Neil Humphreys: Juergen Klopp’s gamble must work
Reds manager has thrown all his eggs in one Euro basket
Juergen Klopp has taken this gamble before. It didn't work.
Back in 2016, Liverpool's relatively new manager put all his eggs in the Europa League basket and hoped for the best.
At the time, the Reds' domestic form was as unpredictable as their current centre-back pairings. With the writing on the wall, Klopp tried to sneak into the Champions League through the Europa League back door.
| LIVERPOOL | RB LEIPZIG |
But Liverpool lost the 2016 Europa League final and ended with nothing.
Tomorrow morning, Klopp will take the same gamble.
The second leg of his round-of-16 tie against RB Leipzig reeks of a desperate punter at the roulette table, unsteady on his feet and unsure of his fate, as he goes all in on red No. 11, his best XI, his only shot.
Klopp made seven changes between EPL games, presumably to rest and recharge ahead of the Leipzig encounter. But the move backfired, in every sense.
Whatever Klopp gained in resting key players, he lost in dressing-room confidence. Liverpool were an exhausted, exasperating mess against Fulham, barely cohesive at the back and barely conscious in attack.
An unfamiliar line-up caused uncertainty along the flanks, lethargy in midfield and a startling lack of urgency everywhere.
The Reds are running on empty and their injury crisis is well documented, but the absence of communication and organisation was an alarming way to prepare for a Champions League tie that cannot be squandered.
Thankfully, Klopp's weary souls head to Budapest's neutral territory with a two-goal advantage from the first leg. Based on their abject form of late, they need all the help they can get. The wrong records are being broken on a weekly basis.
The Fulham loss was Liverpool's sixth in a row at Anfield. Sixteen attempts at goal all failed to find the net.
Shockingly, Klopp's wayward forwards have not scored from any of their last 115 shots (excluding penalties) at Anfield. According to Opta, that's the longest barren run for any club since records began in 2006-07.
Klopp's 4-3-3 gegenpressing secured an embarrassment of riches across a three-year cycle, but now it's at risk of becoming an embarrassment. The tactic relies upon energised automatons operating at full throttle.
Liverpool's manager once suggested that constant pressing made a conventional No. 10 unnecessary - hence the sale of Philippe Coutinho - and he was right, then.
Now, he's stuck with a fleet of red Ferraris sputtering on empty tanks.
Against Fulham, midfielder Naby Keita was the only attacker to acquit himself honourably. Diogo Jota drifted. Mo Salah looked shattered and Xherdan Shaqiri again suggested that he had no long-term future at the club.
Coming off the bench, Sadio Mane played the team barometer. When the Reds are soaring, the Senegalese striker takes flight. When his teammates toil, his influence shrinks.
Mane has managed just 11 goals in 34 outings (and two of those came against Aston Villa's youth team in the FA Cup).
So he was rested against Fulham. Roberto Firmino also missed the defeat, thanks to a minor knock that isn't expected to rule him out against Leipzig.
Klopp's seven changes demonstrated his Champions League priorities. But the tinkering has left him with more questions than answers.
With an almost entirely different back four - Andy Robertson was the only familiar face against Fulham - Klopp must choose two from Fabinho, Ozan Kabak, Nathaniel Phillips and Rhys Williams in central defence. A good case could be made to start any of them - or none of them.
Curtis Jones and Thiago Alcantara may promise more creative dynamism than the drab fare served up against Fulham, but a change in formation may be needed to accommodate both, especially if Jota features, too.
The tried-and-tested trio of Mane, Salah and Firmino are tired and testy. Firmino isn't fully fit and minor acts of petulance from the other two hardly suggest a sleek, united scoring machine. Quick fixes are needed.
Klopp's gamble must pay dividends.
In 2016, he lost the Europa League battle, but eventually won the war, at home and aboard. Even in defeat, it was clear that Liverpool were at the beginning of something special.
But this season feels like the beginning of the end of their winning cycle. Champions League progress is the only way to delay the inevitable.
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