Premier League 2020/21: Jurgen Klopp’s success at Liverpool

Image Source: Flickr | Pete

Ahead of the match between Tottenham and Liverpool, tensions are running high. Spurs head coach, Jose Mourinho, has even made questioning statements regarding Liverpool’s injuries and wonders if they are even major enough to be viewed as severe hurdles. Furthermore, Mourinho claims the majority of Klopp’s side will be fit and ready for Wednesday’s match at Anfield. After a long 30-year drought of no Premier League silverware, Liverpool surpassed all expectations and won their first title in a very long time. This season, we can see the same drive and motivation, and the Reds might just do it again. Mourinho believes Liverpool have become the best team and are in their best form under the management of Jurgen Klopp.

Klopp was appointed in 2015 as manager and, slowly but surely, has adopted the perfect approach and management for the Reds. In his first news conference, freshly appointed as the Reds manager, Klopp rhetorically asked the audience: “Does anyone in this room think that I can do wonders?” Five years later, we have our answer. Every single season of the German’s tenure has seen an improvement on the one before, with a whopping increase in win percentage from 44.2% to 57.1%. Humble as ever, Klopp claimed he doesn’t “compare (himself) with the geniuses within the history of Liverpool”. If he maintains these results and consistency, however, we may find Klopp’s name amongst Liverpool’s greatest managers such as Bob Paisley, Bill Shankly, Joe Fagan and Kenny Dalglish one day.

Similar to the massive improvement that can be seen in Klopp’s ranks, the German manager feels the same about his counterpart Jose Mourinho for Tottenham. Klopp applauds Mourinho for transforming the Spurs into a “result machine”. These words of encouragement and appreciation are offered just before their clash at Anfield. Without a doubt, Mourinho has reconstructed his team, and it is evident that they are in much better shape than 2018 with Spurs at the top of the Premier League table. Despite how Mourinho’s tenure ended at Old Trafford, Klopp claims “you could never write him (Mourinho) off”. Whatever Mourinho’s doing, he’s doing it right.

The cherry on top for Mourinho would be the Spurs winning their first EPL title, as they have come close many times. One player that could hold the key to surpassing the daunting Reds is Tanguy Ndombele. However, the Frenchman isn’t without his issues from injuries to public clashes with Jose Mourinho despite now being a prominent figure in the team. He is classified as a very modern midfielder, quick on his feet (literally) to find solutions fast and escape pressure situations by dribbling and overpowering opponents in small spaces.

Could Ndombele cause any critical damage at Anfield? It seems so. He has the ability to keep his composure during stressful times when the ball is lost, something that the Reds may lack. Although many may question Liverpool’s defense ever since van Dijk’s absence due to injury, you’d be surprised to know it hasn’t significant impacted them as of yet and if anything, the Reds’ defense might have slightly improved. Liverpool’s lineup contains the best four daunting passers – Trent Alexander-Arnold, Andy Robertson, Sadio Mané and Mo Salah – they can be very difficult to defend.

It is also crucial to consider the fact that the visiting side has remained unbeaten since the league’s opening day and, they will not be looking for any defeats now. Unfortunately, Spurs have had a poor record when it comes Liverpool and have only won one out of 15 games against the Reds. Anfield is a fortress, and the German manager has a solid strategy when it comes to home games. So far, Spurs have attempted to defeat the Reds away from home but failed five times, can Tottenham finally overcome that record this week?

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