Liverpool beat West Brom. Amazing scenes.
Neil Atkinson is joined by Dan Leitao, Steve Graves and Paul Senior for immediate post-match reaction for what feels like the biggest win of the season so far.
The Pink: West Bromwich Albion 0 Liverpool 1
by The Anfield Wrap | Apr 16, 2017 | Podcast, Post-Match Show, TAW Player | 5 comments
Dear TAW. There is no link to the Pink
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Hi guys love to listen to a show focusing on what mistakes have been made over the last 2 seasons. Klopp says we will learn from the mistakes made so what do you believe they are. For me I believe in the coming season we should keep £20-£30 million for a signing in January as we have seen now a boost is needed at this time of year.
If we are going to spend big this summer then the right player needs to be purchased we will need players to be replaced that will leave the club plus more players in the squad to compete on all fronts (champions league) included.
Mistakes for me where knowing Mane would leave for the African cup we should have had players able to step in. We also knew about Sturridge injury record yet still thought we would be ok. We have not bought any players in January now since coutinho and Sturridge in 2012 since then I would say every season we really needed a boost in personal , morale and quality at this time of year.
I’m not convinced in the whole of world football there wasn’t any player that could have improved our squad in January “THE WHOLE WORLD ! ”
More surprising for me is that the owners and everyone else connected to the club have continued to make these same mistakes before Klopp came to the club think Konoplyanka and after a full month we eventually ran out of time whilst trying to sign him. Very similar to this January i.e. Nothing happened to help the team.
Is their an argument to be made that avoiding cynical fouls was a ploy? Maybe fancying themselves to deal with a counter better than a set piece
I’ll tell you what I think Klopp meant by ‘mistakes have been made’. He arrived with a reputation as not being a cheque book manager and one who develops players and works with a small squad. So, he got rid of the ones he knew had no future and replaced them like for like. If we say Mario was already gone at that point Skrtel/Matip, Benteke&Ibe/Mane, Allen/Gini, Ilori/Klavan and Bogdan with no future/Karius. £63 out £68 in. He basically upgraded them pound for pound and strengthened the squad. I think this is important because I think it was deliberate on his behalf. The squad looked upgraded and decent. He also thought that having a pre-season with them would condition them for the season and the busy January. Most importantly, whereas Mourinho was happy to take £89m players, I believe Klopp actually wanted to avoid that.
So, at that point (the start of the season) he thought he was ready. The squad was decent enough. We know our first 11 and had back up of Mignolet (in his mind), Sakho, Klavan, Moreno, Trent, Gomez, Can, Lucas, Grujic, Origi, Sturridge and Ings plus some youngsters. But, we lost Karius, Sakho, Gomez, Grujic, Sturridge and Ings through one thing or another including a complete lack of confidence that rendered them useless to us. Then we got injuries from our first 11. Then Mane went away.
What we saw was a lack of confidence brought on by numerous factors. It started with the draw at Sunderland. Then we had a series of cup games where we had to play youth because no one was left and didn’t fare well, as well as games that were very difficult where actually, a point was ok but still left us winless. So, a depleted squad had a mental effect on the players and added to the fatigue it snowballed with the results on the whole. Add to that the realisation that the dream of the league, which I think we were still favourites for at the start of 2017, had disintegrated. We took 6 points in Jan and Feb, Chelsea took 14 and Spurs took 17. Give us 8 points and Chelsea and 11 on Spurs and the table is very different, had we matched them.
So January. It was clear we needed reinforcements. I’d suggest a few things. 1) We weren’t ready with targets for the January window. I think we brought forward attempts on some of our summer targets but they would obviously fail. 2) Players don’t leave mid season unless they’re out of the squad or believe this opportunity may never be repeated. 3) Klopp won’t ever be interested in the January market. It’s become very rare for top PL sides to buy in January and 4) Klopp is pragmatic. He’ll know players sign with a contract. You don’t buy them for 6 months. He wants to build at Liverpool, not plug gaps. So we didn’t buy but definitely tried for a good long term player. We just didn’t find one good enough for the future of LFC.
So, I don’t actually think Klopp has made mistakes and I don’t think he feels he has. Under a lot of scrutiny he did use that wording. Possibly to appease a lot of angry fans. By ‘learn from them’ I think he meant two things. Primarily, that the squad you can use in the Bundesliga is not quite adequate for the demands of the PL. But, I also think this is what he means by the mistake. On paper that squad looked strong enough but it wasn’t due to the traits of them, whether undisciplined, injury prone, young and returning from serious injury, returning from repeated long term injuries, unproven at this level, not quite good enough.
To conclude. I think his thoughts have gone from, we have a good squad we can work with that can cover numerous injuries across the team to – we need a much stronger squad of players. The PL is so tough we’ll need to buy more quality, therefore spend money. The top 18 in the squad needs to be as strong as the first 11. Hindsight tells him his squad was nowhere near as strong as he thought last summer. I feel that’s what he feels is his mistake and nothing else. I don’t think he’ll ever rely on buying in January. Players need a pre season to find their feet. It’s rare a January signing is having an impact in January and Feb. Does happen but it’s rare.
Had we beaten Sevilla then last summer he may have bought one or two more. It’s a long term project of constant improvement and I think he had one eye on the coming summer when we could be back in the CL. So overall, I think he had thoughts on the future and thought this squad is good enough for 12 months when we can strengthen again. He was wrong. He misjudged it and had some bad luck. No other mistakes were made imo. Therefore, we’ll see him spend money without feeling it’s undermining his reputation (as it still won’t be anywhere near the prices being paid by Utd, City and Chelsea) and he’ll make the squad much stronger in depth. He’ll know now that many in his squad can’t be relied on and he’ll upgrade them now as he did last summer.
p.s the Ukrainian market is difficult to buy from in January. Any hint that a PL side is desperate makes a deal very unlikely unless you’re ok paying twice the value.