Jurgen Klopp will not be happy with the way Liverpool keep going behind in games this season.
The Reds have conceded the first goal in five of their eight games in all competitions this campaign. Thankfully, they’ve so far come back to win all five.
But according to Graeme Souness in his column for The Daily Mail yesterday, this is still something that Klopp will be looking for his team to improve.
“Jurgen won’t be happy that his team have conceded first in five of their eight games this season, though they have come back to win or draw, in a way that they often didn’t last season,” wrote the former Reds captain.
It’s obviously good news that Liverpool have shown the capacity to come back more often than not, but it surely isn’t sustainable.
Jurgen looking for Reds improvement
This little stat is actually a good indicator of where this new-look Liverpool are at right now.
Although they’re clearly in much better shape than they were last season, they’re not quite the finished article just yet. In actuality, they’re probably nowhere near it.
There are still clear frailties. If there weren’t then they wouldn’t be going behind quite so often.
But as Souness points out, they often didn’t come back into games they went behind in last season. Once the opposition got that first goal, you often knew what was coming next. Liverpool would dominate, but just wouldn’t score.
So, the improvement is there in that obviously the Reds are now reacting differently to going behind. But the soft centre hasn’t been eradicated just yet.
Today’s game against Tottenham Hotspur will be another indicator of Liverpool’s level. Going behind obviously isn’t a death knell, just like getting the first goal doesn’t guarantee a win. Still, it would be nice to see the Reds take an early initiative in North London.
Klopp won’t panic if that doesn’t happen in a tough fixture like this one, but Souness is right, he’ll want improvements sooner rather than later.
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