2024-01-03 21:53:56
If there could be any doubt about whether Liverpool would be a candidate for the title, it was cleared up on New Year’s Day, a symbolic date that the Reds used to destroy Newcastle and send a message to the world: “We are back.” Even though the final score was only 4-2, Klopp’s team broke the record for “expected goals”, a statistic that measures the number of goals a team should have scored in a match based on the quality of its goals. occasions. Liverpool reached 7.27, clearly surpassing the mark of 5.87 that City reached in 2019, in an 8-0 win over Watford. The victory makes them even more leaders, with three points ahead of Aston Villa and five points ahead of City and Arsenal, although Guardiola’s men do have, of course, one game less.
Last season everything seemed to announce the end of the Klopp era on the banks of the Mersey. From the beginning of the season the team showed signs of exhaustion, suffered unspeakably in defense and did not generate chances with the same ease as in previous campaigns. The German coach was the target of criticism, many of it unfair from a journalism incapable of understanding that the same things that previously aroused admiration were those that now condemned Liverpool. The pressure in the rival field, a hallmark of the Reds since the arrival of the German coach, stopped working last year, which caused the team to become unstitched defensively and concede excessive spaces. But that did not invalidate Klopp’s idea, it simply showed that it was not being applied as well as other years.
Something similar happened in the 20-21 season. Liverpool had just won the Champions League, but had a mediocre campaign, marked by defensive problems after Virgil Van Dijk’s serious injury. That season they qualified for the Champions League thanks to the low level of their rivals, but last season they were not so lucky, and for the first time in seven years, Liverpool did not finish in the top four. However, the club’s board was always clear that the right man was still Klopp, and now they are reaping the fruits of his trust in the Stuttgart coach.
The renovation that the Reds carried out in the summer was profound, especially in the midfield. Milner, Fabinho, Henderson and Keita among others left the club, leaving a position empty in which MacAllister, Szoboszlai, Endo and Gravenberch have landed. His adaptation has been immediate, and at the moment in which the midfield has returned to function, Liverpool has recovered its essence. Alexander Arnold, immensely criticized last year, has recovered his best level and starting from the right side is the real driving force of the team, while its great star, Mo Salah, continues doing his thing, and is at the same time top scorer (14 , tied with Haaland) and top assist (8, tied with Watkins) in the Premier.
Team admired in the world
Those spaces behind their defense that Liverpool’s opponents took advantage of so easily last year have not disappeared. They are still there, but the intense pressure carried out by the Reds in the rival field prevents their opponents from taking advantage of them. When questioned in this regard last year Klopp made some revealing statements. «Normally, we defend in a very brave way and when our timing in defense is not perfect, we concede space. This has always happened to us, but thanks to our pressure on the ball holder, no one noticed. A process that the German has managed to reinvest. Now, again, no one realizes the spaces that their team gives, and they are once again a team admired in the world.
In addition to leading the Premier League, Liverpool’s main goal this season, the Reds are also qualified for the round of 16 of the Europa League, a competition in which they are clear favorites, and for the semifinals of the EFL Cup, another good opportunity. to take a title. On Sunday they debut in the FA Cup, against Arsenal no less. A match in which Klopp will no longer be able to count on Salah, who will be out for several weeks due to the Africa Cup. If the Reds are able to overcome the January slope without their big star, they will be favorites for everything in the final stretch of the season.
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