Jurgen Klopp Sack Watch

Samid

He's no Bilal Ilyas Jhandir
Joined
Dec 12, 2012
Messages
49,548
Location
Oslo, Norway

Jurgen 'why should I talk about United' Klopp talking about United again.
 

Paxi

Dagestani MMA Boiled Egg Expert
Joined
Mar 4, 2017
Messages
27,678
Your CBs aren't particularly better than Matip or Lovren individually(can't judge lindeloff yet), it's Mourinho who makes them look good(thanks in no small part to the midfield. Conversely Klopp and 'pool's midfield has made their CBs look worse than they are). You also have far greater problems creating chances against teams that don't attack you when the score is tied. Maybe there were defenders that could improved them, the poont is, would they have improved them so much as to make a real difference in their chances for top4 and justify the expense of money? And keep in mind, playing CB for Klopp is way harder than playing CB for Mourinho

Ok :houllier:
 

shabadu84

Mint? Berry?
Joined
Jan 12, 2010
Messages
4,744
Location
Muppet Treasure Island
What are you talking about? We did this under Fergie for years with Rio and Vidic. Playing out from the back is an indispensible part of Guardiola's style of play. If you get it right, it's more efficient than hoofing the ball out. It's even better if your defenders are technically proficient to the point they can do this under pressure from the opposing team, as it provides the midfield with more space to do their work.

Now when your defenders are as braindead as Lovren, it's more risky. But you can't develop any level of consistency in your attacking play by having your keeper hoof the ball out. Klopp's constraint is how good his defenders are, not his style of play. And yes, being incapable of finding good defenders is a weakness that has not been addressed, and one that Klopp should received flack for.
First, I didn't say "playing out from the back" is bad, I said the idea that "you must always play out from the back" is bad.

I think you've answered your own question tbh. Getting it right requires the right players AND it's not a rigid adherence to an idea but rather a practical application of it. The philosophy should be driven by the players available, not simply by the philosophy itself. We've seen Rodgers and Klopp and even Guardiola sometimes stick slavishly to that tactic to the detriment of the teams. There's a balance to be struck and that's something the managers/staff need to learn and adjust to.
 

Shane88

Actually Nostradamus
Joined
Jan 12, 2011
Messages
35,239
Location
Targaryen loyalist
I agree that Jones is around Matip or Lovren's level.

Seen enough of Jones' bullshit over the years to realise he just isn't that good, despite his current run of good form. A run that still had him fall on his arse and cost us points against Stoke.

Bailly is a different story. He's far superior to anything Liverpool have.
 

Inter Yer Nan

Full Member
Joined
Aug 26, 2016
Messages
6,380
Location
Los Angeles, CA (from UK)
I agree that Jones is around Matip or Lovren's level.

Seen enough of Jones' bullshit over the years to realise he just isn't that good, despite his current run of good form. A run that still had him fall on his arse and cost us points against Stoke.

Bailly is a different story. He's far superior to anything Liverpool have.
I agree. Rojo is clearly superior too.
 

adexkola

Doesn't understand sportswashing.
Joined
Mar 17, 2008
Messages
48,447
Location
The CL is a glorified FA Cup set to music
Supports
orderly disembarking on planes
First, I didn't say "playing out from the back" is bad, I said the idea that "you must always play out from the back" is bad.

I think you've answered your own question tbh. Getting it right requires the right players AND it's not a rigid adherence to an idea but rather a practical application of it. The philosophy should be driven by the players available, not simply by the philosophy itself. We've seen Rodgers and Klopp and even Guardiola sometimes stick slavishly to that tactic to the detriment of the teams. There's a balance to be struck and that's something the managers/staff need to learn and adjust to.
You're ignoring the fact that Klopp's teams on song are devastating going forward because of the cohesiveness that comes from playing out the back. You can't hoof the ball up and then play flowing football. Hoofing the ball out may reduce the pressure on the defense, but it also blunts his attack. No manager is stupid enough to ignore an obvious improvement on one end of the pitch, when nothing will be lost on the other end. It's all about tradeoffs.

