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The rock and roll football era is over – Klopp’s Liverpool have grown up and moved on

Gareth Roberts |

February 28, 2019

BEFORE Watford were so impressively swatted aside at Anfield on Wednesday night, what had started out as a murmured theory had grown into football media ‘fact’ – something often repeated but rarely challenged.

Liverpool, despite continuing to top the Premier League, were struggling. Struggling for goals, struggling for confidence, struggling to cope. Was Jurgen Klopp’s side too reliant on the front three of Mo Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino for goals? Did the midfield offer enough of a threat? What about the depth of the squad?

A slowdown in Premier League points-gathering, taking in three draws, allied to a 0-0 stalemate in Europe, ensured the questions were flying thick and fast from the national media. And few of the takes were positive.

But while much focus was on goals at one end after successive blanks against Manchester United and Bayern Munich – the first time Liverpool have played out successive goalless draws since 2013 – there was little mention of the continued meanness at the other end of the pitch.

Pre-Watford it was something Klopp enjoyed highlighting in a press conference. Reminded his side had not scored in two games, he replied: “Against Bayern and Manchester United.” Then told Liverpool had kept three clean sheets in a row, he added: “Look at that, in one question, such a turnaround!”

He had a point. Football will always focus on the scorers of goals for the most obvious of reasons. It’s the bit that brings us the biggest of joys – it gets you off your feet, it leaves you open mouthed, it gets you hugging strangers and punching the air.

Klopp loves all of the above. The grinning chest-beater also loves a soundbite. And put the two together and it’s easily to lazily label him as a man obsessed with the too-often-referenced “rock and roll football”.

The Reds have conceded just 15 goals so far with 10 games remaining to contest – and if that miserly rate continues on a level, Liverpool could end the season having conceded just 21 all campaign in the league.

For context, that would be Liverpool’s best defensive record in the Premier League era, and the finest season-long display of league shut-outs since Bob Paisley’s side conceded just 16 goals in 1978-79.

A league season was 42 games back then. And Ray Clemence kept 28 clean sheets as Liverpool conceded just four in the league at Anfield all season. Back to the present, it’s only seven goals conceded at home in the Premier League, and only eight conceded away. And even when Liverpool lose, it’s now rare for that defeat to be a heavy one.

The Reds have lost six times in all competitions this season: 2-1 at home to Chelsea in the League Cup, 1-0 away in the Champions League to Napoli, 2-0 in the same competition at Red Star Belgrade and three more 2-1 defeats on the road – at Paris Saint-Germain in Europe, at Manchester City in the league and at Wolves in the FA Cup.

Losing while conceding four at Spurs, and five at City seems a long, long time ago. There is an assumption that Klopp is all about crazy free-flowing football matches featuring flurries of goals at both ends of the pitch.

Just last season the results show three 2-2 draws – v Sevilla, Spurs and West Brom, three 3-3 draws – at Watford, Sevilla and Arsenal, a 4-2 win v Hoffenheim, a 3-2 win at Leicester, a 4-3 win v Manchester City and a 5-2 victory over Roma. The Reds also lost 3-2 to West Brom and 4-2 to Roma.

This time around only Paris at home (won 3-2) and Crystal Palace at home (won 4-3) look anywhere near as “rock and roll” as those results. While this has been described as pragmatism, professionalism, maturity or just plain old boring, it’s hardly a venture into the unknown for Klopp, despite the widely-accepted view of his favoured football.

Under the German, Borussia Dortmund won back-to-back Bundesliga titles in 2010-11 and 2011-12 while shipping only 22 and 25 goals respectively, albeit in a 34-game season. And earlier in the season Klopp was very public on the fact that he believes a mean defence is more important for a title tilt than a circus show of goals.

"Scoring goals wins you games but not conceding wins you championships,” he said. “That's really pretty old but still very true. You can be the best team in the world offensively, but if you constantly conceded two or three goals [per game] then it's just not possible to win all of these games."

Klopp was also aware of the perception gap then – which remains now despite what we have seen since. He added: “Because of the football we play people could think I'm first and foremost interested in offensive movements. That's not true actually, I'm desperate to have good organisation and that's good when you see it and the boys feel it and when we have more and more the confidence grows.”

While all around talked of confidence ebbing away at Anfield and Melwood recently, it appears, on the basis of Wednesday’s performance, that all was well inside the walls of Liverpool. And that wellness is built on solid foundations. Foundations that serve Liverpool well – and must mean sleepless nights for opponents.

On Sunday, Klopp’s mean machine heads across Stanley Park to Everton, hoping to extend The Toffees’ winless run in Merseyside Derbies to 19 games. Liverpool go with, statistically, the league’s best defence and the league’s second best attack.

Liverpool face, statistically, the 10th best defence and the eighth best attack. This might not only be rock and roll. But we like it.

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