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Beware of Klopp: Who Could be on the Chopping End of the Liverpool Manager’s Reign?

Being 98% OK with a result would be fine for a team, but unless they get a win, it doesn’t really count for much. Jurgen Klopp’s second game in charge of Liverpool ended in a stalemate as 10-man Rubin Kazan held on for a point in their Europa League clash. Klopp, however, was happy with the performance stating it wasn’t a ‘masterclass’ but it ‘was not the worst day in my life’ after the game.

In his second game in charge, Liverpool did seem a bit better to play in the Klopp style of pressing and counter-attacking but the lack of a pacey forward or a creative outlet, apart from the on and off Philippe Coutinho was detrimental to the Red half of Merseyside. Klopp didn’t have a chance to jump into the transfer market and now has to deal with the players he has been left with by his predecessor, Brendan Rodgers.

Brendan Rodgers
Brendan Rodgers

Klopp though didn’t have a particularly good squad when he took over at Dortmund and meticulous planning and a lot of hard work behind the scenes made Dortmund the team they were under the German. Klopp though has to work under extreme pressure at Liverpool as he is expected to deliver success and fast.

Liverpool do have a pretty large squad and that would have to be trimmed down, but more than that Klopp might want to ship away a few players who might catch on to the Gegen-express. Hopefully, FSG would provide Klopp with the necessary funds to deal with the influx of players going out or coming in.

Out with the old and in with the bold?

The first player who would be on the chopping block is Kolo Toure, not that the Ivorian is a bad player but he is getting a bit on in terms of age and playing an aggressive game such as the demands of the new Liverpool system might take a toll on his body. Kolo is 34-years-old and with his contract expiring in 2016, there really isn’t much of a chance for the centre-back to get an extension. Plus with the likes of upcoming defenders in Tiago Ilori and Joe Gomez waiting in the wings to take up any places in the first team, any defender close to the age of 30 would have a tough time keeping a first-team place at the club.

Lucas Leiva
Lucas Leiva

Many expected the arrival of Jurgen Klopp to be the end of Lucas Leiva, but the German has shown faith in Lucas as he has been paired with Emre Can in midfield. The onus then falls on another signing of Rodgers, who might not be able to make it into the team. Joe Allen seems to be a forgotten figure at Liverpool, the ‘Welsh Xavi’ does pretty well for his national side, but he barely gets a run out for Liverpool. Allen isn’t the dynamic midfielder that Can and Lucas or even Milner and Henderson are, and with all the players constantly running about and trying to do things, Allen might become an afterthought come this January.

The biggest named player who wouldn’t fit into this high energy game at Liverpool would be the mercurial and often frustrating Mario Balotelli. Bought by Rodgers as a gamble, the Italian striker is currently at AC Milan on loan and while he might want to return to England and prove his doubters wrong, there really is no glimmer of hope on the Italian fitting this new system an Anfield. Balotelli could play the one central striker that Liverpool intend to use in their games, but he isn’t the most mobile player, a fox in the box he might be but ask him to close down opponents like Danny Ings or Daniel Sturridge and you would get to see the deficiencies in his game.

Mario Balotelli
Mario Balotelli

Klopp has a few months to decide who stays and who goes, there is a small chance that the likes of Lazar Markovic and Tiago Ilori could be recalled from their loan spells as injuries mount up at Liverpool. To get that 2% back into his team, Klopp might have to work that extra bit hard with the youngsters to get them clicking in his version of Liverpool.