On Oct. 8, Liverpool hired Jürgen Klopp to manage the team in the wake of firing Brendan Rodgers. The decision was met with celebration, as he’s been one of the hottest coaching commodities around ever since he won the Bundesliga with Borussia Dortmund twice earlier this decade. His hiring has been a wild success so far, with Liverpool flying up the table, but now the question is this -- what is their real level as a team right now?
Liverpool are good, but injuries can hold them back
Liverpool have been mostly impressive since Jurgen Klopp took over as manager, but injuries and fitness concerns raise questions about just how good they can really be right now.
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Klopp got off to a bit of a rough start as Liverpool's manager, with three straight draws before finally earning his first win 20 days into the job. Since then, Liverpool have won seven of nine matches in all competitions, including 3-1 and 4-1 wins on the road over Chelsea and Manchester City in Premier League action, and a 6-1 thrashing of Southamption in the League cup.
But it hasn't all been sunshine and ice cream for Liverpool, with a brutal 2-1 home loss to Crystal Palace in the middle of that winning run, plus their painfully flat performances in those three opening matches while Klopp and his new team were feeling each other out. It's easy to just look at all the good things Klopp and Liverpool have done in their short time together so far -- and make no mistake, there's a lot of reason for optimism at Anfield right now -- but there's also a lot of reason to be concerned, as well -- especially after losing 2-0 to Newcastle on Sunday, a loss that threatens to undo much of the positive momentum Liverpool had been building, and raises some serious questions about the squad.
Klopp's system of relentless and aggressive pressing with a quick-trigger attack is one that suits much of Liverpool's side well, with players like Jordan Henderson, James Milner, Coutinho, Roberto Firmino, Adam Lallana and Daniel Sturridge all extremely well-suited to that kind of system. That's helped speed their acclimation to their new manager -- but there's another thread that connects those players, as well as a number of others in the squad this season. All of them are injury prone, have spent a fair amount of time on the sidelines this season, or both.
All six of those players have spent time hurt this season, as have Christian Benteke, Mamadou Sakho, Joe Allen, Jordan Rossiter, Divock Origi, Kolo Toure and Dejan Lovren. Both Danny Ings and Joe Gomez are out for the season after sustaining serious knee injuries. That's a lot of Liverpool's best XI and key reserves who have been sidelined at different points this season, and given the injury-prone nature of many of them they'll be spending plenty more time out, especially with Klopp's incredibly demanding style -- just look at Sturridge, who's out for the foreseeable future with yet another injury.
That’s going to be one of the biggest questions Liverpool will have to answer, especially in the upcoming festive period. If their core players can’t keep up with the physical demands that Klopp places on them, Liverpool simply won’t be able to continue their excellent form. The jam-packed period of holiday matches coming up quickly will be a stern test of Liverpool’s ability to meet those demands -- they have seven matches in the next 30 days, and with the injuries and fitness concerns they’ve got, those are going to be seven stressful matches.
Those concerns are only growing louder thanks to that loss to Newcastle. Liverpool spent most of the game looking fatigued and out of sorts, unable to keep up their pressure or focus for any significant length of time. That match showed clearly that when Liverpool aren’t feeling at their best, aren’t as physically up to the task, they’re going to be much easier to pick apart and hold at bay. That’s a huge problem for a team that’s got top-four aspirations.
Will Liverpool’s players hold up physically? Will their key players stay healthy? Or will they break down? Their history suggests reason for concern, as does the obvious fatigue they were suffering against Newcastle and the issues in their play that it generated. Liverpool’s aim is, as always, to finish in the top four and try to be in the title hunt. On a skill and tactical level, they can absolutely have a realistic shot of achieving that goal. If their best players keep spending significant time on the sidelines, though, and they won’t come anywhere near it.
Liverpool have taken to the style of play and tactics that Klopp espouses brilliantly and much quicker than anyone anticipated. The physical concerns aren’t something that can be rushed, though -- either they’ll become a problem or they won’t. With time, the extra fitness work Klopp has his teams doing will help, but that takes more than two months to show significant results. In the meantime, Liverpool fans can only hope that their team’s injuries don’t hit a critical point.
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