It is plain for all to see that Liverpool are too good a team to be ninth in the Premier League, but however great a team is, they can not be expected to maintain their ferociously high standards week in week out, season after season. Jürgen Klopp is also too good a manager to let standards slip for a prolonged period.
He has identified the reasons behind their relative struggles and started to correct them, beginning with the win over Rangers. Liverpool have kept two clean sheets in the league this season – Manchester City have double that. Klopp has looked at where the problems are and addressed them by putting Thiago Alcântara and Jordan Henderson closer together in front of the back four to give an extra layer of protection to Virgil van Dijk and Joël Matip. If Thiago moved forward, Henderson was always there to cover. It looked like they didn’t really get in advance of the ball and offer cover and support.
