THE GENESIS OF Liverpool’s latest Premier League revival can be traced back to Jurgen Klopp’s lowest point as manager.
It is approaching the one-year anniversary of a grim 3-0 defeat in England’s Black Country on 4 February 2023.
The nadir makes for a neat starting point for Klopp should he deliver a second title at the end of this season.
Wolverhampton Wanderers went two goals up at Molineux after just 12 minutes and added a third with a quarter of an hour remaining to really be able to enjoy themselves.
Klopp could barely look at the travelling supporters after full-time as he made his way over to acknowledge their efforts.
What a transformation in the 12 months that have followed. The German’s post-match visits to The Kop are triumphant once again.
A year ago Liverpool were 10th in the Premier League, just 11 points clear of Everton in the relegation zone, 13 adrift of a resurgent Manchester United in third place and 21 points off league leaders Arsenal.
Liverpool had somehow found themselves to be a complete rabble at that point of the season. There was a 3-0 defeat to Brighton and 3-1 loss at Brentford.
The Wolves debacle then brought with it the kind of questions that previously seemed improbable.
There was mention of the mentality of Klopp and his players needing to be addressed, the highest form of disrepute given past experiences.
The ‘mentality monsters‘, it seemed, were no more.
Their preparation for games came under the microscope and, sitting in the press conference room at Molineux, Klopp was asked whether he backed his own ability to turn things around.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Absolutely.”
Jonathan Liew, sportswriter for the Guardian, described the scene a year ago in a manner that could double for the opening to a sombre eulogy.
“He looks a little haggard these days, like a homeless wizard: the face worn and weathered, a thick Arctic forest of a beard hanging from him. Deep breaths. Voice cracked and familiar. Baseball cap drawn low over sad eyes.
“On the walls at Liverpool’s training ground, there are photographs from his arrival, a younger and more handsome man staring him down every day he comes into work. Seven years. How has it only been seven years? How has it already been seven years?”
Liverpool didn’t lose again in February and started March by gaining revenge over Wolves at Anfield (2-0) before that historic 7-0 thrashing of United.
They then lost 1-0 away to Bournemouth – who they face this afternoon – six days later before being steamrolled 4-1 by champions Manchester City.
It was around this time that project to refine Trent Alexander-Arnold in a hybrid role as right back-cum-midfielder began.
Liverpool didn’t lose a game for the rest of the season and qualified for the Europa League as a result.
Their only defeat this campaign came in that controversial game away to Tottenham Hotspur when the VAR officials wrongly disallowed Luis Diaz’s goal.
A year on from the depths of 10th Liverpool are top of the Premier League by delivering the kind of consistency that escaped them last season.
And yet their title challenge this time around seems contradictory to how their 2019/20 success was masterminded.
Then, in that season disrupted by Covid-19, Liverpool were heralded as the smartest men in the room for how they were able to carefully craft a squad capable of toppling City.
If it wasn’t for Klopp and former sporting director Michael Edwards, Pep Guardiola’s side would now be primed for a seventh title in a row.
Sometimes things fall into place by chance as much as they do by design. There are sliding doors moments that have shaped history.
When it was the Edwards-Klopp axis, the story goes that the manager was adamant that Julian Brandt would fit perfectly into his front three.
Edwards disagreed and insisted that Roma’s Mo Salah was the priority.
Premier League success followed and it may well be on the horizon again. Not that it felt that way this summer, one which Klopp always planned on reconfiguring his midfield but perhaps not quite in the way that was expected.
“We have this kind of new start with this ‘Liverpool FC reloaded’ if you want, and it’s an exciting thing,” he said last summer.
“Everybody was asking for changes, rightly so because we were together for a long time… Change is always one of the biggest challenges in life.
“Did it happen at exactly the right moment? It’s difficult to answer but now it happened and that’s good. It’s a new chance for everybody, everybody has to step up.”
Activating Alexis Mac Allister’s £35 million release clause at Brighton allowed Klopp get the World Cup winner through the door early in June.
Talks with Mason Mount took place in the months before the window opened but Liverpool weren’t prepared to pay more than £40m for a player nearing the end of his Chelsea contract.
The midfielder preferred to join United and they were equally willing to satisfy the Stamford Bridge hierarchy by paying £60m.
In the midst of all this was a change to Klopp’s inner circle.
Julian Ward – Edwards’ successor – departed after Mac Allister arrived and was replaced by the German’s compatriot Jorg Schmadtke on a short-term deal that is also reportedly set to end at the end of this season, meaning more upheaval around Klopp.
There was still important business to be done, though.
In place of Mount, Liverpool honed in on Hungary captain Dominik Szoboszlai from RB Leipzig. Only 22 and capable of excelling in different midfield positions as well as on either flank in attack, he was deemed a more reliable and versatile operator.
That judgement has proved sound so far, although like Alexander-Arnold he is expected to miss today’s game through injury after that intense Christmas schedule.
There was some embarrassment and confusion in their pursuit of No.1 target Moises Caicedo, however. Even after a British record £111m fee was agreed with Brighton (and announced on the Liverpool club website) the Ecuadorian midfielder turned down the move to join Chelsea instead.
Liverpool’s back-up option, Southampton teenager Romeo Lavia, duly followed Caicedo’s lead in heading to London too.
In the short-term, these are twists of fate that have not had a negative effect. The players that have arrived at Anfield have benefitted from the culture and environment created by Klopp over the last eight years.
He is the club’s longest-serving manager since Bob Paisley (1974-83) and, a year on from feeling like it was a reign that was beginning to fracture, the renaissance continues.
