Jürgen Klopp has undoubtedly achieved much with Liverpool. However, his greatest achievement is not the fact that he won the Champions League (already achieved by Benitez), or that he nearly won the league (already achieved by Benitez and Rodgers), or that he took them to 3 European Cup Finals. All these are great achievements, but his greatest achievement has been bringing the swagger back to Liverpool. His greatest achievement has been the fact that teams now fear playing against Liverpool, they try to have specific strategies against Liverpool and hope they don’t get smashed. Last month when Arsenal lost 3-1 against Pool, they were not widely condemned and there was even praise in some quarters that they were not humiliated this time.

In 4 years, Klopp has transformed Liverpool from a sometimes title challengers to be the team to beat. Earlier, whenever they had come 2nd, they used to follow it up with a stinker of a season and did not finish even in top 4. Last season they lost only one game whole season and didn’t lose a game till January. This was after they had won their 1st 6 games. After all this they became the premier league runners up with highest points achieved in the history. Now, what have they done this season? They have gone one better than previous season, winning their first 8 games (a streak of 17 consecutive wins) and drawing against Manchester United to remain unbeaten in the league so far.

Let us see how Klopp has managed to achieve this. Obviously, he has brought new players to the club but at the same time he has also changed the style of play. The players he has brought have been bought with a plan in mind and to plug the gaps in the squad. Tellingly, Klopp’s first PL game in charge of Liverpool was a 0-0 draw against Spurs and almost 4 years later when he won the CL final against the same opponents, the entire playing XI was different. Only Henderson and Firmino were with the club and could conceivably have started that fateful day in 2015 but missed that match due to injury. Let’s see how Klopp changed the identity of the club in 4 seasons.

2015-16: The Heavy Metal Football

Klopp joined Liverpool during the October International break when Pool were languishing at 10th after 8 matches. Instead of supplementing his squad during the January transfer window, Klopp decided to improve the players he had. The easiest thing to do was asking them to press from the front. Suddenly PPDA (passes allowed per defensive action) decreased from 9.76 in the previous season to 7.48. This was 2nd lowest in the league while in 2014-15 Pool were 9th lowest. There was marginal improvement in every other underlying stat (see table) but in final league table where Pool finished at 8th. However, during the same period they reached Europa League Final after defeating Dortmund in a thrilling semifinal. The template for Klopp’s Pool team was set, they were a gegenpressing side now.

2016-17: The 4th place trophy

For the 2016-17 season, Klopp added Mane, Matip, and Wijnaldum to his squad along with Karius to eventually replace Mignolet in goal. After failing to qualify for the Champions League in the previous season, the aim for this season was to come into CL places at the end of the season. Addition of Mane solved the goal scoring issue and Mane finished as Liverpool’s joint highest scorer for the season in PL. There was improvement in all attacking areas as all underlying stats improved from the previous season. One important thing was % of shots from inside the box, this increased from 54% in the previous season to 60%. It meant that players were taking more shots from inside the box, which invariably means the shots taken were of better quality rather than speculative efforts. This also gets reflected in the subsequent improvement in % of shots on target (36.25% from 31.48%) and shooting percentage (% of goals from number of shots on target) which improved to 36.68% as compared to 33.62% the previous season.

In terms of defense, the improvement was marginal. PPDA improved from 7.48 to 7.23, once again 2nd lowest in the league. Also, shots allowed and shots allowed on target numbers increased but at the same time number of big chances conceded increased. The result of all this was that while the xGC remained the same from last season, they kept one more CS and conceded 8 fewer goals from last season.

In the final standings, the season’s objective was achieved, and Pool finished 4th qualifying for the Champions League for 2017-18 season.

2017-18: The Egyptian King

2017-18 was the season of Salah, despite multiple other important movements, this was the season when Salah reintroduced himself to the Premier League.

This season all the attacking underlying stats including total number of shots on target, shooting percentage, total number of shots from inside the box, and % shots from inside the box increased from previous season, resulting in whopping 43% increase in big chances created. At the end of season, Liverpool had scored 84 goals, highest since the season they had come 2nd under Rodgers and were 2nd in the league for goals scored.

Defensively they had become more solid. Klopp had wanted Van Djik as his central defender and refused to sign anyone else. He had to wait six months but he got his man when Van Djik eventually joined in January. No one gave credit at the time but his impact was instantaneous as clean sheets and goals conceded dramatically improved once Van Djik started playing.

Klopp also asked his team to press less. For the first time under Klopp, PPDA numbers did not improve from previous season, and they were 4th best pressing side in the PL with PPDA of 9.55 (7.23 in 2017-18). With these improvements in both attack and defense, Pool finished the season once again in 4th but this time they had reached the CL final.

