Glory or Gloom - Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool

Despite a recent dry spell in terms of winning trophies, Liverpool is still renowned as one of the top clubs in the world and one of the biggest football clubs historically. In efforts to get back to winning trophies, the club appointed Jurgen Klopp a few years ago and he started reshaping and rebuilding the team in efforts to make it the best. The team has improved exponentially every year and they've managed to build an almost perfect team with stars in each position. Last year was a great chance to win a trophy and somehow they still ended up without adding to the cabinet.

Klopp celebrating with his team after a victory over Tottenham Hotspur

Losses in Finals

In the last three years, Liverpool has lost three separate finals in three competitions: The League Cup, The Europa League, and The Champions League. Although some of it is based on the opposition and some on the players, Klopp has to take a fair share of responsibility. He's had good teams in each of these competitions, capable of taking down any opposition. Further, it's well known that it's not always the better team that wins. Klopp's tactics or game management haven't necessarily stood out in these games to lift his team.

League performance against smaller teams

Liverpool dropped 19 points against teams outside the big six last season which included draws against West Brom twice and one with Stoke City, both teams ended up getting relegated. They finished fourth in a year when they had such a good team with Salah leading the way with the Premier League golden boot and Mane and Firmino putting on a show. This has been a recurring problem for Klopp's Liverpool with them dropping 28 points against teams outside the big-six in 2015-2016 (30 games under Klopp's reign) and 28 points in 2016-2017. By contrast, they've played much better against big-six sides. Obviously, the Premier League is a very competitive league, but to be champions you've got to maximize your points against lesser teams and that has been the trend historically and even recently as evidenced by Leicester City, Chelsea and Manchester City's title campaigns.

The perfect team for the 2018-2019 campaign

This year, he's managed to strengthen every part of his team, including the bench. He bought a world-class goalkeeper in Alisson, a top defender in Van Dijk, a workhorse in Keita and class players like Fabinho and Shaqiri to further strengthen his squad. He's also managed to hold on to his exhilarating front three in Mane, Firmino, and Salah. This is probably the best team in the league on paper and is one of the top teams in the world. There's no excuse as to why Klopp's Liverpool doesn't win a trophy this year. If Klopp's plan is a hit and Liverpool wins trophies this season, the process will have been worth it, but if Liverpool doesn't win a major trophy with such a talented and loaded team, it should be looked at as a failure and there might be a situation where some players might end up leaving. Klopp's stint at Liverpool will depend heavily on the outcome of this campaign. The pressure is on him and his team to deliver. Will it end in glory?