You can’t top Klopp
Five reasons why the German can lead Reds to the EPL title
LONDON: Liverpool have blown teams away this season with 30 goals so far – and now find themselves joint top of the English Premier League alongside Arsenal.
Juergen Klopp’s heavy metal football seems to be in full swing at Anfield after bringing in his own players over the summer and having a full pre-season to work with them.
The Reds have only suffered one defeat and it came in the surprising shape of a 2-0 defeat away to Burnley, where they dominated.
But if Klopp can keep complacency away, the Reds will have every chance of getting their hands on the Premier League trophy for first time ever.
1. THEY TURN UP ON THE BIG STAGE
LIVERPOOL have already faced Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea and Manchester United so far this season and they have handled themselves well in every major clash.
They kicked the season off with an enthralling 4-3 win over the Gunners at the Emirates, before being held to a 1-1 draw to Spurs.
The Reds then outplayed Chelsea at Stamford Bridge to win 2-1 before being frustratingly held at home to Manchester United.
But from this strong set of results, if Liverpool can continue to outshine their main competitors in the league, then they have the perfect platform to clinch the title. 2. RAMPANT IN FRONT OF GOAL
AS previously mentioned, Liverpool have scored 30 goals already this season after 11 games.
But something which is particularly encouraging about this statistic is that the goals are coming from range of players.
Philippe Coutinho (6), Sadio Mane (5), Roberto Firmino (4), James Milner (4), Adam Lallana (3), Divock Origi (2) and Daniel Sturridge (2) have all scored more than one goal already this season.
Whilst Jordan Henderson, Ragnar Klavan and Dejan Lovren have also chipped in with one goal each.
This will please Klopp as it means they are not reliant on one or two players to provide the majority of their goals. 3. PLAYERS WILL NOT FLAG MIDWAY THROUGH SEASON
ON arrival to Liverpool in 2015, Klopp hinted that he could not fully implement his plans straight away as his players were not prepared midway through the season to step up their workload.
But now that the German has had a full pre-season with his players it has given him the chance to work on them physically and he has also been able to get all of his plans and tactics across to the players.
Last summer also allowed Klopp to improve his squad as he has spent £60mil (RM307mil) on seven new players as well as shipping off 16 players.
4. BEST BUY
PEOPLE raised their eyebrows when Liverpool splashed £30mil (RM153mil) on Sadio Mane, with people thinking they had paid over the odds to sign him from Southampton.
But critics have quickly changed their tune as the Senegal international is now being lauded as one of the best buys of the season.
Critics were unsure if he would be able to handle the pressure of playing for Liverpool but he has already netted four times for the Reds.
Not only is it his goals that have made a difference for Klopp’s side, as his electric pace and tireless work rate has made him one of the most feared forwards in the league this season. 5. PROVEN PEDIGREE
JUERGEN Klopp has proven he has what it takes win a league title.
As manager of Borussia Dortmund, he defied the odds as his side beat favourites Bayern Munich to the Bundesliga title on two occasions. In his first title-winning season (2010-2011), Dortmund topped Bayer Leverkusen by seven points as they made the most of Bayern Munich’s poor campaign, as they went on to finish third.
But Klopp impressively managed to guide Dortmund to the top of the Bundesliga the following season as they maintained the league title.
Bayern Munich looked to redeem themselves after disappointingly finishing third in the previous season, but despite their best efforts they trailed Klopp’s side by eight points.