27 Mar 2017 17:33:43
So I think we all know by now that Klopp is no great tactician.

But what everyone involved in the club agrees is that he is a great man manager. He also has a great track record in the transfer market. I liked his business last summer and think if he gets 3 signings right this Summer it changes a lot.

Johnny Giles always says that tactics are important, but over rated. A manager succeeds or fails by his signings. Sign the right players and whatever tactics you have (or don't have), they will sort it out on the pitch. Just keep them fit and motivated.

I hope he's right.

1.) 27 Mar 2017
27 Mar 2017 21:34:15
I disagree a bit here - Klopp has a very clear idea on tactics and how he wants to play and he's made some very astute moves like putting Hendo deep, Firmino at striker and he's bought players specifically to fill certain roles (Mane, Wijnaldum) which would be hard to do unless you had specific tactics in mind. Not to mention he's unbeaten against the top 6 which is impossible if you're tactically weak.

Where I think you may be coming from is he's inflexible against the lower sides, but to be fair to the man, who's to say he's wrong in the long run. perhaps persistency is the key to building cohesion and he's hardly had a fantastic bench to shake things up. He's already starting to change things subtley here and there (like Can dropping much deeper than in the past against Burnley) . I think the jury is perhaps a bit out in terms of whether he can convincingly crack the problem but I suspect he will.

Where I do agree is he's a great leader and got the whole club heading in the right direction, and his signings have mostly been spot on so far (despite the odd Loan at CB ;)

2.) 28 Mar 2017
27 Mar 2017 23:54:56
I'm pretty sure Klopp didn't want Wiji, earlier in the season he tried to shoehorn Can into his position and only reverted to Wiji when Can failed to settle there. I'll bet my last dollar Wiji will be a squad player next season.

3.) 28 Mar 2017
27 Mar 2017 23:55:24
He's the boss and should only be judged at the end of the season.

The domestic cups was hugely disappointing in his rotation. Policy.

{Ed033's Note - "the boss" - is this Ed001 or Ed002? 😋

4.) 28 Mar 2017
28 Mar 2017 07:03:29
I agree with zimbo, I think it's harsh to say he's no great tactician. He has a history of taking clubs with less talented players and less resources to major success - Dortmund.
He has also managed to keep LFC unbeaten against the 5 other teams in the top 6 this season. You can't be a tactical novice and achieve that.
I think managers have different areas which they excel at and Klopp has tactical ability but excels at leadership, motivation and man-management.

5.) 28 Mar 2017
28 Mar 2017 11:03:16
With Ron and zimbo here he does have good tactical knowledge but I assume like zimbo you meant his inflexibility. Same sort of situation with man city and them never changing.
However when klopp came in everyone was saying we 3 big signings away from top 4 and 6+ from the league.
IMO you can class mane wijnaldum and matip as big signings as they have had a clear impact in areas of the pitch we were weak. Karius possibly now looks like a mistake but compared to past mistakes not the most expensive of ones and he is still clearly young. But if klopp has a summer like last where we get in three players to really enhance the team and squad, my choices would be LW who can play up top, gk for obvious reasons, and a player for the defence either cb if we're going to give Gomez and taa shots at full back or a lb if Gomez is going to get shots at cb and keep lovren.

I think this would put us in a really strong position IMO disregarding any departures from the first 16 or so as they would obviously need to be replaced.

{Ed002's Note - Klopp arrived with him saying he could win the league with the players already at the club. He then announced the team he has now as "his" team - I assume to get people's minds off his previous comment. Two of the tree positions you mention saw Klopp bring in three of his own choice of players last summer (Karius, Klavan and Matip). Quiote frankly the evidence is there to substantiate the need for Liverpool get a "proper" Director of Football in (not taking the advice of anyone who suggests Damien Comolli would be a good idea nor a guy who really deals with Performance Analysis but has been made "Sporting Director" by FSG). Sadly this summer will be the one where the input from Michael Edwards will be to the fore and it will be a bit of a lottery who arrives. Klopp has an inability to adapt and that is a very large part of the problem that the club face in making the next step up. By now FSG will have recognised that the promises made by Klopp have come to nothing and the likeable clown act is wearing even thinner.}

6.) 28 Mar 2017
28 Mar 2017 10:35:57
Fitzy, I agree and disagree. Klopp has said that he doesn't handle the tactics that much (even tho he knows a lot about them) as most of that is done by Buvac and Kravietz (his loyal lieutenants) BUT he serves as a master motivator, one who has this uncanny ability (not given to many, mind you) to squeeze every drop of ability from whatever players he has at that time.