Our (United) ability to hoof the ball out is dependent on an absolute freak of nature, Fellaini, who is able to grab balls out the sky and lay it off. For most teams that use this tactic more than occasionally, they're not very good teams. The very best teams in Europe have this ability. Their dominance on the pitch is contigent on their ability to build from the back. So Klopp and Guardiola using this is not some stubborn ideal as is portrayed on here (ad nauseum), not as much as it is the way their current team setup is optimized.

Someone like Mourinho would rather remove all possibility of conceding goals. That's his vision, and I've seen him blunt his attacker's effectiveness, sometimes to the detriment of his team (Hazard vs Atletico). He is not called an idealist. He just has his style of play and he sticks to that. Same with the aforementioned 2.
 

Enigma_87

You know who
Joined
Aug 7, 2008
Messages
27,648
Except they don't, and you could see that clearly just by watching any one game of these two teams. Liverpool's midfielders don't run towards their own goal. If the ball gets past them, that's that. Game might as well have stopped as far as they're concerned. United's midfielders on the other hand are constantly keyed on in their defensive assignments. It's rare to see united's back 4 being left isolated in half the pitch against 3-4 opponents. With liverpool, it's normal
That's simply not true. Lallana and Henderson often top the distance covered charts, and they add Can and Wijnaldum they usually have plenty of protection for the back four.

The back 4 being isolated is far fetched.

Here's example against City



Back in 2015:


More recent:



Klopp's formation is usually depicted as 4-3-3 but he started with 4-4-2 at Mainz and has on more than one occasion mentioned that he's not into set formations as his players move a lot through the pitch.

With Can and Henderson tho he defends a lot like in a 4-2-3-1(and his gegenpressen is also more or less 4-2-3-1) with Henderson/Can sitting in front of the defence.

Obviously different formations and tactics, but Liverpool midfielders doing Fellaini impersonation (feck all) and their defenders being vulnerable due to lack of protection IMO is not something I can agree with.
 

Wayne's World

Full Member
Joined
Mar 19, 2010
Messages
9,296
Location
Ireland
I'm starting to believe that Rodgers was a much better manager then Klopp, he seems to be running out of answers of his side and tries to deflect his own problems by talking shite about us.

Could actually see him stepping down by the end of the season
 

PedroMendez

Acolyte
Joined
Aug 9, 2013
Messages
9,466
Location
the other Santa Teresa
@giorno
Lovren isn't great on the ball either and klavan is as limited as it gets. It's madness to suggest that Godin wouldn't improve them. Even good defenders would occasionally struggle in klopps current system, but they they'd still improve them a lot. Their defenders engage frequently in slapstick-like mistakes, that is completely unrelated to tactics.
The first goal against Sevilla...it's not klopps fault that lovren struggles to hit an easy ball. These kind of mistakes happen multiple times each game.
 

Deleted member 101472

Guest
You got take the best qualities of Matip, lovren and klavan, roll them together (though admittedly matip is probably better in every department than the other two) and you'd still have less than half the defender Godin is.
 

Deleted member 101472

Guest
And we go back to my initial point: which CB they could have signed would have made a big difference for them? (Notwithstanding Lovren's current form which is as much down to a lack of confidence as anything imho) Keeping in mind he'd have to be someone with the skillset to play for Klopp. Godin for example wouldn't get into his team because of his lack of ability on the ball. (He'd also look far from great defensively given how exposed he'd be all the time)
Don't want to advocate banning but you definitely need to take some time out
 

adexkola

Doesn't understand sportswashing.
Joined
Mar 17, 2008
Messages
48,447
Location
The CL is a glorified FA Cup set to music
Supports
orderly disembarking on planes
@giorno
Lovren isn't great on the ball either and klavan is as limited as it gets. It's madness to suggest that Godin wouldn't improve them. Even good defenders would occasionally struggle in klopps current system, but they they'd still improve them a lot. Their defenders engage frequently in slapstick-like mistakes, that is completely unrelated to tactics.
The first goal against Sevilla...it's not klopps fault that lovren struggles to hit an easy ball. These kind of mistakes happen multiple times each game.
Exactly.
 

Jim Beam

Gets aroused by men in low socks
Joined
Feb 10, 2017
Messages
13,086
Location
All over the place
As someone who watched Lovren for his entire career, he is an atrocious defender. The only time he didn't look out of place is Southampton and that's mostly because of lack of pressure and yes because they were more defensive.

