3 Biggest Positives for Liverpool's 2015/16 Season so Far
Despite heading into the international break on the back of a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Crystal Palace, the feeling around Liverpool is largely one of positivity, with the appointment of former Borussia Dortmund manager Jurgen Klopp at the beginning of October signalling a new dawn for Reds supporters.
It is rare that the red half of Merseyside is united, with pockets of the Liverpool support taking umbrage with any number of issues irrespective of form on the field of play, but Klopp's arrival is an exception.
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"Nobody is satisfied with our position and as owners we are not going to put undue pressure on Jurgen," Liverpool co-owner Tom Werner told the club's official website on Klopp's appointment. "He knows that there are great expectations and when we look at the time line I think we have made some improvements."
Despite this expectation, Werner's assertion that Klopp is "an outstanding manager" reflects the sentiment of the Anfield support.
Conceding two goals to Alan Pardew's Eagles is a blip on the Reds' radar as the international break provides a welcome juncture for Klopp to assess his side's progress—and the progress made off the field since the beginning of the 2015/16 campaign.
In doing so, there are three key positives that stand out for Liverpool's season so far.
Smart Recruitment
Comparing the start of the current campaign with that of 2014/15, one key factor emerges: Liverpool's recruitment.
Last summer, the Reds' off-season business saw Brendan Rodgers and his transfer committee attempt to fill the void left by Luis Suarez, after the Uruguayan joined Barcelona in a deal worth £75 million.
But in their move to replace the striker—who is undeniably one of the club's greatest-ever players—Liverpool opted for a scattergun approach, sanctioning a total outlay of £117 million, according to This is Anfield, on nine players: Rickie Lambert, Emre Can, Adam Lallana, Lazar Markovic, Dejan Lovren, Javier Manquillo, Alberto Moreno, Mario Balotelli and Divock Origi, with the latter spending the rest of the season on loan at Lille.
However, as Rodgers' side played out a disappointing campaign that saw them finish sixth in the Premier League and fail to secure silverware for the fourth season running, the flaws in this approach appeared.
Two of that nine-strong group, Lambert and Manquillo, have already left the club permanently, while Markovic and Balotelli joined Fenerbahce and AC Milan, respectively, on loan this summer. Meanwhile, Lovren and Origi take up peripheral roles in Klopp's first-team squad.
Money was wasted, characters misjudged, and crucially, positions were overlooked. The 2014/15 season saw Liverpool fail to address their issues in key areas, namely the depth of their defensive ranks.
Rectifying this issue over the summer, Liverpool moved early to strengthen Rodgers' squad, with the Ulsterman identifying a new centre-forward as a priority as early as April, telling the Liverpool Echo's Ian Doyle "I need one that is going to be playing and at a top level every week," following a disrupted season for first-choice striker Daniel Sturridge.
With the likes of Brad Jones, Glen Johnson, Steven Gerrard and Raheem Sterling all leaving the club in the summer, the Reds strengthened other key areas swiftly and efficiently, signing a new goalkeeper (Adam Bogdan), a new right-back (Nathaniel Clyne), a new centre-back (Joe Gomez), a new central midfielder (James Milner), a new attacking midfielder (Roberto Firmino) and a pair of strikers (Danny Ings and Christian Benteke). All bar Benteke were signed before the start of pre-season, allowing time to adjust.
While Gomez and Ings have both seen their season ended by injury, and Milner has struggled to find form following injury to Jordan Henderson, these signings show intelligent, well-researched recruitment by the Reds.
In Gomez and Ings in particular, Liverpool were planning sensibly, with one eye on the future.
Blossoming Youth
While Rodgers' reign at Liverpool can be picked apart and criticised in many areas, the Ulsterman's lasting legacy at the club will likely be the improvement set in motion at youth level.
"I have an inherent belief in young players," he told the Anfield Wrap podcast (h/t BBC Sport) shortly after his arrival at the club in 2012. "They have to have the talent and the personality. A young player will run through a barbed wire fence for you. An older player will look for a hole in the fence."
