After what felt like the longest international break in football history, we finally saw the Jurgen Klopp-era get underway at Liverpool Football Club last weekend.
A trip to White Hart Lane has arguably been the most anticipated game of the whole season. It certainly was not the biggest, but with Klopp getting ready to manage his first outing in the Barclays Premier League the whole world was watching.
It would be fair to say that Liverpool were the underdogs going into the game. Whenever a new manager comes in it takes time to get their philosophy of how they want to go about playing football across. Also what made Klopp’s job all the more difficult was the fact that the big names, such as Daniel Sturridge, Jordan Henderson, Christian Benteke, Danny Ings and Roberto Firmino, were all out due to injury.
The Reds have some good memories of playing against Tottenham at White Hart Lane in recent years. From the 5-0 win in the 2013-14 season to the 3-0 win in 2014-15, Liverpool tend to come away winners quite comfortably. As time has gone on though, we have seen the Spurs improve drastically. It was not that long ago they embarrassed the league title favourites 4-1 in London, so there certainly was not any complacency from either the players or the supporters.
As Klopp made his first strides out onto the touchline a few minutes before kick-off every pair of eyes were upon him. It was almost as if a movie star had come to life. There is something different about this man, he brings an energy and drive that cannot be replicated by other managers. He gives hope when there seems very little and that is what every Liverpool supporter needs. For too long the supporters have been in doubt about what direction the club is going, but for some reason it feels a completely different situation now that Klopp has been appointed.
With what was a weaker squad to what the German would of liked access too, the figures in red begun the game quite well. The energy that the manager brings on the sideline was being replicated on the pitch. The high-press that Klopp wants his sides to play with was evident to those who were watching and that was perhaps most impressive.
When Brendan Rodgers had Liverpool challenging for the league back in the 2013-14 season, it was not all because of Luis Suarez, it was the fact the team pressed as a unit and looked to hunt the opposition down in their own-half, something that returned on Saturday. Why Brendan Rodgers veered away from that still perplexes the mind.
To give an indication on how much pressing and running Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool did, they are the first team to outrun Spurs this season. That is quite impressive considering how hard we know Pochettino’ sides work.
Apart from the silly individual errors from the back four, Liverpool were quite solid at the back. Expect to seechanges in the back four as transfer windows come and go, but for now Klopp has to work with what he has at his disposal. Take away the odd mistake at the back and they were quite convincing as a defensive unit.
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Looking at individual performances, Simon Mignolet was man of the match. Some big saves allowed Liverpool to come away with a point and there is no doubt that without him it could have been a lot worse for Klopp and his men. Nathaniel Clyne also impressed and played like a right-back should, solid defensively and added a real threat going forward. Lastly, Mamadou Sakho showed why he is and will be Liverpool’s first choice centre-back for the rest of the season. It may not always look the prettiest from the Frenchmen, but he always gets the job done and that is all fans can ask for. His leadership qualities were also on display which was great to see.
Overall, Jurgen Klopp’s men can walk away pretty satisfied with a point. With a squad hit heavy with injuries and only having minimal time to work with the players, Liverpool seemingly played as well as they could. If that is what Klopp can get his men producing with just three days on the training track, then it surely can only get better as time goes on.
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