However, a number of mistakes he made during his career while playing for Liverpool, Lyon and the national team who doesn't play in such a high line is an evidence he is simply not nearly good enough. There is always a mistake in him, but not just that, the problem is that those are basic and elementary kind of mistakes due to his bad positioning or lack of concentration. It doesn't help that he thinks in his head that he is second coming of Franco Baresi when he has two solid games in a row.

Yes, the high line doesn't help him, but he is beyond help without it. Simply not good enough for any club with big ambitions. All of our defenders are better, they are not world-class but they are far more reliable. And there are many defenders who would improve them instead of Lovren.
 

giorno

boob novice
Joined
Jul 20, 2016
Messages
26,626
Supports
Real Madrid
@giorno you don't believe godin would be better for Liverpool than lovren?
I don't believe liverpool would be particularly better with Godin instead of Lovren, and that Godin wouldn't look like a particularly good defender on this liverpool team. Not so long as the rest of the team keeps leaving them on an island having to defend even-number or inferior-number situations in open space

Of course Godin is a better defender than Lovren. But he wouldn't solve liverpool's defensive problems at the moment because the defenders themselves are the least of it at the moment.

@Enigma_87 they run a lot, yes. Mostly forward. And of course they're not leaving the defence on its own for the full 90 minutes. But they do have a tendency to switch off in that regard, and when it happens it highlights how their defenders aren't good enough to rescue the situation on their own.

Btw, the city game from last year? That was one of their best defensive performances. City were barely able to attack. But it came at the cost of liverpool also sacrificing their own attack. Game ended 1-0, they scored immediately and spent the rest of the game breaking up city's play.

@PedroMendez Lovren is way better on the ball than Godin. More importantly, he's comfortable on the ball. Lovren might end up costing his team goals because he's too comfortable on the ball in fact. But Klopp would rather live with that risk than play with a CB who's gonna punt the ball into tier Z as soon as he's under the slightest bit of pressure, as the latter wouldn't allow him to play the football he wants to play.

And let me reiterate the point: walter samuel, in a team with a similar setup and philosophy as liverpool, looked like a clown. You really think Godin would look good on that team? He didn't even look good for Atletico when Simeone tried to switch to a more attacking, proactive approach

@Ramshock you're focusing on the detail and missing the point. I'm not debating whether Lovren is better than Jones(he isn't), or even that Lovren isn't good enough for liverpool(he clearly isn't). The point i'm making is that with the way liverpool have played so far this season, and more generally with the way they play most games, it's really hard to find a defender who is good enough to fix their defensive issues, because the issue is structural first and foremost. The best way for liverpool to improve their defence right now is to improve the midfielders, not the defenders.

Somebody suggested before liverpool should have signed Koulibaly? Napoli gave up 39 goals last season. Someone else mentioned Ramos and Varane being better than united's CBs? We conceded 72 goals last season in all competitions.

Defending is a team effort, it's not just about the defenders themselves(and in the modern game, what teams do in possession also have a huge impact on it). And liverpool's defenders wouldn't look nearly as catastrophic with better protection and help from the rest of the team, and with less mistakes while on possession
 

Red Dreams

Full Member
Joined
Aug 16, 2003
Messages
55,373
Location
Across the Universe....from Old Trafford.
@giorno

In a nutshell.

Defending is a team effort, it's not just about the defenders themselves(and in the modern game, what teams do in possession also have a huge impact on it). And liverpool's defenders wouldn't look nearly as catastrophic with better protection and help from the rest of the team, and with less mistakes while on possession



I agree with @Wayne's World.

I think Rodgers was a better manager.
 

Nevilles.Wear.Prada

Full Member
Joined
Apr 11, 2015
Messages
2,717
Location
Malaysia
Supports
JDT
@giorno

In a nutshell.

Defending is a team effort, it's not just about the defenders themselves(and in the modern game, what teams do in possession also have a huge impact on it). And liverpool's defenders wouldn't look nearly as catastrophic with better protection and help from the rest of the team, and with less mistakes while on possession



I agree with @Wayne's World.

I think Rodgers was a better manager.
Actually they both about the same level, except rodgers had better team and a rabid dog with him.
 

