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Carragher impressed with Klopp’s LFC start

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Liverpool pressed Spurs almost to death in the first half on Saturday

Liverpool pressed Spurs almost to death in the first half on Saturday

He’s never been one to be easily impressed and, despite seemingly mellowed since joining Sky Sports as a pundit, Jamie Carragher very rarely cut a happy figure on the field but he seems fairly pleased with what he saw from Jurgen Klopp’s first game in charge of Liverpool.

The Reds played out a 0-0 draw with Spurs at White Hart Lane on Saturday morning, with a hugely weakened squad and managed to hold their own throughout.

But it was perhaps the manner in which the players conducted themselves throughout that was most impressive, with the team covering more kilometers than any team in the Premier League and completing more ‘sprints’ (by almost 200) than any team over the weekend. It seems that it was this that most impressed the former Liverpool star.

Speaking to Sky Sports, Carragher said: “I liked what I saw. Very rarely do you see a manager stamp his authority on a team from day one, but that’s what he did.

“Over the week since he’s had the job, we’ve been reading about what he is like as a manager – pressing, how much distance they are going to cover.

“Transition pressing was a massive thing for Klopp at Borussia Dortmund and it looks like it’s going to be a really big thing for this Liverpool team.

“One thing Klopp likes is for four or five players to get around the opposition player on the ball. He sees transition as a great opportunity to score a goal.

“As soon as they lose the ball you can see they will keep pressing until they win it back. They’re organised and you can see that has been worked on in the first two or three days in training.”

The side Klopp sent out to take on Spurs lacked the talents of the likes of Roberto Firmino, Christian Benteke and Danny Ings, not to mention the clubs’ most dangerous attacking player, Daniel Sturridge. But each player, to a man, gave 100% and worked their socks off, despite visibly tiring late in each half.

The groundwork has been laid however, and if Liverpool can match that effort each week, it’ll stand the team in good stead. And Carragher certainly believes so, given what we saw after only a few days on the training ground. He continued: “What was the difference? Well, these are things you don’t see from every team. That is what impressed me in the past from Klopp and we’re seeing it from day one.

“The distance Liverpool covered, it was like they had an extra man on the pitch in terms of pressing and defending.

“The increase in sprints was the big one. The big thing in football is sports science and how quickly you can get to people and press people with high intensity.

“This was not a Liverpool team that were under the cosh or had 30 per cent possession, they had more possession than Spurs and they still covered that amount of ground.

“What I liked was how compact they were at White Hart Lane, 30 to 35 metres from back to front. He played them in the positions they were suited to and still got them to press.

“The work from those first two to three days on the training ground was clear to see on the pitch.”

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I'm a 32 year old Liverpool fan, living in the heart of the City Centre. I've supported the club since the day I was born and have been writing articles for L4L for over 3 years, writing close over 350 articles in that time. My favorite player of the past generation is Sami Hyypia.

I am the current editor for L4L, with my day job being in R&D for the NHS.