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Palace Defeat Dampens Klopp’s Encouraging Start

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Liverpool lost their first game under Klopp on Sunday afternoon

Liverpool lost their first game under Klopp on Sunday afternoon

After six games unbeaten, Liverpool suffered their first defeat under Jurgen Klopp, succumbing to Crystal Palace 2-1 at Anfield.

While Alan Pardew’s side are quickly turning into the latest bogey team for the Reds, having won three straight league games against Liverpool (along with the 3-3 draw that ended the title challenge under Brendan Rodgers in 2014), overall the new Liverpool manager should look back on his first month in charge with some satisfaction.

Having managed seven games with the Anfield club, Klopp now finally has a break, due to the international fixtures, where he can assess his opening period with the players. The German has already expressed his pleasure at how quickly the Liverpool players have taken to his methods in training and attempted to replicate that on the pitch.

It yielded increasingly promising results up until last weekend – Klopp’s first six games in all competitions were three draws followed by three wins. Against Tottenham the Reds were fantastic in the first 20 minutes before holding onto a 0-0 draw at White Hart Lane.

Then at Anfield the draws against Rubin Kazan and Southampton were disappointing and highlighted by defensive errors, but Liverpool created more chances than against Spurs which was a sign of improvement.

Once edging past Bournemouth in the League Cup, with some more promising performances, the improvement manifested superbly in the 3-1 win against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, easily the highlight of Klopp’s brief reign thus far.

After seemingly consolidating the momentum with an away win in Europe for the first time since 2012, against Rubin Kazan, Liverpool then adopted the mantra of one step forward, two steps back against Palace at Anfield.

Nevertheless, over the break Klopp has plenty of positives to look back on, even if the results haven’t offered the same reflection consistently. Many players have looked reborn under the new manager, with the likes of Jordon Ibe and Alberto Moreno seemingly restored to their rampaging best, even if there remains plenty of rough around the edges.

Roberto Firmino has also improved in a central role, which is probably down to a number of circumstances – getting back up to speed from injury, becoming accustomed to a new league and perhaps having greater confidence under a manager who seems to trust him more rather than being played out wide.

Nathaniel Clyne has continued his consistency from the start of the season under Rodgers, while even Philippe Coutinho might be finally waking up for this campaign after his three goals against Chelsea and Crystal Palace, although even in these games his inconsistency in play remains a concern.

The two best players under Klopp, however, have been Lucas Leiva and Mamadou Sakho.

The injury to Sakho was a huge blow during the game and he'll be out til Christmas

The injury to Sakho was a huge blow during the game and he’ll be out til Christmas

Lucas has excelled as the defensive lynchpin and finally seems to be recognised as an experienced player in the squad, rather than an outcast drafted in for emergencies but always close to the exit door. Statistically, the Brazilian has been superb but needs a high class midfield tactician alongside him, which hopefully captain Jordan Henderson can provide on his return from injury.

Meanwhile, Sakho has been nothing short of a rock since Klopp arrived. Allied to an improvement in the Frenchman’s passing, both with direct forward passes along the floor or in the air (such as Liverpool’s second goal against Chelsea), and Sakho has been one of the Premier League’s in-form centre backs.

That is until he joined the growing injury list at Anfield, with a knee injury ruling him out for two months.

Yet the Palace defeat in particular will highlight the number of issues that Klopp has to work on for Liverpool to become more successful in the future.

Despite continuing his impressive shot-stopping ability, Simon Mignolet lacks world-class quality in too many areas of his game. His distribution remains poor, and he is obviously uncomfortable on the ball. Moreover, he remains anything but commanding from set pieces and doesn’t exactly install assurance and confidence in his defence.

The defensive errors remain prevalent, while it seems the Reds are the worst in the world defensively and offensively at set-pieces. Southampton capitalised on poor defending to equalize at Anfield, while Scott Dann also scored the winner for Palace from a corner.

Klopp has to cut those mistakes out, and that will only come with more games and greater confidence, or new defenders. Moreno has to improve his positional sense, which was sorely lacking in Ramires’ opening goal for Chelsea, even if his attacking game has improved.

However, what’s even more important for Klopp is improving the creativity as the current Liverpool side lack goals. Despite the defensive mistakes, as a unit in open play Liverpool are tougher to beat under Klopp and hopefully that will continue to improve over time, but in attack the Reds struggled to prise teams open.

Anfield in particular remains a stadium of struggle for Liverpool, where there is little space to exploit against opposing teams who sit behind the ball, knowing the Reds lack pace in wide areas and the likes of Coutinho, Firmino and Adam Lallana prefer to play centrally.

Christian Benteke has become more effective under Klopp and is less isolated, but cannot be expected to beat an entire defence.

With no Daniel Sturridge or Danny Ings, there is no one to run in behind and stretch defences, therefore this narrow style of play may be hard to change until January, when perhaps Klopp can bring in forward players with pace in behind and out wide.

Jordon Ibe is the only fit player left in the squad who can perform that role, but despite his improved form he remains far from the finished article.

The improvements are already clear at Anfield however, despite defeat

The improvements are already clear at Anfield however, despite defeat

With a daunting trip to Manchester City after the international break, Klopp’s tricky fixture list just keeps on coming but his future will not be decided with a trip to the title favourites. He has plenty of time having just been appointed as Liverpool manager, with masses of goodwill from every Liverpool fan.

Regardless, whilst there are no expectations this season, if a top four finish is not achievable then progress has to be made on the pitch, indicating that a bright future is around the corner.

Liverpool fans will always support the team when there is hope, which was certainly building in Klopp’s opening games, but the loss to Palace was a reality check.

Now Klopp and his players, when they return from internationals, must dust themselves down and go again as they look to find a solution that will restore Liverpool back into the elite once more.

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