ShadesOfTomato

New Member
Joined
Feb 24, 2012
Messages
4,779
Supports
Liverpool
I agree with Giorno to an extent. Outside of VVD, I struggle to think of CBs whom are clearly superior to Lovren/Matip whom Liverpool could have signed.

Michael Keane was a name touted around all summer, and he's been shite at Everton. City have a long running line of CBs from who have come to play for them and struggled to outperform their predecessors.

I feel the problem lies not only with the personnel. Some additional depth would have been nice though.

Indeed. A whole point off top 4 after 34 games.



Such a massive gap.

http://www.bbc.com/sport/football/39682899
Incorrect.
I wouldn't say ditched but we clearly prioritized EL after the City match when Fellaini got sent off. We started Young, Shaw, and Rooney, two players who were struggling to make the bench all season and one who was clearly past it, against next opponent Swansea days before the first leg of the semifinal against Celta. If we had won the rest of our 5 league games we would have been in top 4 no matter what IIRC, so it wasn't because we were really far off although it was always difficult due to playing away at Arsenal and Spurs. Mou kept his options open all season and decided to choose EL after the City game as it was the easier and more glorious option.
Indeed. So the club realised top four was an unlikely possibility due to the position you were in and the games you had left to play.

In other, words you were too far off to justify putting your resources into your league campaign, and the Europa became the realistic option for CL football.

You mean you can't understand a basic fact that a manager must improve on parts of his team/system that is causing the issues and lack of success?

This "crap" is a fundemental truth that is common knowledge. Ther fact that you can't or are not willing to engage with a basic tenet as this just highlights the issue with everything pool related. Long may it continue.
Basic tenet of what?

Your point being?
That I have no idea what you're on about. How are you comparing managing a football club to managing an office?
 
Last edited:

Hojoon

Full Member
Joined
Feb 20, 2012
Messages
8,106
Indeed. So the club realised top four was an unlikely possibility due to the position you were in and the games you had left to play.

In other, words you were too far off to justify putting your resources into your league campaign, and the Europa became the realistic option for CL football.
Unlikely possibility and too far off are two different things.
 

Hojoon

Full Member
Joined
Feb 20, 2012
Messages
8,106
But the unlikely possibility was a result of being too far off.
It was unlikely but it wasn't an impossibility or anything close to it, we were controllers of our own destiny. Win all 5 games remaining and you automatically finish top 4, and there's no guarantee that Liverpool or Arsenal wouldn't slip. Winning both legs of the semifinal and the final of the Europa League were risky as hell too, but there was more glory to it and it meant skipping the last qualifying round which could be very stressful. Celta Vigo had a great record in big games and Spanish teams have been by far the most dominant league in Europe while Ajax/Lyon have the potential to cause problems, Ajax in particular were in a great patch of form IIRC under Bosz.
 

RooneyLegend

New Member
Joined
May 3, 2013
Messages
12,963
For whatever reason Klopp thinks what people see as the vital positions aren't all that vital. He doesn't have a striker that Guarantee's him goals while everyone else is splashing whatever cash they can find to sign one, he doesn't have defenders that can defend while the rest keep bolstering those ranks, he doesn't have a reliable blue chip goal keeper while everyone else seems to have that sorted. It's these details and his poor problem solving that'll ultimately cost him his job.
 

TheReligion

Abusive
Joined
Nov 22, 2006
Messages
51,465
Location
Manchester
@ShadesOfTomato you have a short memory.

United decided to pursue the EL and as such rested players in the PL. If you hadn't of seen season ending injuries to Zlatan and Rojo I'm confident this decision would have been a different one or the team would have progressed well in both competitions.

Liverpool were hardly great in the new year so let's not pretend otherwise.
 

automaticflare

Full Member
Joined
May 11, 2016
Messages
1,490
I agree with @giorno on one of his points.

In my opinion if current Liverpool team had rio and vidic they would also be exposed.

But agreeing with him also serves to prove Klopp is inept. His tactics are basically all out attack which in every game exposes his defenders so individual mistakes almost always get punished due to lack of any coverage.

