Do you remember how after the Saints game (I think) Carra and other pundits were saying that our problem is that we have too many #10's in the squad and thus we are fundamentally unbalanced until we buy some new players. I wrote then that IMO the issue is not with having too many #10's on the pitch, but how they play with each other – basically if everyone just stands there and waits for a pass to come into their feet, nothing good will happen, but if players start making runs for each other, that's a different story. Well, a month or so has passed since then and we are now seeing our players are now making more and more attacking runs – still not as much as Borussia players in Klopp's best years, who were constantly on the move with or without the ball and routinely compared to a "swarm of bees" – but getting gradually closer to that style of play. After the City game Carra had nothing but praise for the work of our attacking trio consisting entirely of #10's, because all of them bought into this new concept and are happily doing the jobs of midfielders, wingers and forwards in addition to their natural playmaking duties.
Lallana is a case in point. I used to be fairly critical of him and doubted how he would fit in in this team, but I have to say he is looking better with each game under Klopp. His work-rate is absolutely phenomenal for an attacking player and his energy was crucial for us against City (you can also credit him with 2 "secondary assists" for Skrtel's and Coutinho's goals). I thought in that game he looked faster than I've ever seen him – because he was always running full speed into space and playing one-touch as much as possible. There were only a couple instances in the whole game (mostly in the 2nd half when Lallana and his teammates got a bit tired) when I thought he took too many touches or slowed the game down unnecessarily. I'm sure Klopp will point this out as he keeps polishing each of his players' games.
Hogging the ball and slowing the game down is the antithesis of Klopp's football, because it destroys the incentive for other players to make runs without the ball, which is the foundation of this style. Borussia pretty much never slowed the game down, even when they were 4:0 up – those runs without the ball and quick passes into space were so deeply ingrained by Klopp's 3rd or 4th year than they happened pretty much on auto-pilot, even when the players didn't particularly want to score. Technically gifted players have a natural tendency to make their technical skill with the ball the main focus of their game and don't afford the same attention to other aspects of the game, such as work without the ball. So what happens is that the player, by focusing on what he thinks is his strong point, limits his own potential and essentially plays at 90% or 80% of his effectiveness. Klopp's biggest strength is his ability to convince those technically gifted, arrogant players to work harder and do much more then they were asked to do under other managers – and all of this with a smile and good attitude. That's mainly where that extra 10-15% in the "Klopp effect" comes from and that's what we are starting to see with this team.
Lallana is a case in point. I used to be fairly critical of him and doubted how he would fit in in this team, but I have to say he is looking better with each game under Klopp. His work-rate is absolutely phenomenal for an attacking player and his energy was crucial for us against City (you can also credit him with 2 "secondary assists" for Skrtel's and Coutinho's goals). I thought in that game he looked faster than I've ever seen him – because he was always running full speed into space and playing one-touch as much as possible. There were only a couple instances in the whole game (mostly in the 2nd half when Lallana and his teammates got a bit tired) when I thought he took too many touches or slowed the game down unnecessarily. I'm sure Klopp will point this out as he keeps polishing each of his players' games.
Hogging the ball and slowing the game down is the antithesis of Klopp's football, because it destroys the incentive for other players to make runs without the ball, which is the foundation of this style. Borussia pretty much never slowed the game down, even when they were 4:0 up – those runs without the ball and quick passes into space were so deeply ingrained by Klopp's 3rd or 4th year than they happened pretty much on auto-pilot, even when the players didn't particularly want to score. Technically gifted players have a natural tendency to make their technical skill with the ball the main focus of their game and don't afford the same attention to other aspects of the game, such as work without the ball. So what happens is that the player, by focusing on what he thinks is his strong point, limits his own potential and essentially plays at 90% or 80% of his effectiveness. Klopp's biggest strength is his ability to convince those technically gifted, arrogant players to work harder and do much more then they were asked to do under other managers – and all of this with a smile and good attitude. That's mainly where that extra 10-15% in the "Klopp effect" comes from and that's what we are starting to see with this team.
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