The development of Sterling, for example, from highly talented but raw youth prospect to dominant Premier League forward is a testament to Rodgers' quality in the development of young players, and with Werner and co-owner John W. Henry backing the 42-year-old over the summer, this looked set to continue.
Gomez and Ings' arrivals coincided with a promotion for Pepijn Lijnders, formerly U16s coach, with the Dutchman joining Rodgers' backroom staff as first-team development coach—linking the club's Kirkby youth facility to its first-team equivalent, Melwood.
"It shouldn't be the Academy bringing you the best players, it should be first-team staff showing interest and creating plans for each single individual to put them on a high level," Lijnders explained in an interview with the club's official website at the beginning of November.
"That's how I try to create a bridge and hopefully that bridge is getting smaller and smaller."
This has continued following Klopp's arrival, with the German emphasising a similar approach to youth development as his predecessor, and this has seen Origi, Jordon Ibe, Ryan Fulton, Connor Randall, Daniel Cleary, Pedro Chirivella, Cameron Brannagan and Jerome Sinclair, all under 21, all included within his matchday squad this season so far, while Gomez, Ings and fellow absentee Jordan Rossiter remain in his thoughts.
Meanwhile, the likes of Danny Ward, Allan Rodrigues, Sheyi Ojo, Harry Wilson, Ryan Kent and Sergi Canos all thrive on loan, while remaining in contact with Melwood—Allan met with Klopp for the first time at the end of October, per the club's official website, and both Kent and Wilson have trained alongside him so far this season.
The development of Can is perhaps the most significant following Klopp's arrival, with the 21-year-old assuming a regular role in the Liverpool midfield and set to develop into a top Premier League talent with Klopp's aid.
Can will attest that Klopp's arrival has been the biggest positive of Liverpool's season so far.
Jurgen Klopp
"He’s completely different from other coaches," Can told Kristian Walsh of the Liverpool Echo in October.
"He is more emotional and he’ll put his arm round you. That’s the way he is and I don’t think anything will change regardless of whether he’s in Germany or here in England. I think all coaches have their own way of doing things.
"I definitely enjoy working with a coach like that. He likes to come onto the pitch in training and show you how you can do something better. He is always keen to help and I find that very positive."
Though proven as a top-level tactical mind during his time at Dortmund, working alongside assistants Zeljko Buvac and Peter Krawietz, Klopp's defining qualities as a manager are his infectious personality and his sensitive man-management.
This saw him develop an ordinary Dortmund side into Bundesliga champions and Champions League challengers, and while the effects are clear in the improvement of a high-potential talent like Can, his work in coaxing form out of Liverpool's average talents has been most impressive.
Though defeat to Palace sheds a poor light on the situation, Liverpool's defensive shape is significantly improved since Klopp's arrival, with Martin Skrtel in particular rising to the occasion alongside the classy trio of Clyne, Moreno and Mamadou Sakho, as well as the hard work of a compact midfield unit boasting a reinvigorated Lucas Leiva.
Moving into attack, the progress of Adam Lallana within Klopp's forward line is similarly indicative of his talent as a manager, with the England international proving himself a key player in his first seven games in charge, after a tough first season on Merseyside in 2014/15.
Ultimately, Liverpool will need to upgrade in several key areas to follow Dortmund's trajectory, but the mentality instilled by Klopp has been wholly positive since his arrival—a stark contrast to the misery of last season—with big performances away to Tottenham Hotspur (a 0-0 draw) and Chelsea (a 3-1 win) serving as proof of the Reds' belief under Klopp, and Werner and Henry may be beginning to heighten their ambitions.
Rodgers' time as Liverpool manager ended at a disappointing juncture, with the Reds unable to mount a concerted challenge for the Premier League's top four in 2014/15.
But with Klopp at the helm, the prospect of challenging at the upper end of the English top flight is no longer a fantasy, and that is a great source of optimism for the Merseyside faithful.
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