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Bad day at the office for Liverpool – or something more concerning?
Liverpool could have no complaints about their defeat at Arsenal, but they will surely have a few regrets. It was a pretty poor performance overall from Jurgen Klopp’s side, but at 1-1 with 25 minutes to go, they were in a position to take away a point or perhaps even all three. But when two of your most reliable performers make a mistake like Virgil van Dijk and Alisson Becker made, perhaps you know it’s not your day.
Arsenal were the better side on the day; quicker and sharper, better in possession and able to create more, particularly in wide areas. Liverpool, by contrast, looked a yard off the pace without the ball, and struggled to work their attacking players into good positions. One shot on target, and a goal scored by the opposition centre-back, tells its own story.
I think there is enough reason to call it a bad day at the office for the Reds, as opposed to anything more concerning. They know they can – and must – play better going forward, but their upcoming fixtures, starting at home to Burnley this weekend, are kind, and they are starting to get key players back available too. The sight of Thiago Alcantara back on the pitch on Sunday after ten months out was perhaps the biggest positive of the day as far as Klopp is concerned.
There will no doubt be disappointment that his side didn’t make the statement they could have – they could really have kicked Arsenal out of the title race with a win – but two league defeats in 34 games suggests that things are going in the right direction, for sure.
Let Arsenal celebrate their win – Jurgen Klopp has shown us the importance of enjoying the journey!
I’ve never been a signed-up member of the celebration police, and I’m not going to start now! It’s become a strange sideshow around modern football, this desire either to celebrate wildly or provocatively, or to criticise those who do. Now we have a third element, those who criticise those who criticise! Exhausting.
As someone who has covered Liverpool for 14 years, and particularly closely during Jurgen Klopp’s reign, I can speak to the importance of enjoying the journey as much as the destination. Some of the biggest celebrations I’ve seen at Liverpool games have been in the middle of a season – Aston Villa and Southampton away in 2019, Everton at home in 2018 – when we didn’t know what the future held and how important the three points would be. Nothing wrong with that, in my eyes.
Arsenal’s players (and manager) may have milked it a bit after Sunday’s game, but it was a big win for them, and a real pressure-reliever too. It might not count for anything at the end of the season, but even if it doesn’t, they are entitled to celebrate a significant success, and it wasn’t as if they were doing so in front of the Liverpool fans or players.
Let them celebrate, I say. And if you want to throw it back at them come the end of the season if they win nothing, then knock yourselves out!
Klopp exit caught everyone by surprise but we can’t begrudge him his decision
I, like most people, was caught completely on the hop by Klopp’s announcement, and it has been a strange ten days or so since, as everyone comes to terms with the news. ‘Surprised’ is not really the word! ‘Shocked’ would come closer to covering it.
One thing I’ve learnt from covering Klopp’s time at Liverpool is that we should take him at his word. So when he says he is running out of energy, we should believe him. I can only imagine the amount he has exerted in turning Liverpool into the force it is today, taking on teams of huge means and huge experience at home and abroad. He is a manager who feeds off emotion, and who creates it too, and when you do that constantly for eight-and-a-half years, it must take its toll on you. Especially when you finish each season and watch Manchester City get stronger, and the bar gets raised higher and higher.
Speaking to people since the announcement, they talk about the effect last season had on him. Klopp has, in my eyes, done wonderfully to lift Liverpool after that disappointment, but I am starting to understand why, as this young, exciting side starts to emerge, he may see it as the right time to look after himself and step away.
Personally, I’d love to see him stay, but who could begrudge him his decision? And if he could go out in style with a trophy or two (or four!) then wouldn’t that just be the perfect end to a beautiful marriage…
Xabi Alonso is the big favourite for the Liverpool job
I think Xabi Alonso is the big favourite for the Liverpool job at this stage, and he would be my choice too. There isn’t a ‘guaranteed’ successor to Klopp available, in my eyes. Every manager out there, besides Pep Guardiola, comes with a degree of risk. Even seasoned winners like Carlo Ancelotti or Jose Mourinho, or a vastly-experienced coach like Thomas Tuchel or Diego Simeone, would not necessarily be the right fit for Liverpool, and for Liverpool’s squad, culture and supporters.
I think it’s clear that both Alonso and Roberto De Zerbi are going to manage at the very top level at some point in the future, and so in my opinion the time is right for Liverpool to take the gamble and Alonso’s style of play, personality and past ties with the club make him the stronger candidate, for me. What he is doing this season, igniting an underachieving club against the giants of Bayern Munich is, dare I say, a little reminiscent of what Klopp did at Borussia Dortmund, and if he can finish the job off by winning the Bundesliga, it would only add further weight to the argument.
Another to keep an eye on might be Sporting CP’s Ruben Amorim, who I know has a lot of admirers in the Premier League. My question with that one would be; is the Primeira Liga adequate preparation for a job like Liverpool? Amorim has done a really good job and has shown an ability to develop both players and a cohesive, winning team, but Anfield would be another level in terms of pressure and expectation.
Is there really cause for concern over Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold’s futures?
I think the Virgil van Dijk comments to the press recently were massively overplayed by some, with the story becoming far bigger than it needed to be. Van Dijk was asked a straightforward question after Liverpool’s win over Norwich, about his contract situation and whether he believed he would be a part of the Reds’ future, post-Klopp.
And while he could have given a more PR-friendly answer – “I certainly hope so,” might have been the right one – it is understandable that he didn’t go overboard. He has 18 months left on his contract, and that cannot be ignored, so if he was to start talking about the next three or four years, it would have been a little odd.
Of course with so much to be sorted behind the scenes at Liverpool, it is fair that fans have some concerns. A new manager is needed, a new sporting director too, and three of the club’s four best players are all approaching the last year of their respective deals.
But whoever the new boss is, whoever the new sporting director is, I think it’s safe to say they will want both Van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold on board. I don’t envisage any issues with those contract renewals personally. Negotiations are yet to get underway, but I think both will be part of the post-Klopp era at Anfield.