He may be stuck a bit in his ways and who can blame him? That's what makes you to some extent, successful. You think Mou Pep or Carlo aren't stuck in their ways? Of course, they are. What I will say is that he is starting to learn how to win games via better game management and that is clear if you see how we snuffed out City (at home), Spurs, Everton, Arsenal and Burnley after we took the lead. We stopped attacking relentlessly and just stayed compact and saw out the result, something he learnt after the B'mouth crumbling. That is progress in my book.

He needs to be more adaptive to the PL for sure BUT the overall ethos of his system has been globally successful this season and he should continue to get players in who fit in seamlessly like Matip, Mane and Wiji has.

7.) 28 Mar 2017
28 Mar 2017 10:38:04
Dermot, you can't rotate if you have a thin squad suffering injuries to half of the first 11 and reserve players like Can, Studge and Origi not stepping up. You can't blame him for these guys letting him down when many of us were hounding him to play these guys especially Studge, can you?

8.) 28 Mar 2017
28 Mar 2017 11:15:58
Klopp himself has said he is no great tactician, Buvac is the Brains of behind the scenes hence the nickname the Brain.

9.) 28 Mar 2017
28 Mar 2017 12:16:04
So who's 'Pinky'?

10.) 28 Mar 2017
28 Mar 2017 13:49:50
Everyone knows that this 'thin' squad we have is the same size as the 'bloated' squad Rodgers had, right?

11.) 28 Mar 2017
28 Mar 2017 13:54:57
Sorry N Red but what I was trying to get across was the way that 3, 4,or 5 u23s were used at the same time in a team that as you say had sludge, Origi; lucas along with Karius as senior players.

I meant to say that the u23s moral and confidence would be better built by playing 1 or 2 in the proper first team and not as part of a massively changed b team that went out to lower league side whose players were taking their dream chance of playing against LFC.

12.) 28 Mar 2017
28 Mar 2017 14:56:35
Our squad is massively bloated.
What we lack is quality especially at the back.

13.) 29 Mar 2017
29 Mar 2017 07:24:44
out of interest are all the players signed the key ones they wanted or how many were one of many options or the second or third option on the list? I've assumed that for the last decade or more LFC wouldn't be players' first choice so signing the ideal player for what is needed won't have always happened?

{Ed001's Note - does it matter? If we had a decent recruitment set up, the second and third choice would be perfectly good signings in their own right. When Leicester ended up with Kante, he was a third choice signing. They went back this summer and got the first choice to replace him. I fail to see why our scouting and recruitment team cannot find 5 or 6 perfectly good options in every position. We are not trying to improve on Messi, we are trying to improve on our side and they should easily be able to find plenty of players for every position to improve on those players. Or, at the very least, maintain our level.}

14.) 29 Mar 2017
29 Mar 2017 14:02:24
Ed001 thanks that does in a sense cover what I was trying to ask. So essentially the issue isn't as much about getting who the managers and others have wanted but more that who they have wanted or been advised to want aren't really at the standard needed? I do get it should be a list of options who are all capable of doing the job required not just 1 and then dropped level to next option.

{Ed001's Note - yes, our recruitment has been appalling for a long time. At least this summer we can be a bit happier with it. However, I personally am still worried that we are not as clever with our recruitment as we should be.}

15.) 30 Mar 2017
30 Mar 2017 14:13:57
Thanks for all the replies.
I rate Klopp and didn't say he is a tactical novice, just that it's not a clear strength of his.
Old whiskey nose wasn't tactically strong either, but he could really pick a player and then motivate them and he didn't do so bad. I think Klopp is in this bracket as a man motivator and given a few Summer transfer windows will prove it.

Btw I'm old school and don't judge a manager until after 3 Summer transfer windows. I know many don't allow that much time anymore.