Jurgen Klopp’s five-year anniversary at Liverpool was not a particularly happy one. Marked back in October, it came four days after he had seen his side capitulate to a 7-2 defeat to Aston Villa.
Within a matter of weeks, fate had dealt him another misfortune when Virgil van Dijk was ruled out for the majority of the season. The setbacks seemed to keep on coming. Even a 1-0 victory over Ajax was dismissed as one of the Reds’ worst performances of the season.
The fact Liverpool have not lost a league game since then has seemingly restored the natural order of things, but a handful of blips in the early part of the campaign might yet benefit the champions going forward.
Klopp, who after Burnley’s Sean Dyche (eight years and 51 days), is the English top flight’s second longest-serving manager, has arguably had more hurdles to overcome in the first 13 games than in the whole of his title-winning season. The latest is the lingering suspicion that Mo Salah is keen on a move to either Real Madrid or Barcelona after he praised the two clubs in an interview with AS.
There are also a trio of players who are out of contract in the summer. Of the three, Georginio Wijnaldum is the most significant, back-up goalkeeper Adrian and centre-back Nat Phillips – who will likely be rewarded with an extension – being the others.
This would not be the first time Klopp has had to rebuild. The sale of Philippe Coutinho in 2018 forced him to adapt the entire front line, as well as plugging a gap in the deeper positions the Brazilian used to occupy.
Then there was the project to transform a haphazard defence. On those occasions, there were obvious problems to be addressed. But if one of Sir Alex Ferguson’s greatest strengths lay in identifying the cracks before they stretched to seismic proportions, Liverpool would benefit from similar foresight as Klopp bids to regenerate his team.
Will Mo Salah need replacing?
In light of Salah’s recent comments, Jamie Carragher warned the Egyptian that he might already be too old for Real Madrid or Barcelona to get sufficient value out of him.
“Real Madrid spent a lot of money on Eden Hazard when he was at that age of 28 or 29,” he told Sky Sports. “Salah is just getting to that age now and I just think it’s that year or two too late.”
With 110 goals for Liverpool since joining from Roma, whether he leaves of his own accord or if Carragher’s prophecy about his long-term prospects comes true, then Klopp will need to consider his options on the right. One reported option is to give Salah a new contract to appease him in the short term.
Will Liverpool buy another centre-back?
Van Dijk’s injury has thrown Liverpool’s defence into a sharper light, though it need not have been a crisis had Joe Gomez and Joel Matip remained fit during the Dutchman’s absence.
Rhys Williams seems the most likely of the current set of youngsters to step into the first team more regularly. Another signing of Van Dijk’s caliber will be hard to come by, but an approach for a centre-back like RB Leipzig’s Dayot Upamecano, who is still only 22, would allow Klopp to start re-building without letting Liverpool resort to their former chaos.
How will the midfield change?
Regardless of new signings, the indications so far are that a handful of academy players will make the cut. It has been hard to judge the likes of Neco Williams, who with 10 appearances in all competitions this season has been called upon more than is natural for a player at his stage of development.
For others, particularly Curtis Jones, the transition has been more seamless. If Wijnaldum does move on at the end of the season, as expected, then Jones put in a sufficiently assured performance in the 2-1 win over Tottenham to suggest he can make up one of the slots in a midfield three.
Klopp has also been pre-emptively experimenting with Takumi Minamino as a number eight, though Naby Keita should be a far more regular feature if he can overcome his injury problems.
So how pressing is Klopp’s rebuild?
Klopp’s current contract, which he signed a year ago, runs until June 2024. Rejuvenating a Liverpool side who have cruised to over 90 points in each of their last two seasons is not a pressing concern, but the German will be mindful of the advancing years of some of his squad.
James Milner is already being managed carefully, while Jordan Henderson, Wijnaldum and Adrian are all over 30. In the case of the latter, his role has already been all-but-filled by Caoimhin Kelleher.
By the end of next year, Van Dijk, Roberto Firmino, Thiago Alcantara, Matip and Xherdan Shaqiri will also be in the over-30s camp. At least there will be few contract negotiations to contend with, Milner and youngster Ben Woodburn the only players whose deals are up at the end of next season.
Klopp will do exceptionally well if completes a 10-year dynasty at Anfield, but it will inevitably entail replacing some of his “mentality monsters” at some stage.
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