Publish By Yayo
So far this season, we have already seen extensive absences for key players in Nathaniel Clyne and Adam Lallana while Philippe Coutinho missed the start to the season with a back injury which seems to be troubling him again.
The biggest loss to Liverpool in terms of quality is Sadio Mané with the Senegalese attacker running Phil Coutinho and Mo Salah close for the title of being the club’s best player. Out with a hamstring injury, the former Southampton winger is a huge miss due to the impact he has on Liverpool’s attacking play.
Although Liverpool ultimately made their dominance count against Huddersfield Town on Saturday afternoon, the same issues that have plagued Klopp’s side this season were on show even if they weren’t made to seem so prominent.
With Coutinho and Mané absent from Liverpool’s attacking lineup, there has been an absence of cutting edge play and real creativity.
The style of football that Klopp insists his players embody is best when the German manager has pace and plenty of movement between the lines up top.
Against Huddersfield, Liverpool were only assured of movement between the lines even with Mohamed Salah’s electric presence on the pitch.
Having selected Daniel Sturridge and Roberto Firmino up top alongside Salah, Klopp wasn’t guaranteed bucket loads of pace up front in the way that he is when he has Salah and Mané together.
When Chelsea won the league last season, and Leicester City the season prior, they had a full complement of their best players almost week in and week out.
This is something that Liverpool haven’t been blessed with under Klopp and it has had a negative effect on the rhythm in the Reds’ football with each injury an interruption to whatever positive progress may or may not have been made at that particular stage.
The same issue presented itself to Klopp last season with many of the same players. Mané, Coutinho and Lallana were all injured for at least a couple weeks each last season and given their role in the team, Klopp’s frustration must be peaked give that they’re all absent at once.
When Lallana returns, which is said to be after the international break, Klopp is going to have a big decision to make regarding his three central midfielders.
With Jordan Henderson a certainty given his role as skipper, that leaves two spots to fill with Coutinho, Emre Can and Georginio Wijnaldum all ready to go head to head with Lallana for the final spot in the Reds’ engine room.
Going off last season, I would expect Lallana to return purely given the impact that the Englishman had on Liverpool’s build up and his relative experience and leadership qualities.
That said, last season Philippe Coutinho was playing further forward and wasn’t used in central midfield bar a couple games towards the end of the season.
LALLANA IS NEEDED
Klopp is faced with a decision to either field both Lallana and Coutinho at the same time and risk unbalancing a defensively insecure side even more or drop one of the two to the bench in favour of Emre Can or Georginio Wijnaldum.
Personally, I don’t see anything wrong with having a player like Lallana on the bench. With Klopp now rotating his side, the 28 year old wouldn’t be condemned to the bench indefinitely but would certainly serve as a brilliant option in reserve for when Coutinho is misfiring or Liverpool need extra creativity late in games.
I would prefer it if Klopp could find a way to start Lallana as he’s that good that he’s wasted on the bench but fielding him in tandem with Coutinho would seriously unbalance the side and leave an already weak back-line exposed to counter attacks more than we have ever seen before.
Although the Merseyside outfit looked better at the back against Huddersfield, fixtures are set to come thick and fast which means that Clyne’s return could not be more highly anticipated with keeping clean sheets of the utmost importance for Liverpool these days.
Clyne might be severely limited going forward and this might be a negative in a team like Jurgen Klopp’s but it cannot be overlooked that the Englishman is a superb defender and could help Liverpool finish in the top four and progress in the Champions League and FA Cup.
On the whole, there is no doubting that with the return of the club’s best players, Liverpool will improve and achieve the results which are expected.
With Lallana and Mané expected back towards the end of November, Klopp will be pleased to know that he will have the bulk of his starting players fit with Coutinho expected to overcome his abductor issue soon as well.
The only real question mark is Clyne with no real timeline being issued on his injury. The hope is that it won’t keep him out for the second half of the season and that he can make a return to action sooner rather than later.
Liverpool should use Huddersfield and a result against Maribor as a springboard for success this season and following the international break, with a bolstered squad, should look to push on and prove the club’s detractors wrong.
THE GOOD DAYS OF ANFIELD WILL SOON BEGUN
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