5 mistakes Jurgen Klopp has made at Liverpool this season

It has been almost 2 years since Jurgen Klopp took the managerial reins at Liverpool, yet it seems he has failed to provide any kind of lift to Liverpool Football Club. It seems like Liverpool are still stuck in a crisis period, with some flashes of brilliance here and there.

There can be absolutely no excuse from Klopp‘s side regarding Liverpool current form, which stands at 1 win from last 7 games.

Here, are 5 mistakes that Klopp has made in this season thus far: -

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#5 James Milner‘s continued absence

Milner yet to feature consistently in Liverpool's midfield

This is quite difficult to understand. Milner moved to Liverpool from Manchester City, with a view to play in his preferred position of central midfield. But, so far in his time at Liverpool, he has been used at left-back, or he has been left on the bench.

Even his involvement in Liverpool's midfield has been minimal due to Klopp 's preference to play Henderson, Wijnaldum and Emre Can. But, the problem here is neither of these three players like to sit deep and protect the back four, and instead, are keen to go forward and link up with the forwards.

This is where James Milner's ability is being missed. He has the ability to sit deep, break-up the play, provide protection to the back four and allow other midfielders beside him to move forward and link up with the attackers.

#4 Persisting with Daniel Sturridge

Sturridge has been struggling for far too long now

This, too, is quite baffling. It just doesn’t make any sense as to why Klopp and Liverpool were so keen to keep a striker who has hardly played for Liverpool since the 2013/14 season.

So far, in his Liverpool career, Sturridge has managed just one good season i.e. when Liverpool nearly won the league in 2013/14 season, and he scored 21 goals, but, since then, he has struggled for fitness, and has managed just 39 Premier league appearances till date, scoring a mere 12 goals.

When fit, he is perhaps one of the best strikers in the Premier League, but constant fitness problems and injuries have taken a toll on his body and he looks well past his prime now.

There was reported interest in Sturridge during the summer from various clubs, but Klopp chose to stick with his injury-prone striker. It would have been wise for Liverpool and Klopp to have parted ways with Sturridge and used the money from his sale to procure a striker who could guarantee at least 15-20 goals a season.

#3 Failure to address defensive woes

Strange to go and get Ox when Liverpool already have so many midfield options

Klopp absolutely made a mockery of Liverpool's summer transfer window, by not signing even one central defender. Clearly, the defence was the major area of concern for Liverpool last season.

But, instead, he decided to buy winger Mohamed Salah from Roma for £36.9 million, left-back Andrew Robertson for £8 million from Hull City and the most bizarre of them all midfielder, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain for £34 million from Arsenal on transfer deadline day.

It just doesn’t make any sense why Robertson and Chamberlain were brought in when Klopp already better options with him.

Yet another question that demands to be raised is as to why Klopp did not pursue any other defender when Liverpool were categorically told by Southampton that Virgil Van Dijk was not going to be sold.

These are questions which can be answered only by Klopp.

#2 Klopp‘s tactics

Klopp seems to be a one-trick pony with only his high-pressing style on offer

There is absolutely no doubt that Klopp has made Liverpool entertaining to watch. They play with a certain kind of swagger which is exciting; but can Liverpool win the league, or for that matter, any kind of silverware with this style? Well, the answer to this question is a resounding No.

Klopp's tactics were found wanting in the recent defeats to Leicester City in the EFL Cup and in the Premier League to Manchester City. Both teams exploited the pockets of space which are created due to Liverpool's tendency to press high up the pitch.

It could be argued, that Liverpool were reduced to 10 men against Manchester City, but instead of holding the play up and defending deep, Liverpool continued to press high and were duly punished by City.

It seems, Klopp‘s Liverpool just know to play one-way all the time, and their inability to grind out results in difficult times and see off games raises a lot of question about Klopp's tactics and his coaching style.

#1 Rotating the Goalkeepers

It's almost as if a game of musical chairs is going on to decide Liverpool 's number 1

Ever since Pepe Reina left Liverpool, the hunt for a new number 1 seems to be going on for the Reds. Both, Simon Mignolet and Loris Karius seem to be playing a game of musical chair for being the undisputed Liverpool number 1.

And, thanks to Klopp‘s insistence on rotating the two keepers between competitions means there is no settled number 1 in the club.

This continued rotation of back-4 and goalkeeper by Klopp between competitions have not allowed any kind of understanding or partnership to develop. This has resulted in utter chaos at the back, which has led to Liverpool conceding goals left, right and centre.

The Liverpool squad is a talented squad, but Klopp needs to get his priorities and tactics right. He has been allowed to settle in nicely at the club and has been given both time and money by the owners to get Liverpool into the title race once again.

But, if Klopp continues the same way as he is now, then it won’t be too long before both, the supporters and board turn against him.