Use your head like Sadio and subscribe to the Liverpool FC newsletter Sign me up Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

Jurgen Klopp was satisfied with Liverpool’s draw at Tottenham, but his message was clear: the Reds can do better.

No surprise, given the German managed just two full training sessions before heading to White Hart Lane. There were signs of his preferred style of play having an impact on the squad already, but it will take time to implement fully.

Klopp has reason to believe it will get better, however. A lot has been written of ‘the Klopp effect’, and how his presence will galvanise the team, but it is all based on conjecture; a hypothesis founded on his personality, charisma and unquestionable record at both Mainz and Borussia Dortmund.

There is tangible evidence of it too, however. At both German clubs, Klopp took charge during an awful run of form – and would transform their fortunes, and quickly.

The two jobs – at Mainz and Dortmund – differ. At his first club, he moved to the dugout in February, with 22 games already played, having to make do with the squad he inherited; a squad he had spent that season, and many seasons, playing with.

At Dortmund, it was a bigger club, but he did join at the natural starting point – the summer of 2008. He had months to shape his squad, both on the training ground and in the transfer market.

At Liverpool, he doesn’t have the opportunity to tinker with his squad. He has to make do with what he has – and that, because of injuries, is not a lot at the moment. Perhaps, then, his time at Mainz will encourage.

But then, he is not taking over at Anfield at such a late stage at the season. After just eight games, the damage of an indifferent start is not irreversible. The task of reviving a big club’s fortunes is reflected far more with the work he did at Dortmund.

Fortunately for the Reds, his record at both when taking charge is positive.

Including the game at Spurs, Klopp will have 12 league matches before he can do work in the transfer market – his 12th game coming away to West Ham on January 2 - although that is not that it is something he is contemplating now, or necessarily will do come January.

Twelve games is a good gauge though, given Mainz had 12 games under Klopp to save themselves from relegation to the third-tier of German football.

IN PICS: Spurs 0-0 Liverpool

MAINZ

Klopp took charge of Mainz days after their 3-1 defeat away to Greuther Furth, with the German leading them to a 1-0 win at home to Duisburg.

Including that opening win, he led Mainz to 21 points from a possible 36, with six wins and just three defeats. Some upturn, then, from the final 12 games of Eckhard Krautzun’s four-month reign, which yielded just one win and seven points.

Klopp’s first 12 games also saw 17 goals compared to the six strikes in their previous 12, while they conceded just 13 under Klopp, four fewer than in the same period before his appointment.

The improvement at Mainz is even more obvious over a longer period of time. Klopp took charge of Mainz after 22 games, with the club managing just 19 points, scoring 23 goals and shipping in 30. Klopp, meanwhile, in his first 22 games - over two seasons – won 46 points from a possible 66, scoring 40 and conceding just 24.

The improvement was immediate.

DORTMUND

A similar story, if not so drastic, at Westfalenstadion. In the final 12 games of Dortmund’s 2007-08 season, Thomas Doll led BVB to 12 points with just two wins and four defeats; they also scored 16 goals, conceding 24. They would eventually finish in eighth.

Klopp’s arrival over the summer reversed their fortunes. In his first 12 league games, he won 18 points, winning four and losing two; his team also bagged 20, and let in 18. Better, then, across the board.

LIVERPOOL

And what of Liverpool? The dip in form under Brendan Rodgers was a contributing factor to his dismissal, and the figures are not too dissimilar Mainz and Dortmund before Klopp took charge. In Rodgers’ last 12 games, Liverpool won 16 points, scoring 13 goals. Most concerning of all, however, are the 21 goals conceded – nearing two a game.

The German’s first Liverpool game brought a goalless draw. In his previous two roles, he began with a win. The Reds, however, will hope the similarities begin here.

Can he reverse Liverpool's fortunes? Comment below: