Sunday 3 April 2016 12:38, UK
Friday will mark six months since Liverpool appointed Jurgen Klopp but the club find themselves down in ninth in the Premier League table. Even so, the German coach has provided enough glimpses to give supporters hope for next season, writes Adam Bate…
"We've really developed in the last few months," Jurgen Klopp told Sky Sports. "That's how it is. Our game has changed.
"We have a lot of possession. We spend a lot of time in dangerous zones on the pitch. We create chances. We don't score enough goals and we concede too many goals, that's the truth. But we've become more and more stable."
Given that Klopp was appointed in October and has since been expected to work with another manager's players, stable is what Liverpool supporters will settle for this season - as long as it comes with the promise of improvement. There were further signs of that improvement in Saturday's 1-1 draw against Tottenham at Anfield.
Of course, Mauricio Pochettino's Spurs side are seen as a template for just about every team in the Premier League right now. Certainly, Liverpool are looking to adopt a pressing game of their own under Klopp. That much was evident in the reverse fixture - Klopp's first in charge of Liverpool - when the Reds became the first team to outrun Tottenham this term.
In running more than 115 kilometres at Anfield on Saturday, Klopp's team have also become the first to manage that feat both home and away this year. The players produced 600 sprints to Spurs' 539 too, but pressing is far more than mere running. It's an organised and coherent tactic in order to control the game and disrupt the opponent.
Naturally, that requires time on the training ground - something Klopp has been denied due to the cycle of matches and recovery that Liverpool have endured. In reaching the final of the Capital One Cup and playing more games in Europe than any other English team, there have been a barely believable 18 midweek games for Klopp's men since his October arrival.
It is telling that while Stoke boss Mark Hughes is typical of club managers in bemoaning the international break and its effect on his players, Klopp welcomed it. "Most of them played only one game so we are something like refreshed," he said. "Usually the international break is not too nice but today it's not a problem. So now we are back and recharged."
We saw some evidence of the pressing against Tottenham - the likes of Philippe Coutinho and Adam Lallana forcing the visitors into errors in their own half on a regular basis. Unfortunately, despite Klopp's insistence that his players are fresh, they are playing in patches and struggling to press home the advantage in games.
Harry Kane's equaliser means Liverpool have now dropped more points - 17 of them - from winning positions than any other team in the Premier League. In the previous game, a 3-2 defeat at Southampton, his side squandered a two-goal lead. It's clear that this is little more than a work in progress for now.
That point is further highlighted by the fact that Klopp has picked up fewer points from his 22 Premier League games than Rodgers did in his final 22 games at the helm. Liverpool are a team still failing to take their chances. Only Tottenham and Manchester City have had as many shots as them this season, and yet they are only the division's eighth-highest scorers.
"We have to be ruthless and take chances," Reds midfielder James Milner said afterwards. "We're getting the style the manager wants but we have not got the consistency." What's helped Klopp is that the squad's best moments have come in big games. They have beaten Leicester, Manchester City and Manchester United at Anfield since Christmas.
There can be seen as pointers to the potential of Klopp's methods. "He's improved Dejan Lovren and improved Emre Can," said Jamie Carragher. "I think he's improved Lallana too." The ex-Liverpool defender is among those insisting that Klopp can only be properly judged once he's had a pre-season and a summer transfer window in which to mould the side.
"To be a winner, you have to learn," insisted Klopp afterwards. "You get a few knocks - we have had a few this season - but we are on the right track. If you only look at results you will say something is wrong, but there is not a lot wrong, we can build on this."
For now, hints and glimpses are what we are dealing in. If Klopp can get Liverpool to produce some more of them against the club at which he made his name, Borussia Dortmund, in Thursday's Europa League quarter-final first-leg, then the current optimism could develop into something rather more significant than stable next season.
