Liverpool limped into the international break on the heels of a 2-1 loss to Crystal Palace to sit in 10th in the Premier League table. They have just four wins, five draws and three defeats through their first 12 games. There is no doubt that it has been a rocky start through the first third of the schedule but there is still plenty of reasons to be optimistic about what is happening right now at Anfield. Here is a look at the four positives that we can take from Liverpool’s season so far to this point.
A Fresh Start
It isn’t often that a club can fire its manager before the halfway mark and consider it a positive, but Brendan Rodgers seemed bound to fail throughout his time at Liverpool and a fresh start seemed to be just what the team needed. Liverpool hit the reset button when they appointed the former Borussia Dortmund manager Jurgen Klopp as the manager at the beginning of October and while he is a proven tactical mind, there is another aspect of his approach to the game that has stood out with his players. Klopp is a more player-friendly manager who isn’t afraid to show emotion. Some of the Reds have praised how refreshing his approach has been. Liverpool still faces an uphill climb to become a legitimate contender once again (nine points out of first place) but they clearly have the right manager in place with Klopp.
Strong Additions
There is no doubt that Liverpool has thrown some big money to waste over the past couple of years – including the additions of the since-departed Rickie Lambert as well as Lazar Markovic and Mario Balotelli. The club’s desperation for a viable replacement for Luis Suarez caused them to make some major mistakes in terms of their offseason signings two years ago. However, they have taken measures to rectify those issues including some strong additions. Lambert, Markovic, and Balotelli are among those that have departed either permanently or on loan, and Liverpool was able to add some considerable talent including Christian Benteke, Danny Ings, James Milner, Roberto Firmino and Nathaniel Clyne. There is no doubt it will take some time for all of the new faces to gel and grow their chemistry together – we can see that in the fact that they’ve scored just 13 goals in 12 games this season – but Liverpool now has some considerable talent at its disposal and the strong additions are one reason to be positive.
Youth Movement
In addition to the strong veteran talent the club was able to add in the offseason, the Reds have also done an excellent job when it comes to fostering young talent. Ings and Joe Gomez have made an immediate impact while Klopp has talked about emphasizing more of his young talent with Origi, Jordan Ibe, Ryan Fulton, Connor Randall, Pedro Chirivella, Cameron Brannagan, Jerome Sinclair and Daniel Cleary all being worked in to the mix. Klopp is committed to developing talent from within and the youth movement that is already underway at Liverpool is a major positive.
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Signs of Progress
The challenge of finishing in the top four this season is a daunting one for Liverpool but not an impossible one by any stretch of the imagination. They currently sit seven points back of United for the fourth spot. Manchester City, Arsenal, Leicester City and United will be tough to catch but Liverpool has shown signs of progress of late with two wins, four draws and just one loss over its previous seven games. They’ve been fairly sound in net, giving up just six goals in their last seven contests.
There is no doubt that it has been a rocky start for the Reds but there are plenty of positives to take from this season so far and it is still far too early to completely write off Liverpool just yet.
