Hello there and welcome back to my five-part series with me (Stuart Irvine) looking into how Jurgen Klopp turned a team with no direction back in October 2015 to World, Europe and Premier League champions (prior to writing this of course haha).
In part one, I looked at what Klopp did tactically and style-wise when he arrived at Liverpool back in October 2015 and the challenges he faced and what he achieved. So in this edition, I will look at Klopp first full season in charge and what he did to adapt his style further.
New Additions
So there was a lot of ins and outs at Liverpool before the start of the 2016/2017 season, with almost 16 players sold or released and £77 million pounds raised. Most noticeable departures were Jordon Ibe to Bournemouth for £15 million, Martin Skrtel to Fenerbahce for £5.5 million, and Christian Benkeke to Crystal Palace for £27 million to name a few.
But with a lot going out the door, there were a few coming in with names, you made recognise like Georginio Wjinaldum from Newcastle for £23 Million, Joel Matip on a free for Schalke, and Sadio Mane from Southampton for £30 Million being the biggest acquisitions in a pretty productive transfer window for the reds.
Formation changes
So the question, of course, was how was he going to incorporate these new players into this side and how they would change his style after criticism of his inability to change as Klopp didn’t have the right personnel yet to do the Gentropress consistently and effectively.
As the problem with Gentropress is it involves intense press and high line which make it vulnerable to counter attacks and opens up space if the player can counteract the press etc.
Klopp solutions were to change from the 4-2-3-1 system that he used previously at Dortmund and implement a 4-3-3 system which he used at times with Mainz and Dortmund. He did this by incorporating Wjinaldum and Mane that gave them speed and ability to move up the pitch quicker when they won the ball.
Also, give Klopp the ability to adapt as 4-3-3, give you the option to change it up and give the midfield an extra man to support the backline when the wing-backs go to attack and press, as they were conceding too many goals with the old system.
The way that Klopp set up for most of the season was with Karus in goal, Matip and Klavan/Lovren in the central pairing, with Clyne and Milner providing the wide on the left and right and delivering crosses and getting into attack areas.
Henderson was central of the midfield three giving cover which allowed Wijnaldum and Lallana to push up with paces when the ball was won, with Firmino playing more of a false 9 role to draw defenders out to allow space for either Mane to run into the box or Coutinho to cut inside.
Better Results and improvement overall
Due to these changes, Liverpool was starting to take shape with great wins throughout the season. Like a 4-3 win against Arsenal, 2-1 win at Chelsea, 1-0 against Man City at Anfield. They also had a great performance against Watford which ended 6-1 and Hull that they impressively beat 5-1.
It started to look like Mane was an inspired signing with Firmino in his new position and Coutinho being allowed to move freely on left made Liverpool a great attacking side to watch, and one of the most dangerous fronts three in the league at the time. Those three alone scored 39 goals in all competitions.
The problem, as stated early on, being vulnerable to counter-attacks was still happening with big losses to Bournemouth, Hull and Swansea, which were due to counter-attacking movement. But overall there was an improvement with more wins with 22 which was 6 more than the last campaign that was 16, and only conceded 42 goals which were 8 less than last season (Klopp only in charge of 20 games).
But there was a bigger improvement in the way Liverpool attacked and got the ball, and the stats of this season proves it. With Liverpool aggressively pressing becoming more of the norm at Anfield and which met more dominant performance on the pitch with lower PPDA (Passes Per Defensive Action, which means how many opposing passes are allowed before you go for defensive action if you’re confused when I was writing this haha).
With this, it shows how effective Liverpool pressing was with a 7.85 on average, which was the third-best in the league just behind Man City and Tottenham, who finished above Liverpool in the league. Also, there were fewer opportunities for Liverpool’s goal with only 7.6 shots per 90 to 10.4 the previous season
Liverpool’s XG was better as well with a 1.7 which was better than last season’s 1.5. But there was still a lot of work to do with the Gentropress being ineffective at times because the full-back was struggling to get in the attacking area.
Also, James Milner’s position at left-back was not really a long-term solution to Liverpool’s weakness on the left and the lack of trust in using Alberto Moreno really cost Liverpool at times in games. But overall the goal of the season was to get back into the Champions League and they did cruise to 4th place by 1 point ahead of Arsenal after a 3-0 win against Middlesbrough on the final day.
But there was still hope and people still believed that Klopp knew what he was doing and with the great football Liverpool were playing, fans were exciting and enjoying what they were seeing. It was clear that Liverpool was going places and the talk was could the team make a title challenge and cope with Champions League at the same time next season.
I hope you enjoyed part two of my ‘How Klopp Made Liverpool Great Again’ and hope you can join me next time where we look at the 2017/2018 season and see what more changes Klopp did to this Liverpool side and how they cope with the addition of Champions League football.
Written By
Stuart Irvine
RK Football Talk 