Defeat against Chelsea on Tuesday would derail Liverpool’s campaign. After such a bright start, questions are being asked about why it has started to go wrongJürgen Klopp said Liverpool require “faith, belief and confidence” to arrest their sudden slump when Chelsea visit Anfield on Tuesday, when a fourth consecutive home defeat would equal an unwanted club record dating back to December 1923. He and his players must also find solutions for dealing with opponents who rely on disciplined defending and the counterattack as their problems have been repeated on a loop this month. Related: Wolves’ Paul Lambert proud but Jürgen Klopp admits: ‘We’re not flying’ Related: Jürgen Klopp: ‘Why do people listen to what football managers have to say?’ Continue...
Liverpool’s narrow system allowed space down the flanks which José Mourinho’s team exploited with regular switches of play, sapping the energy of the visitorsFor the first time in the 25 seasons of the Premier League, the two league meetings between Manchester United and Liverpool both ended in a draw. This, however, was a much more exciting contest than the dreadful 0-0 in October. Jürgen Klopp sprung a tactical surprise from the outset by deploying a diamond midfield, a considerably different shape to Liverpool’s regular 4-3-3. This involved Adam Lallana playing as a No10, allowing Roberto Firmino and Divock Origi to make dangerous runs across the opposition defence from out to in.The main outcome was Liverpool making life very difficult for...
While United’s dour days under Louis van Gaal are gone, Klopp has built the most complete Liverpool team since the Premier League beganDuring the buildup José Mourinho and Jürgen Klopp were careful to highlight each other’s qualities. Cut to his arrival at Old Trafford and the Liverpool manager quickly dropped that stance and ended the game arguing with his opposite number saying: “I read the programme notes and it is the first time there was nothing about welcome to Liverpool or something like this. Then I wanted a coffee and in the can was only tea. It’s started already, yeah? It’s all OK. It’s football and we are ready for it.”So, too, was the crowd whose vibrancy gave the stadium...
José Mourinho probably cannot repeat the Manchester United tactics from October’s 0-0 draw at Liverpool, in the latest clash with a manager who bested him in a pivotal 2013 gameFootball changed in April 2013. Jürgen Klopp’s Borussia Dortmund beat José Mourinho’s Real Madrid and Jupp Heynckes’s Bayern Munich beat Tito Vilanova’s Barcelona in the semi-finals of the Champions League and the hegemony of a Spanish model of football, based on possession or its opposite, was shattered by a series of rampaging German counterattacks.The lessons of that fortnight remain highly relevant to Sunday’s meeting at Old Trafford between Manchester United and Liverpool, Mourinho and Klopp. Or at least that is the convenient theory. Nothing is ever as neat and simple as...
Manchester City’s manager and Liverpool’s Jürgen Klopp have not enjoyed the festive mayhem unique to the English game, but that is one of the many hurdles to overcome in the Premier LeagueThe FA Cup arrives like the cavalry at the weekend to interrupt an engrossing title race and temporarily shelve Pep Guardiola’s rhetorical question about whether or not Manchester City are in it. Related: Pep Guardiola denies Manchester City discipline problem after latest red card Related: Manchester City’s Bacary Sagna asked by FA to explain ‘10 against 12’ post If you think this PL holiday fixture list is mad, here's next year: December 16/20/23/26/30 January 1. World Cup follows. Utterly Bonkers. Related: Pep Guardiola feels pressure as tempers fray and...