There are several reasons why there is gloom at Manchester United while Liverpool, two points behind, are borne on a swirl of positivity – but entertainment is a fundamental oneThe Premier League table does not lie but the truths it offers can sometimes feel bewildering. How can it be that Manchester United, after this season of gripe and gloom, lie second, nine points clear of the defending champions? How can there be such a fug of insecurity and compensatory self-assertion about their every game when Liverpool, two points behind, are borne on a swirl of positivity?Largely, of course, it is an issue of perception and starting points. Liverpool fans, 28 years after their last league title, are understandably more enthused by...
Jürgen Klopp has given Antonio Conte the template: Chelsea must banish defeatism and be ‘hungry, alert and aggressive’ in season-saving Champions League second leg at Camp NouPeople are predicting the end of the Premier League as we know it just because Chelsea showed so little ambition against Manchester City when they had a chance to at least lay a glove on the champions elect.It is one thing for a team such as Newcastle to attempt to keep the score down against top sides in the hope of a favourable goal difference at the end of the season but if the defending champions are now at it the game has obviously gone. Related: Why Chelsea’s supine surrender at Manchester City should...
The pressing by Jürgen Klopp’s side was so disciplined that it forced a collective loss of control in the visitors’ backlineIt turns out, then, that the formula was simple. All anybody had to do to beat Manchester City was to match them shape for shape, press high up the pitch, harass them into a eight-minute meltdown, capitalise on mistakes with a series of stunning finishes and then cling on desperately.Jürgen Klopp is not the first manager to realise that the best way to unsettle a Pep Guardiola side is to squeeze them, and this is not the first time he has had his side do that effectively. No manager has a better record than Klopp against Guardiola: six wins in...
The Liverpool manager has built a thrilling side geared to absorb high-level departures such as Philippe Coutinho’s without losing momentumThere was an interesting moment towards the start of Jürgen Klopp’s time at Liverpool, back in the days when he still felt the need to apologise for his already-excellent if amusingly sweary English. Asked about transfer targets, budgets and spending big on new players, Klopp didn’t really answer the question. Instead he grimaced and grumbled, rubbing his eyes behind his glasses like a weary, drink-sozzled chief inspector with a short fuse but a heart of gold being told by one of his hair-gelled sergeants that there are no suspicious circumstances so should he close the case on the mysterious death of...
After developing the Fab Four frontmen Jürgen Klopp has spent £75m on a defender – the first part of an answer to a glaring weaknessVirgil van Dijk appears delighted his long-projected move to Liverpool will go ahead and everyone else involved in the world-record £75m deal has a reason to be just as happy.Southampton may not have had any particular desire to lose the player but they have been well aware for at least half a season a move was on the cards and have played their role as a selling club to perfection. Liverpool’s offer of £60m last summer was already a lot of money but the Saints made a principled stand over what they considered an illegal approach,...