Klopp vs Rodgers: The stats, signings, style & more…

Thanks to @paul_kavanagh for the guest post!

Klopp vs. Rodgers- Who Wins?

Ahh stats. Stats don’t lie. I always thought hips don’t lie, but that might just be a Colombian musical myth. Anyway, here’s a new stat. Rodgers is better than Klopp. Here it is after 108 games for each manager, in black and white.

The Mirror said it. Alan Shearer said it. Well, he actually said “Liverpool are no different under Klopp”. We just need the great Craig Burley to put his tuppence on the situation to put the nail on Klopp’s coffin. But wait, Shearer has read this wrong, Liverpool cannot be the same, for you see, Klopp has won less than Rodgers! But wait, Rogers lost more than Klopp! Hold on… Klopp has scored less… but wait, Rodgers has conceded more! Oh this is confusing! Which numbers are the right numbers? Perhaps the right answer to this isn’t actually the numbers, Alan. Don’t pundits themselves say “the stats don’t mean everything”; possession is 9/10ths and all that.

Liverpool fans can be divided over some of the previous managers in existence. One thing I never thought I’d argue for is the point that Klopp IS better than Rodgers. He’s better in so many ways. More than stats. More than losing 5 less games. More than 1 glorious if fortuitous league campaign. Klopp has so many more attributes than Rodgers, he’d top trump him and take away all your other cards in one hand too.

So how do I show my reasons? Well, I guess the best thing is to pick out several aspects that managers are judged on; league results, cup results, trophies, transfers, playing style. I’ll try to score it in a head to head style, with each manager landing a few fair blows in this evenly matched contest, no Mayweather Macgregor shenanigans here. I’ll add, I might waffle, but who doesn’t like a good waffle? Especially one with blueberries, or if you’re feeling savoury, bacon and maple syrup, perfect for post workout foo… wait, I’m already waffling, and about waffles. Hang on, I’ll get back on track.

Trophies

We’ll get this one out the way first, neither have won anything. Rodgers was close to the league by 1 slippery stud on the bottom of his number 8’s boot. Klopp was a few spot kicks and a disastrous Albert Moreno performance away from 2 trophies in his first season. Ultimately, they have nothing. I could be cruel and say Rodgers was the first manager to not win a trophy in his first 3 seasons in 50 years, but I won’t. So, the first round is a draw.

Klopp 0 – 0 Rodgers

Seasons – League

Rodgers

OK so although I bemoaned stats in my first paragraph, I’m returning the Stat Man to make a point here. Rodgers had 3 full seasons at Liverpool. Klopp, although managing most of the 2015/2016 season, has had 1. I’m going to show their full record rather than the 106 games as it shows a different story. As all of us know, Rodgers’ 2nd full season was the title challenge, of which a lot of ground has already been covered. If you look at his other 2 seasons, they were pretty average and fairly consistent.

There are two cycles of Rogers time at Liverpool; life with and without Suarez, and aside from that title chasing season (which any honest Liverpool fan will admit was way above our expectations), Rodgers had a fairly consistent record in the league. Rodgers had Suarez for 2 full seasons (even though he did as much as he could to either leave or get a ban) as well as an almost fully fit Sturridge for season 2. We also know how much of a loss both of them were in season 3. Sturridge only made 7 league appearances in that season compared to 26 the season before. Does this explain the drop in goals and wins in season 3? Why yes, yes it does. There’s no way of dressing that up. So, could I argue that Rogers’s second season was actually a blip? An unexpected triumph? Yes, yes I can. Just look at Leicester. Consistent strugglers in the league and then whoop! League champions! Then back to strugglers. 2013-14 was a season we shouldn’t have had, but did. Get over it. We go again, blah blah.

