Who is Klopp trying to kid?
Liverpool 0 Chelsea 0
JURGEN KLOPP knows how to extract the last squeeze of positivity from even the least promising situation. It was remarked that this, his 1,000th game as a manager in football, wasn’t perhaps a classic. ‘I think Arsene Wenger lost his 1,000th game 6-0, so I am really happy,’ said Klopp. He beamed that big smile and you could almost believe things were turning.
This was the current world champions versus the Champions League finalists; or 10th versus eighth: it depends how you sell it, what spin you want to put on the current manifestations of Chelsea and Liverpool. If felt more like early-season Carabao Cup. The respective injury crises at both clubs mean there was a smattering of stars, a few ageing pros and unfamiliar youngsters.
And nothing says mid-table mediocrity more than the underwhelmed silence that greeted the final whistle followed by the ripple of polite applause. This was not one of the great clashes between these two. The quality had a distinct middleof-the-road feel about it. Maybe the value of the subs hinted at that: an £89million winger came on, as did an £85m striker. Neither made a huge difference.
Yet both managers will feel that foundations are being laid for the second half of the season. Graham Potter will have virtually a new team. Noni Madueke joins £89m Mykhailo Mudryk, who got on at Anfield and looked lively enough, David Fofana, Andrey Santos and Benoit Badiashile, who performed well, plus the loan signing of Joao Felix — suspended for this game — which takes their spending to £190m this January alone.
The Todd Boehly regime makes Roman Abramovich looks parsimonious and measured. New ownership and new coach always means transition but this has been a revolution rather than an evolving.
We saw glimpses of what Mudryk might be when he danced through the Liverpool defence but ended up striking into the side netting. ‘He’s dangerous in one v one situations, he will make things happen, get supporters off their seats and his dribbling actions are really good,’ said Potter.
For Klopp, there was the first league start of 18-year-old Stefan Bajcetic — his direct opponent being Chelsea’s 18-year-old Lewis Hall. They both coped well but Klopp was delighted with Bajcetic.
‘There was a door, I’m not even sure it was open but he just ran through it,’ said Klopp of how he has seized the opportunity with so many injuries. ‘There are not a lot of good things in the situation we are in but we have situations for young players and that is one of the positive things.’
We were spoilt in that the most exciting moment came in third minute when Kai Havertz poked in a shot in front of The Kop and Chelsea celebrated with gusto, only for Anfield to roar when the VAR eventually ruled it offside.
It suggested there was more to come and, as such, it was a cruelly deceptive omen. There was Hakim Ziyech setting off on mazy run across goal on the hour, gliding past five players and then skewing his shot over the bar. Or Naby Keita with a super ball to Mo Salah which put the Egyptian free and in space. Salah, with one goal in his last five, shot wastefully over. The game screamed two teams in transition, whether it was an Alisson miskick conceding a corner or Carney Chukwuemeka tripping over his own feet in the box.
Both team’s defensive structures at least looked a little more secure. Badiashile looked adept, having dropped into a Premier League contest. Ziyech looked a bit more like the winger who played for Morocco in the World Cup. James Milner is… well, James Milner.
But what we know is wrong stays wrong. The red midfield, whether it be the more experienced ageing stars or the youngsters brought in to replace them, remains a shadow of the powerhouse that propelled it to three Champions League finals.
Chelsea have little in attack. The promised land of the top four slips further away. ‘We can only influence it by winning,’ added Klopp. ‘There are a lot of games to play and a lot of things are possible, but to get there we have to continue with the things we did here. The last two games I saw progress.
‘Usually a point against Chelsea is not a bad result but I feel I have to explain [to people]: “How can you not win against them?” I saw good signs and now we have to do the good things better and longer. ’ Neither team can take much from a goalless draw, just the positives about stemming the bleeding. On a freezing lunchtime at Anfield, that was about as good as it got.