Liverpool change made ‘really clear’ as Jurgen Klopp responds to humiliation
It is exactly 12 months since Liverpool were thumped at Napoli in the Champions League to begin in earnest their reinvention under Jurgen Klopp
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp during the 4-1 UEFA Champions League Group A defeat against SSC Napoli at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on September 7 2022
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp during the 4-1 UEFA Champions League Group A defeat against SSC Napoli at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on September 7 2022
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The penny dropped so loudly for Jurgen Klopp it could probably have been heard all the way back on Merseyside from the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.
And the Liverpool supporters who had had already filtered away into the Naples night long before the final whistle was blown on a wretched humiliation would have been nodding vigorously in agreement with how the Reds boss reacted publicly as he began to sift through the wreckage of the previous 90 minutes.
“We have to kind of reinvent ourselves, because the basic things were not there,” said Klopp. “It’s not that we have to invent a new kind of football. A few things are really clear we have to change and the reason it’s now like this is getting a bit more clear as well. But I need time for saying the right things, because at the moment it’s not 100% clear.”
This was 12 months ago, September 7 2022. Just 102 days after being unfortunate to lose the Champions League final to Real Madrid, Liverpool opened their next European campaign with a 4-1 thumping at Napoli.
As Klopp conceded post-match, the answers were not immediate. Nor could they be, so deep-rooted were the issues that had sent Liverpool wildly off course having come so close to claiming an unprecedented quadruple a few months earlier.
Some, such as the winter World Cup that restricted vital preparation time during pre-season, was out of the Reds’ control. So too, to a certain extent, the injury problems that hampered Klopp’s options, particularly during the opening half of the campaign. Most, though, could very much be addressed.
What, then, has changed? And has Klopp ultimately found the right things to say to his squad?
The most immediate differences are apparent in the starting line-up that evening. Up front, Roberto Firmino led the line but is one of three starters no longer at the club, making only 12 more subsequent starts as his place as the attacking spearhead became the domain of Darwin Nunez and Cody Gakpo.
Two more departures were in midfield, with James Milner and Fabinho gone this summer. Harvey Elliott, the other player to line up in the engine room, has been restricted to impressive cameos from the bench so far this campaign and has started only one competitive game since the beginning of April.
Defence is where there has been least change, with four of the back five – including goalkeeper Alisson Becker – who lined up last weekend against Aston Villa also started in Italy.
The Napoli clash was infamously the only Liverpool appearance of Arthur Melo, the Juventus loanee coming off the bench for the final 13 minutes. And injuries meant the Reds named only nine of a possible 11 substitutes, with two being goalkeepers in Adrian and Harvey Davies.
Travelling back from Italy the following day, the ECHO bumped into one senior Liverpool employee who expressed surprise at the performance and admitted they had looked “an old team” against a sprightly Napoli side who romped home to a first Serie A title in 33 years.
That has been addressed, with the progress of Stefan Bajcetic, an unused substitute that night, the return to fitness of 22-year-old Curtis Jones – who has started 11 of the ongoing 15 unbeaten Premier League games – and the impact in midfield of summer signings of 24-year-old Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai. Another new arrival, 21-year-old Ryan Gravenberch, will soon have opportunities.
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Against Napoli, the average age of the team had been 28 years 88 days. For last Sunday’s home win over Aston Villa, it was 26 years 329 days – despite six of the players who started both games being, by definition, almost a year older.
Of course, a switch in formation to a box midfield has been a primary reason behind Liverpool’s strong end to last season carrying on in to this, releasing Trent Alexander-Arnold from the confines of his right-back role. Eight assists in 14 games and a clutch of other involvements in the build up goals has contributed greatly to the Reds scoring 36 times in that period.
In their previous 14 matches, they had netted half that amount, with seven coming in one game against Manchester United.
