How Jurgen Klopp transformed Liverpool in three seasons
May 30, 2019
Liverpool FC’s transformation into one of Europe’s most prominent teams under German’s Jurgen Klopp is no coincidence.
The world class manager has had a very successful season with the Reds so far, having accumulated the highest league points in Liverpool’s history, and back-to-back Champions League finals. All this is done in the span of three full seasons since he was signed in 2014/15.
How did Klopp do this? Here’s my analysis of the transformation under Klopp.
Replacing players that didn’t fit his style
In Klopp’s first transfer window, he took opportunity to let go of four key players which didn’t suite his tactics. They were Christian Benteke, Jordan Ibe, Joe Allen, and Luis Alberto, and replaced them with players he felt suited them like Sadio Mane, Joel Matip and Georginio Wijnaldum which proved to be a huge success with his new club.
Making the players play as a unit
Aside from getting the right players, Klopp also started to implement his strategy with the players he had. Klopp focused on enhancing a settled formation for Liverpool, playing players at regular positions that they are familiar with. This tactic allowed players to gel better as a team and hence allow them to know their role in the team better, hence improving their performance as a unit. It also allowed the team to be less dependent on a single player.
Fluidity of tactics
Klopp realized that in order to challenge bigger European teams, he needs Liverpool to be more fluid in his tactical approach. This saw him strengthen Liverpool with new players like Virgil van Dijk, Mohamed Salah, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Xherdan Shaqiri. The inclusion of these players meant that Klopp could now rotate his wingers to become strikers, with Mane now being more comfortable as a central midfielder. The fluidity of Klopp’s tactics meant that opponents had a hard time figuring out who is the more dangerous player to mark, hence making any player in Liverpool dangerous.
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This article is brought to us by our Sports Writers Club resident columnist – Cyril Dason.
