Manager Of The Week – Premier League Gameweek 11: Jurgen Klopp

Jurgen Klopp’s Excellent Tactical Setup

Liverpool have been dreadful this season. They have looked disjointed and have lacked structure since the start of this season. They have already dropped more points than they did in the whole of the season when they won the title in 2020.

Serious questions were being thrown at Klopp for choosing the wrong tactics, and fans were unhappy with his apparent favouritism towards some of the senior players, particularly Milner and Henderson.

Also read: Analytics Report: Premier League Player Of The Week – Matchday 11 – Alisson Becker

With multiple injuries coming into the game, Klopp made some bold and astute decisions. Trent was on the bench along with Nunez and club captain Jordan Henderson. With Konate missing, Gomez started alongside Van Dijk with Milner at right back.

It was a 4-4-1-1 with Firmino playing behind Salah while Elliot and Jota provided the width. Fans were happy to finally see Salah in his favoured role rather than pushed wide on the right, which has resulted in his declining form.

The unstoppable Manchester City, with the unstoppable Haaland upfront, were kept quiet throughout the game. Milner was solid against Foden, while Gomez provided excellent cover. Van Dijk was back to his best, and absolutely dominated Haaland, who didn’t have a sniff at Anfield.

It was a characteristic performance and win that they ground out with an excellent team display. To put it precisely, Klopp outwitted Guardiola’s Manchester City and Liverpool deservedly got the three points.

Liverpool’s Improvement In The Second-Half

Here we have the chart which compares Liverpool’s statistics from both halves, and in a lot of the significant stats, Liverpool improved massively in the second half, and that’s credit to whatever Klopp and his staff told the players during the interval.

In the first half, Liverpool were defensively sound, but in possession, there wasn’t any threat. Offensive transition is something Liverpool have mastered under Klopp, but it was evidently missing in the first half. However, it significantly got better in the second half as Liverpool recorded 5 counterattacks in the second half as compared to none in the first.

The level of aggression was different in the second half. The Reds had 10 shots after the restart compared to just 3 shots in the first. They also created 4 big chances in the second half to 1 big chance in the first half. Liverpool completed 6 interceptions in the second half and recorded 18 clearances post-interval while recording just 9 before the break. They had much lesser of the ball in the second half, but their use of possession after the interval was more efficient.

Jurgen Klopp Praised Liverpool’s Performace

Speaking to Sky Sports after the game, Jurgen Klopp said, “Result, perfect; performance, really, really good in an incredibly intense game.”

“We defended at an incredibly high level for 99 minutes and had really good footballing moments. We scored one goal and could have scored more.”

“They had their moments as well, but, especially in the box, we did extremely well. We won nearly all the duels. I think there was one free header from Haaland.”

“We showed up today, and that’s what we wanted to do.”