Klopp era set to begin in Liverpool
With his charm, quips, tactical insights and beaming smile, Juergen Klopp made quite an impression when he was presented as Liverpool’s new manager last week.
Comparisons were made with Jose Mourinho’s arrival in English football a decade ago. Liverpool fans spoke of Klopp as a saviour.
However, it will be results on the field he’ll be judged on and the Klopp era at Liverpool gets off to a potentially tough start on Saturday with a trip to Tottenham, which thrashed then-leader Manchester City 4-1 in its last home game in the Premier League.
The international break has at least given Klopp some extra time to adjust to his new surroundings. He was pictured on a night out in Liverpool city centre on Friday, a few hours after his first round of interviews, and took his first training session on Tuesday with nine players who weren’t involved with national-team duty, including Philippe Coutinho, Daniel Sturridge and James Milner.
The serious business begins this weekend.
How long will it take for Klopp to deliver the “full-throttle football” he is promising? Can he make Liverpool more solid at the back? What will his attack look like, with St ur ridge, Christian Bent eke, RobertoFir mi no, C out in ho and Adam Lallana all competing for places?
Danny Ings won’t be in the attacking mix, not for most of this season anyway. British media reported Thursday that the striker will be missing for six months after sustaining a cruciate knee ligament injury. Liverpool hasn’t officially confirmed the injury.
Games will come thick and fast for Klopp over the next three weeks, on average one every three or four days across three competitions — the league, the Europa League and the English League Cup. That likely will stretch his squad and give him a chance to see who is worth keeping ahead of the January transfer window, when he may reshape the team.
Liverpool is in 10th place after eight games, but only three points off the top four. Spurs are a point and two places ahead.
CITY INJURIES: The international break did no favours for league leader Manchester City, with Sergio Aguero and David Silva — two of the team’s star players — both getting injured on duty for their countries and set to miss Saturday’s game against Bournemouth.
Silva injured an ankle playing for Spain against Luxembourg, while Aguero was in tears as he was being carried off on stretcher with a hamstring injury while playing for Argentina.
HOT SANCHEZ: Arsenal forward Alexis Sanchez has scored nine goals in his last five games for club and country — including two in the stunning 3-0 win over Manchester United in the last round of the Premier League. There were concerns about Sanchez’s fitness when he left Arsenal for international duty with Chile, but he scored three goals in two games.
CHELSEA WOES: The Premier League standings are starting to take shape after eight rounds and it was no surprise to see City, United and Arsenal occupying a place in the top four. The one glaring omission is Chelsea, which continues to struggle in its defence of the title and is languishing in 16th place.