Look at burnley goal at weekend.
Absolute pants from matip 100% but look at Can. Literally any half decent defensive mid covers the run and space behind klavan blocking that shot or at least making it difficult to get one away. He just stands by and watches

The tactics are completely devoid of any defensive duty from anyone other than the center backs but people completely blame them. Sign whoever you want this Liverpool problem is bigger than the center halves. It is down to Klopp tactics and it will not be fixed because he doesn't know how to fix it
 

automaticflare

Full Member
Joined
May 11, 2016
Messages
1,490
For whatever reason Klopp thinks what people see as the vital positions aren't all that vital. He doesn't have a striker that Guarantee's him goals while everyone else is splashing whatever cash they can find to sign one, he doesn't have defenders that can defend while the rest keep bolstering those ranks, he doesn't have a reliable blue chip goal keeper while everyone else seems to have that sorted. It's these details and his poor problem solving that'll ultimately cost him his job.
Defensive midfielder with an instruction to stay behind the ball is their biggest gap IMO
 

shabadu84

Mint? Berry?
Joined
Jan 12, 2010
Messages
4,744
Location
Muppet Treasure Island
You're ignoring the fact that Klopp's teams on song are devastating going forward because of the cohesiveness that comes from playing out the back. You can't hoof the ball up and then play flowing football. Hoofing the ball out may reduce the pressure on the defense, but it also blunts his attack. No manager is stupid enough to ignore an obvious improvement on one end of the pitch, when nothing will be lost on the other end. It's all about tradeoffs.

Our (United) ability to hoof the ball out is dependent on an absolute freak of nature, Fellaini, who is able to grab balls out the sky and lay it off. For most teams that use this tactic more than occasionally, they're not very good teams. The very best teams in Europe have this ability. Their dominance on the pitch is contigent on their ability to build from the back. So Klopp and Guardiola using this is not some stubborn ideal as is portrayed on here (ad nauseum), not as much as it is the way their current team setup is optimized.

Someone like Mourinho would rather remove all possibility of conceding goals. That's his vision, and I've seen him blunt his attacker's effectiveness, sometimes to the detriment of his team (Hazard vs Atletico). He is not called an idealist. He just has his style of play and he sticks to that. Same with the aforementioned 2.
I didn't think the idea that adjusting your system to accommodate the players you have would be that controversial but so be it. In your estimation, has Klopp optimized his system? Is he getting the most he can out of his defenders as it is? What about Pep? Was he getting the most out of his defenders last year? You make it seem like teams can only be devastating going forward and defensively sound if they have world class defenders. I don't agree with that. There's a problem with the tactics, with the rote philosophy, and it has repeatedly been exploited. I think it will continue, regardless of who gets brought in, until the approach is adapted pragmatically.
 

ti vu

Full Member
Joined
Jun 16, 2015
Messages
12,799
I agree with @giorno on one of his points.

In my opinion if current Liverpool team had rio and vidic they would also be exposed.

But agreeing with him also serves to prove Klopp is inept. His tactics are basically all out attack which in every game exposes his defenders so individual mistakes almost always get punished due to lack of any coverage.

Look at burnley goal at weekend.
Absolute pants from matip 100% but look at Can. Literally any half decent defensive mid covers the run and space behind klavan blocking that shot or at least making it difficult to get one away. He just stands by and watches

The tactics are completely devoid of any defensive duty from anyone other than the center backs but people completely blame them. Sign whoever you want this Liverpool problem is bigger than the center halves. It is down to Klopp tactics and it will not be fixed because he doesn't know how to fix it
Defenders in Klopp team may be more exposed, but the better defenders still can hold their own and showed their class.

Once upon a time, Klopp had Subotic and Hummel. Despite not being the best CBs, they did quite well in Klopp system. If anything it exposed Klopp's one trick pony tactic AND his personal transfer work. Dortmund has people who work on transfer. Klopp may have a say, but Dortmund board has the final say. People keep forget that not many clubs especially outside England give head coach full say in transfer matters. Klopp was given credit for Dortmund board's work in the past. Now he's on his own and his transfer dealings don't seem to be that good when it comes to defense.
 

Sensei

New Member
Joined
Aug 11, 2013
Messages
763
Supports
Dortmund
Defenders in Klopp team may be more exposed, but the better defenders still can hold their own and showed their class.

