Jürgen Klopp must assess ‘missing’ Liverpool piece with new sporting director amid transfer need
What makes a title-winning team? It’s a nuanced question, but a man like Jurgen Klopp must know the complicated answer to some degree, having lifted everything there is to lift with Liverpool. The truth is that there are countless factors that go into creating a winning outfit.
In analyzing Liverpool’s woes, it would be difficult to diagnose just one reason why they have fallen below those standards this season. Undoubtedly, the failure of the Reds to address a very glaring lack of depth and quality in midfield in the transfer market has contributed to the demise of Klopp’s side.
But there is another aspect that has weakened the squad that has slipped under the radar and is currently being perfectly contrasted by one of Europe’s most in-form teams at Napoli, who are really on course to pick up a Scudetto in Italy first time in decades.
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Napoli recruited well in the summer transfer window, bringing in players like Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Kim Min Jae, who significantly improved the starting XI. But that’s not all: just as important was Napoli’s quest to keep the majority of the squad together and build great strength at depth.
Eljif Elmas, for example, has been linked with a move but Napoli chose to keep him and although he did not feature regularly in the club’s starting XI, he was a key player off the bench. While he hasn’t set the world on fire with seven goals this season, his ability to come on and finish games every now and then is just as crucial to the team’s success.
It’s the squad players who emerge at the crucial moments that ultimately help teams win titles.
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Liverpool should know this all too well. Just think of the examples of Divock Origi and Xherdan Shaqiri, who kept getting boosted at crucial moments. Adam Lallana and Takumi Minamino also fall into this category.
However, over the course of the summer, Klopp lost a significant chunk of these types of players from his squad. Origi and Minamino have left for new shores and while their absence hasn’t been noted as much as Sadio Mané’s, it could be argued that Liverpool missed them just as much.
Whoever is appointed as the club’s new sporting director in the summer will need to focus on not only reinforcing the starting XI with Klopp but also rebuilding Liverpool’s depth in the squad. If the Reds want to return to the same level as when they were at the peak of their power, they must take notes from their past and also from Napoli.