One of the most prestigious clubs in England, "Liverpool", has not had as successful of a last decade as desired. The "Reds" team has not been able to triumph in the modern "Premier" league yet, and the last title won in English competitions was achieved in the 1989-90 season. In the 2013-14 season, "Liverpool" with the superb performance of Luis Suarez was close to triumph, but fell short of a few points - "Manchester City" collected 86 points and left Steven Gerrard and company behind. "Liverpool" fans live every season with hope that their turn will finally come in the "Premier" league, but they have not been able to achieve their set goals each time. This season, under the guidance of Jurgen Klopp, the team has been performing well so far - they are currently sharing the 1-3 positions with "Manchester City" and London's "Arsenal". Upon arriving at the club at the start of last season, J. Klopp with the squad assembled by Brendan Rodgers reached the eighth place in the English leagues and the UEFA Europa League final, where they suffered a painful defeat to the "Sevilla" team. J. Klopp had time to settle in and aim seriously for the top spot this season. "Liverpool" fans believe that the current squad can achieve a lot in the country's competitions. EuroFootball.com journalist Aivaras Katutis presents reasons why "Liverpool" could triumph in the English leagues. Excellent team composition One of the reasons why "Liverpool" has a chance to triumph in the "Premier" league is the excellent work done during the summer transfer window. J. Klopp received criticism for only one position - left-back. Alberto Moreno played in that position from the start of the season, who never shone with reliable defensive play. However, the coach solved this problem not with a new purchase, but by converting James Milner to the left-back position. It seems that at the moment, this decision by J. Klopp is bearing fruit. In total, six newcomers arrived in the team - Sadio Mane, Ragnar Klavan, Joel Matip, Loris Karius, Georginio Wijnaldum, and Alex Manninger. The latter almost does not feature in J. Klopp's plans - Simon Mignolet and Loris Karius compete for the goalkeeper position. One of the newcomers who stands out with exceptional speed is Sadio Mane. The Senegalese, who cost £32 million to the "Liverpool" club, has been demonstrating excellent results since the start of the season - he has scored four goals in 10 matches and provided the same number of assists. Another successful purchase that the "Reds" can consider is the center-back, Joel Matip. An agreement with the player was reached last winter, but he officially strengthened the team in the summer. J. Matip, who did not cost the "Liverpool" club a penny, demonstrates reliable play in defense, and has already managed to score a goal. There are high hopes for G. Wijnaldum, who cost £23 million, but so far he has not been able to demonstrate his best play. However, J. Klopp is not worried, as there are enough and successful players in the defensive line. "Liverpool" has a competitive lineup from the goalkeeper to the striker position. Before the season, there were concerns about the striker position, but J. Klopp manages to show excellent results even without a traditional striker - Roberto Firmino has outperformed both Daniel Sturridge and Divock Origi. Confident start to the season and gameplay At the start of the season, "Liverpool" faced a serious test - a match against London's "Arsenal". The first exam was passed - the Liverpool team achieved a victory by a score of 4:3. Later, "Liverpool" had to cope with bitter defeats - in the second round, they lost to the "Burnley" team, and in the next round, they played a draw with London's "Tottenham". However, J. Klopp's students did not falter and later achieved four consecutive victories, and in the eighth round, they played a goalless draw with "Manchester United". In the last match, "Liverpool" fans saw a convincing performance from the team again - scoring four goals and achieving victory against "Crystal Palace". Together with "Manchester City", "Liverpool" is one of the two best attacking teams in the English leagues. In the first ten matches, opponents have conceded 24 precise "Liverpool" strikes. J. Klopp should be pleased with these results, but like other clubs that enjoy attacking, the 2014 English runners-up suffer from one problem - conceding too many goals. It is not surprising that "Liverpool" has already conceded 13 goals this season. The starting lineup of the "Reds" is extremely attacking - at one time on the field are Roberto Firmino, Philippe Coutinho, Sadio Mane, and Adam Lallana, with a defensive midfield duo of Emre Can and Jordan Henderson. Although the problem of conceding goals is evident in the "Liverpool" team, J. Klopp should not be angry with his students. The German, who advocates fast and sharp football, should be satisfied with the team's performance in the attacking phase. As statistics show, on average during the matches "Liverpool" has 61% ball possession. The goal average per match is also admirable - 2.4. "Liverpool" players strike with 57.5% accuracy per game. In addition, even 20 goals were scored from the penalty area. This shows successful ball possession and the connection between attacking players in Liverpool's game. Jurgen Klopp Few could doubt the work done by the German at the "Liverpool" club. Immediately upon arriving in Liverpool, the charismatic coach managed to squeeze the maximum out of the same players who did not demonstrate good football under Brendan Rodgers. Many experts say that a team like Madrid's "Real" needs a coach who can control and properly motivate the players for the games, rather than stand out with his tactical qualities. This approach could possibly be adapted to the "Liverpool" team, but there is no doubt that without J. Klopp's huge work in tactical or game terms, the results could not have been achieved. Nobody doubts that the German brought a lot of motivation to the team, but his work on the field is more than obvious. As mentioned earlier, the former Borussia Dortmund boss is an advocate of attacking football. Discipline may be lacking in Liverpool's game in the safe and defensive line, but the Liverpool team is one of the highest pressure teams on opponents' field in England. The combativeness of the players when losing the ball is probably the most important aspect of J. Klopp's football. The high-pressing forward and defensive line does not allow opponents to calmly play the ball in their penalty area. A similar style can be seen in teams coached by Pep Guardiola or Mauricio Pochettino. J. Klopp's desire for the team to always dominate the opponents' penalty area is also shown in his words after the press conferences: "I am happy with the team's attacking play. We could have scored more goals." The coach realizes that the problem of conceding goals often lies not in the lack of higher-level defenders in the team, but in the chosen game plan. However, if "Liverpool" scores more goals than their opponents in every match - the path to the championship title is open. "The symptom of weaker opponents" For several years, "Liverpool" has had a huge problem - dropping points against nominally weaker opponents. The "Reds" fans already felt this at the beginning of this season when they defeated "Arsenal" in the first round, but then suffered a loss against "Burnley" in the next matches. However, this often recurring problem, which undermines higher season goals, has occurred only once so far in this season. In the first ten rounds, "Hull City" and "Swansea" teams were defeated, and draws were played with quite evenly matched opponents - "Man Utd" and London's "Tottenham". For example, last season "Liverpool" lost points twice in a row to the absolute last team of the league "Newcastle United", and also dropped points against "Norwich", "Watford", "Sunderland", and twice in a row played draws with "West Brom". In both Premier League matches against "Manchester City", victories were achieved. Also, draws were played twice with one of the best teams of last season, "Tottenham". Last season, "Liverpool" would have been enough to play more successfully against "Newcastle" or "Norwich" several times, and the "Reds" could have competed in the UEFA Champions League this season. Of course, avoiding dropping points against nominally weaker teams is inevitable, but "Liverpool" does it too often. If J. Klopp's students manage to avoid this critical problem this season, and there will be a more reliable defense, "Liverpool" could etch its name into new pages of Premier League history.
Aivaras Katutis, eurofootball.lt
