaking Harvey Elliott into the team as his backup, but Xherdan Shaqiri and Taki Minamino had their moments too.

So here’s the starting eleven:

Alisson

Trent-Matip-Virgil-Robertson

Wijnaldum-Fabinho-Coutinho

Salah-Firmino-Mane

And the backups:

Kelleher

Milner-Konate-Gomez-Tsimikas

Szoboszlai-Henderson-Mac Allister

Elliott-Jota-Diaz

Jones and Nunez would probably be the last players that make the 25-man squad. What a team.