2018-19: Completing the Jigsaw

Continuing with mid-season addition of Van Djik, Klopp decided to go for more control and security in the 2018-19 season and for that end he recruited Keita, Fabinho, and the most important of them all, Allison.

Defensively Liverpool became better, but underlying stats show that the improvement was marginal only, with only 8 less shots allowed on target than previous season. xGC improved by 6 only, from 35.75 to 29.15 but goals conceded improved by whopping 16, 22 compared to 38 the previous season. For the 1st time, goals conceded were lower than xGC, and the reason for this was Allison. The starkest improvement was in goals conceded/shots on target; which is the save percentage of goal keeper. This improved from 37% in the previous season to 23%. Now Liverpool had a complete defensive unit. The best wing backs in the league, the best Center Back in the league and the best goalkeeper.

Offensively the gains were marginal; shooting percentage and shots on target both increased and hence even though they created lower number of chances, they improved upon their goal tally from previous season. In search of control, Liverpool had again decreased their efforts in pressing. Their PPDA once again fell from previous season, and they were now the 6th best pressing side. This was the only underlying stat in which Pool were beyond 3rd in the league. For every other stat they were either 1st, 2nd or 3rd.

They created history last season when they became the side with highest points not to win the PL. They did win the CL though, so that somewhat dulled the pain for the supporters. Ultimately Liverpool had a great season, proof of which lies in the fact that 7 Liverpool players have been nominated for 2019 Ballon d’Or awards.

2019-20: When a plan comes together?

Liverpool ended the 2019-20 season with 9 straight league wins and they continued in the same vein in this season, they won first 8 matches and drew the ninth one to continue their unbeaten run.

The clean sheets have been rare this season and the reason for that is Allison’s absence due to injury. The save percentage has decreased, goals conceded/shots on target is 32% for the season. They are still allowing low number of shots on target and are currently on course to concede fewer shots this season compared to previous season.

Offensively, they have once again improved from previous season. Chances created, big chances created, shots on target and shooting percentage all have increased from previous season. Thanks to this they are on course to score higher number of goals than the previous season.

What does this all mean for FPL?

Liverpool are still the best defensive side in PL. They are 2nd for xGC and have allowed the least number of shots on target. With Allison set to return, expect Liverpool to rack up the clean sheets. Go with at least 1 defender. Our preference is for TAA since he is the most creative of the lot.

In terms of attack, Liverpool have scored the 2nd highest number of goals, and are either 2nd or 3rd for all underlying stats. Your team should have at least one Liverpool attacker. Whom to select between Salah, Mane, and Firmino is the question. That is a separate topic altogether and we will cover that at opportune moment.

Data Table

Stat Catgory Stat 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 2019-20 (Proj) League Stats League Position 6th 8th 4th 4th 2nd 1st NA Win 18 16 22 21 30 8 NA Draw 8 12 10 12 7 1 NA Loss 12 10 6 5 1 0 NA Points 62 60 76 75 97 25 NA Attacking Stats Goals Scored 52 63 78 84 89 21 99.75 xG 51.7 54.37 66.63 77.49 79.46 18.46 87.69 Possession 55.8 57.4 62.6 60.8 62.3 61.1 60.2 Mins/Chance 6.1 5.7 5.6 5.7 6.3 6.1 NA Total Shots 590 629 640 638 575 141 670 Shots on Target 190 198 232 229 218 52 247 Shots from inside the box 305 339 383 391 377 94 447 Shots on Target (%) 32% 31% 36% 36% 38% 37% 37% Shooting Percentage 27% 32% 34% 37% 41% 40% 40% Big Chances Created 59 65 76 109 108 31 147 Big Chances Scored 25 29 43 48 54 11 52 Successful Passes in Final 3rd 3086 3753 4724 4033 4078 1044 4959 Chances Created 435 492 499 488 422 109 518 Shots from inside the box/Shots 52% 54% 60% 61% 66% 67% 67% Big Chances Scored (%) 42% 45% 57% 44% 50% 35% 35% Defensive Stats Clean sheet 14 11 12 17 21 2 10 Goals Conceded 48 50 42 38 22 7 33 xGC 38.2 37.9 37.6 35.8 29.1 8.2 39.0 PPDA 9.76 7.48 7.23 9.55 9.99 7.54 7.87 Blocked Passes 105 109 65 71 79 20 90 Interceptions 442 549 410 379 315 92 390 Shots Allowed 415 399 311 282 307 84 399 Shots Allowed on Target 139 130 115 104 96 21 100 Big Chances Conceded 50 42 58 54 40 12 57 Shots Allowed on Target/Shots Allowed 33% 33% 37% 37% 31% 25% 25% Goals Conceded/Shots on Target 35% 38% 37% 37% 23% 33% 33%

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