This is our year! This has to be our year!
Liverpool fans have been pleading for the Premier League title for nearly three decades now – and the phrase can often be perceived from the Kopites.
And it’s also understandable.
Despite being the English Champions for an astonishing 18 times in the past, Liverpool’s latest title haul, goes back to the year 1990, even before the reform of the English title, which is currently known as the Premier League.
But in recent years, the Premier League has been a rollercoaster of uncertainties, from Leicester City winning the title to Huddersfield Town’s incredible journey to the Premier League. During this period, Liverpool has been no stranger to uncertainties either. Even though, after a topsy-turvy era under Brendan Rodgers, Liverpool have finally been finding, somewhat of a stable upward trend, under Jurgen Klopp.
Since his appointment in October 2015, the German has been very proactive in the club’s furtherance. The team which relied heavily on Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge’s offensive contributions are now one of the most cohesive unit in the league. Klopp finished eighth in his first season in charge of Liverpool but the last term, which was his first full-season with the club, he finished at a respectable fourth place, eventually sealing Champions League football after beating German opponents TSG Hoffenheim in the playoffs. Liverpool have also started the domestic season on a good note, with seven points in three games.
With things glaring up, the question stands, is whether or not can Jurgen Klopp guide this iconic club to it’s first Premier League title this season?
Well, he certainly has the experience to do so!
In his eight year spell at Borussia Dortmund, the 50 year old, basically turned a mid-table club to one of Germany’s footballing powerhouse in such short time. He clinched the Bundesliga title in 2010-11 season and followed that up with a double in the 2011-12 season.
One factor, which played a part in his success at Borussia, was the fact that Bayern Munich, weren’t as strong as they are now, and they certainly didn’t see what was coming for them. However, the Bavarians did a great job to pull things back into their favor and currently, they are once again the undisputed champions of Germany.
What will help the ex-Dortmund trainer, is the fact that the Premier League also lacks a particular powerhouse, who can smash all teams aside to win the title, like the Bundesliga lacked some five years ago. With all the top teams being equally matched, it bodes well for Liverpool, who are initially claimed as underdogs going ahead to the season, to finally break the deadlock.
During his successful years at the Ruhrpott, Klopp learned that, in order to succeed despite having tagged as underdogs, one needs to have the right mentality and fighting spirit. Dortmund were known for their defensive resilience with the duo of Mats Hummels and Neven Subotic, working wonders for the Black and Yellows. They conceded just 25 goals in 2011-12 season.
Another important facet is having the right mentality but it appears that Klopp has already found success in turning Liverpool into a cohesive unit. Evident in their CL playoff clash against Hoffenheim, the team stuck in and worked together as a unit to break the shackles of their opposition. In Jordan Henderson, Klopp has an ideal leader in the middle of the park, with Emre Can, another top class midfielder, complementing the English International.
While organizing the midfield togetherness is one thing, it’s also important for the attackers to have a high work rate. In his double winning season, players like Robert Lewandowski, Shinji Kagawa, Mario Gotze, Kevin Großkreutz, all complemented each other almost in telepathic fashion and also kept the shape intact in a narrow 4-2-3-1 formation. Coutinho, Sadio Mane and new signing Mohamed Salah need to have the same work ethic if they are to succeed this season.
One just cannot simply underestimate Liverpool right now. The Jurgen Klopp lead, Merseyside outfits are one of the most improved teams in the Premier League for the past 12 months or so and the Reds could poses a significant claim for the title this season!
