Maybe Klopp is not the Liverpool messiah

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has a conundrum to solve in the Reds inconsistency

I have to admit the thought of Jurgen Klopp managing Liverpool absolutely terrified me as a fan of one of the Reds rivals.

Klopp is one of my favourite people in football.

His passion, his touchline antics and his sense of humour make him a great character for the Premier League.

Liverpool fans celebrated his arrival, as they should have done because he is a very astute boss, but his results so far have not tallied up with his past results at Dortmund, apart from maybe his last season when BVB finished seventh.

The Reds face a home game against Premier League champions Leicester City at Anfield later today, which they are odds of 7/10 to win. However, anything could happen with the mercurial Merseysiders.

Reds highly inconsistent under Klopp

The affable Klopp must be tearing his hair out at his side’s inability to find any sort of consistent since his arrival just under a year ago. You look up the word ‘inconsistent’ in any directory and there will be a picture of the German next to it scratching his head.

The fans must also feel that frustration as well, but to be fair to them they have been realistic and showed Klopp patience because the team have shown in the last year the sort of scintillating football that Klopp’s team is capable of producing.

Liverpool’s performances seem to depend on what mood the players are in on any given day. I know I bang on about him, but Philippe Coutinho is the prime example. On his day he is a fantastic player, but he has a tendency to disappear when things are not going his way.

He is the archetypal luxury player. However, Liverpool are attempting to build a team around the 24-year-old, but they are building on very shaky foundations with the Brazilian. With time hopefully he can find some sort of consistency to his game, but at the moment the Reds cannot depend on the mercurial talents of the Brazilian.

Klopp has not addressed the defensive problem

The biggest problem the Reds have at the moment is the fact that the defence is just not good enough. Spanish left-back Alberto Moreno is far too erratic and Klopp with hindsight should have brought in another left-back in the summer.

Instead, dependable old James Milner is filling in at left-back. Milner has had more positions than the Karma Sutra. The former England international will no doubt do a steady job, but the Reds need an out-and-out left-back to play in the position.

The centre-back situation is also rather concerning. Klopp brought in Estonian international Ragnar Klavan and sold Martin Skrtel. To me, there does not seem to be much different in the pair. Klavan is currently sidelined through injury for the Reds, which may just be a good thing at the moment.

Summer arrival Joel Matip enjoyed a pretty solid debut against Tottenham prior to the international break. The Cameroon international may prove to be the answer at centre-back because the Reds have conceded six goals in their first three Premier League games.

New goalkeeper Loris Karius is fit again after injury. His presence in the Reds goal may just give the defence slightly more confidence.

For as much as I admire Klopp, I do believe that this summer he has buried his head in the sand when it comes to his team’s defensive deficiencies. His Dortmund team may have played heavy metal football, but they also had the ability to defend their own goal, something that seems to be an alien concept to the current Liverpool squad.

Maybe Klopp is not the man to bring back the glory days

When Jurgen Klopp was appointed as Liverpool boss it seemed a perfect fit. The German is a highly-talented boss and Liverpool are a sleeping giant in need of a shake. It seemed a winning combination.

While Liverpool has played some fantastic football in the last year, the inconsistency will just not go away. Klopp’s win ratio at Liverpool is just 44.5 percent, which is worse than predecessor’s Brendan Rodgers win ratio of 51.20 per cent.

Sometimes for unknown reasons certain good manager’s fail at decent clubs. Sometimes it’s bad luck or poor signings, but sometimes it just inexplicably goes wrong. Klopp and Liverpool may just fall into that category, despite signs of revival.

Only time will tell if the German can bring back the glory days to Anfield, but at the moment the teams sheer unpredictably is hampering their progress and Klopp needs to sort it and quick

Is Jurgen Klopp still the man to bring success to Liverpool?