Once upon a time, Klopp had Subotic and Hummel. Despite not being the best CBs, they did quite well in Klopp system. If anything it exposed Klopp's one trick pony tactic AND his personal transfer work. Dortmund has people who work on transfer. Klopp may have a say, but Dortmund board has the final say. People keep forget that not many clubs especially outside England give head coach full say in transfer matters. Klopp was given credit for Dortmund board's work in the past. Now he's on his own and his transfer dealings don't seem to be that good when it comes to defense.
Hummels was slow paced and wasn't really excellent 1v1, Subotic was not a world beater either but complemented Hummels nicely - it was more of both compensating for each other's weaknesses. Re Defending, Liverpool are yet to hit 75% of the pressing levels of Dortmund hence the obvious difference in results in both teams. Add to that the midfield duo of Bender-Gundogan, is better than what Liverpool can boast of: Hendo-Can or Hendo-Gini. I also think the full backs he had in Dortmund were better than Pool's. What could help Liverpool now is a double 6 but hey! they don't even have an above average one at the moment.

It's very obvious why Keita and Virgil would have taken them a notch higher this term:

Mane______Firmino______Salah

___Keita_________Coutinho

________Henderson

Robertson__Matip__Virgil__Clyne

or

________Firmino

Mane____Coutinho_____Salah

___Henderson___Keita

Robertson__Matip__Virgil__Clyne
 

ti vu

Full Member
Joined
Jun 16, 2015
Messages
12,799
Hummels was slow paced and wasn't really excellent 1v1, Subotic was not a world beater either but complemented Hummels nicely - it was more of both compensating for each other's weaknesses. Re Defending, Liverpool are yet to hit 75% of the pressing levels of Dortmund hence the obvious difference in results in both teams. Add to that the midfield duo of Bender-Gundogan, is better than what Liverpool can boast of: Hendo-Can or Hendo-Gini. I also think the full backs he had in Dortmund were better than Pool's. What could help Liverpool now is a double 6 but hey! they don't even have an above average one at the moment.

It's very obvious why Keita and Virgil would have taken them a notch higher this term:

Mane______Firmino______Salah

___Keita_________Coutinho

________Henderson

Robertson__Matip__Virgil__Clyne

or

________Firmino

Mane____Coutinho_____Salah

___Henderson___Keita

Robertson__Matip__Virgil__Clyne
I am talking about Klopp's personal ability to recruit players. Dortmund has the system to scout and pick up those players.
 

PedroMendez

Acolyte
Joined
Aug 9, 2013
Messages
9,466
Location
the other Santa Teresa
It's just the hyperbole that is weird. No, not all defenders are equally exposed in an attacking system. Klavan and lovren were rubbish for other teams. That's just their level. Nothing to do with klopp.
Just to randomly name-drop: garay was for sale and Valencia got murillo. Both would have been fairly affordable upgrades. There are at least 20 other players Liverpool could have signed. I have no interest to start a detailed discussions about the pro/cons of alternatives. They exist and klopps decision to sign vvd-or-nobody was plane stupid.
 

SteveJ

all-round nice guy, aka Uncle Joe Kardashian
Scout
Joined
Oct 22, 2010
Messages
62,851
Klopp goes into Meltdown:

TLW reporter said:
I'll address it in more detail in the match report, but I sit in the Main Stand not too far from Klopp and this is what happened:

After ignoring Robertson for the entire 1st half, Coutinho passed to him early in the 2nd and there were some ironic cheers. A minute later he did it again and there were louder ironic cheers, as people who hadn't joined in the first one realised what had happened. Klopp went mad at the fans behind him.

Then, Klavan looked at a wide open Coutinho in space but instead went to play the ball back to Matip. The crowd shouted at him and Klavan quickly then played it to Coutinho. Klopp went even more mad.

Finally, they were messing around with it at the back and people started getting tetchy and shouting for them to get rid of it before they got caught out. At this point he went full on batshit mental and was screaming abuse at the Main Stand, his face all contorted and arms waving all over the place.

I doubt any of this was picked up by TV cameras, so unless you were sat in the Main Stand watching it you wouldn't know the extent of just how animated and angry he was.