According to Jurgen Klopp, Liverpool’s fourth-place finish was exactly the result the club needed this season.
The German manager’s men managed to qualify for Champions League football by finishing on 76 points, the same total they earned in 2007/08 when they last finished fourth. They held off fifth-placed Arsenal by just one point but 76 points is eight points more than was required to reach the top four last year and four more than the season before. Liverpool also had a successful season in front of goal, scoring 78 goals for its second-highest tally since last winning the title in 1989-90.
The summer battle for players has intensified because of the shortage of world-class talent on the market meaning The Reds will have to stump up serious cash to get the players they need to mount a title challenge next season. The transfer rumours have already begun with Liverpool linked to 90% of the same players as the other top-four clubs.
The bigger issue for Liverpool has always been keeping their key players, which this season means Philippe Coutinho (heavily linked to Barcelona), Roberto Firmino (linked to Bayern Munich) and Emre Can who is coming out of contract and has not yet agreed a new deal. If any of those three leaves the club, especially Coutinho, Klopp will find himself in a similar position to previous managers. If Liverpool is to chase down the title next season, it must bring in reinforcements without losing big players.
The club has a lot to do off the pitch but the German manager faces a familiar problem on the pitch. For the past five seasons Liverpool has simply conceded too many goals. The Reds have leaked an average of 47 goals each season since 2012/13. You can’t imagine that those stats will change much under Klopp due to his “rock and roll” style of football but he still tends to get results – he took Borussia Dortmund from sixth in his debut season to winning the Bundesliga two years later then backing up for another title the following season.
There’s also a lot of work to be done with the club’s fans. Unfortunately, Liverpool fans have become known for declaring that “this is our year”, even though the club has not taken the trophy once since the Premier League was launched in 1992. A new attitude is required under Klopp, as he is a manager who takes time to develop and nurture the right squad of players, and the club does not have the money to buy a line-up of instant world-beaters. If Klopp can get the personnel he wants this summer, such as Naby Keita and Virgin Van Dijk, Liverpool will very much be in the title race next season. If he doesn’t, I doubt he will have a job come summer 2018.
by Nubaid Haroon YouTube: https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCtMg-fWm7awR41vM1GhVOkA Twitter: twitter.com/rambofyi
The post Football: Can Liverpool Triumph Next Season? appeared first on Felix Magazine.
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