Klopp

Klopp’s league record is very similar to Rogers, notwithstanding the Suarez title challenge season. He has spent his time playing without a target frontman. I mean, he had one, in Benteke, but he’s not a Suarez. Benteke was also used less than I was by a Tinder date on the rebound. Anyway, digressing again. It’s clear to see the goals scored have been improved, the responsibility is now shared between the team as opposed to one or two target men. The first season was always going to be a transition period, but the figures show that there was an improvement. Wait, that was a stat, but one I wanted to use in my favour so it’s fine! Also let’s not forget how weird a season that was, what with Leicester winning the league!

His first full season was a big improvement on the previous, and whilst they drew too many games, they won a lot more than the previous season, scoring more goals. Liverpool did in fact mount a title challenge by Christmas, which fell to the wayside in January with the loss of Mane and the obvious lack of depth in the squad.

This season has started oddly, but aside from the 2nd half vs. City, we haven’t played badly, not at the front anyway. The back line is still weaker than my jokes in this article but we’ve come close to wins; a last minute clearance from Wijnaldum and we beat Watford; 1 of the other 34 chances converted vs. Burnley and suddenly we’ve won 4 games and lost 1, 12 points in the table and 3rd behind the two (annoyingly) impressive Manchester teams. Fine margins.

So who wins in the league results head to head? This is a very tough one to call. I was excited and heartbroken in equal measures by the title challenging season. I’ve been waiting for a league title since I started supporting the club in 1992. However, I often wonder if that would’ve occurred had Suarez been sold to Arsenal for £40m+£1. My head and heart says no. I’ll always feel that Suarez carried that side more than we care to admit. Rodgers rode that wave and inadequately replaced Suarez (more on that later) and I think the following season shows more of his consistency in the league. Klopp, although having similar results to Rodgers in the league, has worked more on the team, but as yet has not come close to winning the league. Rodgers pips the league performance for me, but only just, and just because I dream of what might have been.

Rodgers 1-0 Klopp

Seasons – Cup

Rodgers

Rodgers reached the semi-finals of the League Cup and FA Cup in 2014-15; a decent albeit losing aggregate performance against eventual League Cup winners Chelsea, and an awful defeat to Villa in the FA Cup, finalists in the most one sided final I’ve ever seen. Aside from that, Rodgers never mounted a decent cup run in either season. I think my coffee mug has been unclean on the side for longer.

On foreign shores, Rodgers got past the group stage of the Europa League in 2012-13, losing to Zenit in the last round of 32, whilst in 2015-16, only 2 draws in the group stage before his sacking. Rodgers had no European football in 2013-14 (which might have aided the increase in league performance) and the less said about the 2014-15 Champions League exploits the better…

Klopp

Domestically, in 2015-16, Klopp led Liverpool to a Cup final defeat vs. City (on penalties), and a semi-final defeat to Southampton on aggregate in 2016-17. 2017-18 yielded a disappointing defeat to Leicester, at which Klopp looked angry at the missed chances. Klopp hasn’t done well in the FA Cup, reaching the 4th round in both seasons with poor defeats to a last minute West Ham winner, and a poor performance vs. Wolves. A Europa Cup final defeat to Sevilla in 2015-16 would’ve ensured Champions League football in his first (part) season, something Rodgers was nowhere near to achieving in 2012-13. Klopp has had more success but is still a bit inconsistent.

Klopp wins this round for me. Rodgers reached 2 semi-finals in his last season. Klopp reached 2 finals in his first (without his players), and a semi-final in his 2nd, despite his poor runs in the FA Cup. He was one win away from regaining Champions League football, and who knows where we’d be in 2016/17 had we beaten Sevilla Realistically, this has been our best chance of winning silverware over the years, and Klopp nearly managed it twice over Rodgers once in the (albeit incredibly impressive) league run.

Rodgers 1 – 1 Klopp

Signings

Ahh signings. Buy buy buy! Sell sell sell! (less so unless they are crap). This probably divides fans more than the red sea. I’ll try to summarise this bit, but there’s so much to talk about in this bit, good and bad!  

