Klopp must press forward with Plan B when the magic fades

IT is natural to take stock of Jurgen Klopp one year into career at Liverpool. Overall, I think it has been a good 12 months.

There have been some wonderful performances, and also some disappointing ones.

There have been magical spells this season against Arsenal and Leicester, where they have shown great ability. But there have also been a 2-0 defeat at Burnley and a poor first half in the 2-1 win at Swansea. Their Achilles heel is that after producing 20 minutes of pure football with their intense pressing high up the pitch, the foot can suddenly come off the pedal and they look very vulnerable. I do feel they have missed Emre Can (right) sitting in midfield and his return against Manchester United on Monday may help.

The problem with the system is that if you overcome the ‘press’, either by being bold and playing through it or by sending over long balls, then there is inevitably a lot of space in front of the Liverpool back four and they are quite easy to pick off. They need a plan to deal with teams when they are not in those magical spells. That is when they defend properly.

Perhaps they need to stay deep for a period and make it difficult for teams. If you insist on pressing continually then a big team with ability will pick you off.

That is why you feel that tomorrow’s game at Anfield ought to suit Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United.

They will expect Liverpool to show their attacking prowess so they will sit deep and hit them on the counter-attack. And with Jesse Lingard and Marcus Rashford they have the ideal players to do just that. The pair have tremendous pace and ability to get in behind defenders.

With Zlatan Ibrahimovic, United have the perfect foil. He will love playing alongside them. If Ibrahimovic drops in a little deeper and the centre-half goes with him, Lingard or Rashford will have the space to run in behind the defenders — and they both do that so well. Rashford and Lingard will also enjoy playing with Ibrahimovic because they know that he has the ability to hold up the ball. He excels at that. Mark Hughes was the same when he played in my Chelsea team. You knew the ball would stick to him. So, as a midfielder or wide player, you were happy to keep making runs, as you knew you would get the ball back. When the centre forward cannot hold the ball up, you stop making those runs out of frustration.

Due to Liverpool’s attacking ability and their vulnerability, I’m expecting a high-scoring draw. And the tactical battle between Klopp and Mourinho should make it a fascinating early-season contest.