Here is your Liverpool digest for Thursday, January 9.
Liverpool should replace Julian Ward with former Manchester United manager Jurgen Klopp loves
"Unfortunately a good coach is coming to England, that's how it is, to Manchester United.”
Jurgen Klopp was far from delighted when Ralf Rangnick, the ‘godfather of gegenpressing’ and a man he considered to be, ‘one of the best, if not the best German coach,’ was appointed interim manager at Old Trafford in November 2021, having been lured away from his role as manager of sports and development at Lokomotiv Moscow.
"Ralf is obviously a really experienced manager. He built most famously two clubs from nowhere to proper threats and forces in Germany with Hoffenheim and Leipzig,” the Liverpool manager said of his compatriot. “United will be organised on the pitch, we should realise that - that's obviously not good news for other teams."
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Yet despite such admiration, United fans hardly saw the evidence for themselves under the German. The Red Devils were seventh when Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was sacked after a 4-1 defeat to Watford. Come the end of the season, under Rangnick's watch, they had climbed up to sixth but their total of 58 points was their lowest in Premier League history.
Theo Squires has the full story
Liverpool have a 'no nonsense' option that can give Jurgen Klopp exactly what he needs
Liverpool are in a mess defensively. Only once in the Premier League era have they conceded more than 28 goals after 20 games and that was 30 years ago. For the last time they finished a league campaign having conceded 1.4 goals per game (their current rate), you have to look back even further to 1964/65.
This article could be filled entirely with damning defensive numbers easily enough, but this is probably the key piece of trivia: for the first time in the modern era, the Reds have conceded three goals three times in the space of four league matches. They have truly hit rock bottom.
There are valid explanatory factors, not least that Jurgen Klopp’s favoured back four from last season has started together just once this term. But reasons are one thing, what Liverpool urgently need are solutions.
A big part of the problem is that hesitancy and uncertainty have spread through the back line. Liverpool have already made more Opta-defined defensive errors in the league than they did in the whole of 2021/22, with the five in their last four matches more than seven teams in the division have committed all season. The own goals by Ibrahima Konate and Joel Matip at Brentford and Wolves respectively have only exacerbated the issue.
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