SUPER SCOTS ARE ON THE UP
Klopp feels Caledonian revival will see scouts flock north
JURGEN KLOPP richly admires the recent rise of Scottish football. He sees a ‘cool’ nation worthy of serious scouting investment and one growing in self-belief on the game’s biggest stages.
The Liverpool manager understandably highlights Rangers’ run to last season’s Europa League final, in which his former club Borussia Dortmund were toppled, as a stand-out feat.
Since then, Steve Clarke’s Scotland have achieved promotion to the top tier of the Nations League and both halves of the Old Firm are in the Champions League for the first time since 2007.
Klopp isn’t just flattering tonight’s visitors with his words. The German’s positive assessment has been backed up by firm transfer action.
In June, a deal worth up to £6.5million was agreed with Aberdeen to land Calvin Ramsay and give Andy Robertson a compatriot within the dressing room.
A month later, Liverpool moved to bring Ben Doak south from Celtic. The 16-year-old winger has since become one of the most talked-about prospects at the Anfield academy and stepped up to Under-21 level internationally.
Klopp sees no reason why Scottish football cannot continue to thrive. All the elements are there. This evening, however, his sole ambition is to stop this renaissance from delivering a truly famous result.
From Liverpool’s perspective, victory over Rangers feels essential to steady a listing ship. A 3-3 draw with Brighton at the weekend emphasised their defensive fragility and left Klopp’s side sitting ninth in the English Premier League. Another slip-up cannot be countenanced.
Rangers will be braced for a backlash. But while they enter Anfield after hefty defeats to Ajax and Napoli in Champions League Group A, Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s men have been given encouragement to believe Liverpool might not be quite the force of nature witnessed in past seasons.
Even so, escaping with even a point would still be an outstanding outcome. With odds of up to 19/1 available for an away win, bookmakers have pretty much written Rangers off.
Klopp, though, is not one for any sneering about the standard of Scottish opposition. Since his appointment at Anfield seven years ago, he has noticed a real surge in the standard north of the border.
‘It’s increased a lot,’ insisted Klopp. ‘Rangers and Celtic are obviously the stand-out teams in the league. That’s not news, but (you look at) how do they do in Europe and Rangers’ run in Europe last year was exceptional.
‘The Dortmund game was just really good — especially the home game. You saw how the atmosphere can give you the edge, so it was really impressive.
‘Celtic are doing really well and the Scottish game is full of talent. We have another Scottish boy in Calvin and another big talent in the Under18s (Ben Doak), so it’s a cool place to scout again.
‘That’s a good sign for Scottish football. They may be a bit disappointed they’re not still in Scotland as if a player is really developing, it’s not unlikely that he at least give it a try in the Premier League. ‘But it’s a much better moment that four or five years ago and that’s down to the players.’ Rangers’ past exploits in Europe have also made Ibrox a more attractive destination for English players. See Ben Davies (left). The centre-back turned down options to stay south of the border when agreeing to move from Liverpool earlier this summer. His adaptation has been disrupted by injury but 45 minutes in Saturday’s 4-0 win over Hearts should see him feature against his old colleagues this evening. While Davies didn’t make a first-team outing for Liverpool during 18 months at the club, Klopp remains positive about his qualities.
‘He’s a really good footballer,’ said the German. ‘In our situation, it didn’t work out for him here but that doesn’t make him a bad player. Not at all.
‘Ben is a good boy and that’s what Rangers wanted and that’s what they got. They were looking for a left-footed centre half and they got it.
‘He can play different systems, which is important, as Rangers have played one-and-a-half games using five at the back in the Champions League.
‘Usually, they don’t, but he can play both formations, which makes him a really valuable option for a squad.’
The Davies transfer continued a relationship between the clubs that grew during Steven Gerrard’s time at Rangers.
Ryan Kent’s £7m move was accompanied by less successful loans from Liverpool. Much of the current Ibrox squad was compiled by Gerrard but Klopp has not asked the former Anfield great for any insight. ‘When he was there, yes, but since then not any more,’ added the 55-year-old.
‘When Stevie was there, I followed it closely and at least had a look at the results at the weekend.
‘He enjoyed the job a lot there and was very successful. It was a big career move when he went there from Liverpool and now he’s at Villa, that’s it.’
You have to go way back before Gerrard’s time to find the last
The Scottish game is full of talent. It’s a cool place to scout again
occasion Liverpool played a Scottish team in either the European Cup or Champions League.
Tonight’s game will be the first since Aberdeen were at Anfield in 1980. Klopp appreciates the significance of a new opponent — Liverpool and Rangers have never met competitively before — if not all the details of Scotland/England rivalry.
‘I heard it is 42 years that there is no games,’ said Klopp. ‘So, yes, that is pretty special.
‘Unfortunately, apart from that I cannot say too much about the relationship, about what that means exactly. Nobody gave me a historical update. I know a few things, obviously, and that it might be very special for sure. Apart from that, it is a normal Champions League game.
‘But it is very nice. I actually think that it is very nice that we don’t play the same teams all the time. It is refreshing. It is great for Rangers. There will be a great atmosphere here.
‘Definitely, people should enjoy that and I hope they will be able to enjoy that.’