First Impressions

Frustration for Herr Klopp

After a couple of weeks in charge of the team, and with three games now under his belt, how are the team faring under our new manager? My impression so far is that things could be better—but they could also be a lot worse.
The teams that we've played so far, Spurs (away), Rubin Kazan and Southampton (both home) have provided reasonable opposition, and perhaps three draws, all things considered, isn't the end of the world.
Here's why I have optimism going forward...

We've Lost Key Players

After making a very bright start to his Anfield career, I feel gutted for Danny Ings' torn ACL, which will likely keep him out for the rest of the season. I think he is exactly the kind of player that we, as supporters, need to see in the side: hard-working, skillful, honest and driven. He will also fit into Klopp's preferred playing style, from what I've seen so far. I've particularly liked his attitude to his injury.

In addition to Ings, Klopp has also been unfortunate to lose the promising Joe Gomez, as well as Roberto Firmino and Christian Benteke (although the latter two have made the bench and seen some action—including a cracking goal for Benteke in today's game against Southampton). Daniel Sturridge's continued injury problems are frustrating for all concerned, particularly given his lively outing against Villa a few weeks back. The similarly injury-prone Jon Flanagan still looks like a long-term absentee, although Klopp may hope to have Jordan Henderson back in action soon.

Injuries happen, and have to be dealt with, but Klopp must surely rue his lack of striking options in particular.

If Benteke and Sturridge can achieve full fitness, then I'm sure our improved attacking options will start to nudge games from the draw to the win column. I suspect that we may also strengthen in this department in the January transfer window.

Underperformers

I have to confess that I've been very disappointed with Philippe Coutinho of late. You can't fault his work-rate—he certainly puts a shift in every time he's picked—but the quality of his work has fallen off a cliff. It seems that every time he takes possession, he either loses the ball in a tackle or sprays a pass well wide of the target: his distribution has been awful. I think he's also a little wasted on the left of midfield, as his preference is to come inside on his right foot, which makes defenders lives a little easier. When you have a target man of Benteke's presence, he needs to get to the byline and wrap his left foot around the ball, which he seems unwilling or unable to do. I'd prefer to see him play more centrally in a No. 10 role. Still, I'm sure Klopp will address his shortcomings, but he might find Jordan Ibe and Adam Lallana more reliable alternatives out wide in the meantime.

I continue to be concerned about Simon Mignolet. He has had some good games, and has certainly saved us some red faces, but he doesn't command his area as well as I would like, and Klopp's arrival hasn't seemingly improved his very dodgy decision making. I would say his primary problem is a lack of self-belief: there's nothing more intimidating to a striker than a goalkeeper who looks and acts unbeatable, but a keeper lacking self-belief almost invites strikes on goal.

Klopp Hasn't Rotated the Squad

Despite facing three games in his first week of action, Klopp has picked largely the same starting XI each game: the only exception being that he started Joe Allen in place of Lucas Leiva in the midweek Europa League game. I like this approach and have blogged how much I dislike the principle of squad rotation. There's no reason why the manager should need to chop and change the team each game—even if the matches do come every 3-4 days.

A stable starting XI can only be good for the team going forward.

The only doubts I have concerns the reasons why Klopp hasn't changed the squad. It could be he has been picking the same starting XI because he is concerned about the depth of his squad and is constrained in his choice by the players who are fit for duty. I guess that we'll learn more of his views in this regard as the season progresses. Wednesday's Capital One Cup game against Bournemouth will likely see many changes if Klopp doesn't see this competition as a priority. One player he can't pick is the impressive James Milner, who is suspended.

Defensive Improvements

Perhaps the most significant difference exhibited by the team under Klopp, compared to Rodgers' reign, is our defensive organisation. This season, Rodgers attempted to cure our defensive frailties by employing a deep-lying, tight defensive formation during periods of opposition possession. This made it difficult for the team to keep possession or make it into the opposition's half: many times, the defence would simply clear the ball out of play, or hoof it up-field—both of which yield possession immediately—resulting in us fire-fighting matches from our own half the majority of the time.

Under Klopp, we are now clearly defending higher up the pitch, and pressing the opposition in their own half far more. This has lead to both higher possession stats and more attacking options, while keeping our opponent's strikers away from the danger areas.

Mamadou Sakho has done well alongside Martin Škrtel in the centre of defence. Sakho has to be one of the clumsiest looking players to have graced a red shirt in many a year, but once you get past that, he's a very effective player. Alberto Moreno has also done well both going forward and defending. Strangely, neither player seemed to be Rodger's preferred choice in a four-at-the-back system (Rodgers only ever seemed to play Sakho on the left of a three-at-the-back formation, with Moreno as a left wing back).

Clearly, Klopp still has some way to go, but already things look much better.