Rodgers

Rodgers has bought and sold a lot of players, and I mean, a lot of players. This is mostly due to his constant changing of philosophy. Lots of the senior statesmen were gone in his first season due to an end of shelf life. (Aurelio, Carrol, Kuyt, Cole, Rodriguez, Bellamy, Adam, and Aquilani, remember him?!) This was to make way for young, passing technically gifted players (Allen, Borini, Yesil and Assaidi, with Coutinho and Sturridge in January). Sahin was also loaned in but cancelled before the seasons end. A lot of the youth players were given game time in the first season (Sterling, Suso, Wisdom, Flanagan, Ibe, and Coady). The squad was a bit of an experiment, old with the new, seeing what works and what doesn’t, and showing that in all its glory on that crigeworthy Fox documentary. We didn’t have a great league finish but hey, we could still have Hodgson. This new philosophy with young players and different style may take a while to bed in. How long will it last?

Ultimately… it didn’t last. Rodgers changed this philosophy by season 2, with the transfer policy changing as a result. Out went the youthful, passing, technically gifted players that were sought so highly in season one, (Ibe, Assaidi, Borini, Suso, Coady, mostly on loan but they never came back to make an impact), and in came Sakho, Toure, Illori (who was then loaned straight away) Mignolet, Luis Alberto and… Aspas. A weird mix here; young and old, new and experienced, foreign league players and domestic players, and… Aspas… A complete change from the philosophy of the first season as mentioned; Luis Alberto was probably the only player with any sort of technical gift, and he only started 2 games all season, none in the league (he came on 9 times). The game plan changed to pressing high, applying pressure and generally terrorise defenders with Sturridge, Sterling and Suarez chomping at the opposition, oft in the literal sense. Out of those transfers, Toure and Sakho made sense. MIgnolet was an odd addition, given that Reina did have a bad season, but only one bad season, and the less said of Aspas and his corner the better…

By season 3 Rodgers bought in Can, Lallana, Lambert, Markovic, Lovren, Origi (then loaned out) and Moreno. The biggest upset was Suarez leaving, and his eventual replacement of… Balotelli. Sanchez did not fancy a switch from Camp Nou to Anfield and opted for the bright lights of London (and possibly Manchester this July coming).

Aside from Sterling, the young players Rodgers played in season 1 were almost afterthoughts. Either he thought they were no longer good enough anymore, or didn’t trust them, or both. He could no longer play with an always moving forward 3; Suarez had gone, and Sturridge couldn’t move from the operating theatre. That said, he probably would’ve moved around more than Balotelli. Honestly, I’ve seen wallpaper move around more than that man.

Rodgers didn’t really know how to resolve a poor run of performances until he moved Can to the back and played a 3-5-2, going on a run of 12 or so games without a defeat. However, it wasn’t the same as going on a run of 12 games the previous season; this felt like this was saving Rogers’ season rather than making it. A huge disappointment on the season previously.

Rogers’ final season saw him sign Firmino, Gomez, Milner, Ings, Clyne and Benteke, with Sterling getting his handbags out and going to City. Presumably so he could put his extra money in those handbags. Anyway…

By this point, Rodgers was all over the place. He didn’t really know his best starting 11, or his philosophy, or the best positions for his players, or a plan B. I don’t think he had a plan A either. Nothing. He just knew how great the character was in the dressing room and that was pretty much it. Firmino played out of position, often too similarly to Coutinho. Benteke is a player that needs balls into the box, something the players on the pitch didn’t deliver because there were none to do so. It was clear to see Rodgers had lost his direction, lost confidence, and ultimately, lost his job.

As mentioned, there are a lot of players there! Out of all the players mentioned above, the only players to make a consistently positive impact in Rodgers time are Coutinho and Sturridge. Can and Lallana were improving players but Mignolet, Sakho, Moreno, Lovren and Origi were inconsistent. Aspas and Balotelli should never have been signed. The rest were never utilised or improved upon, and that is a lot of players to list.

Klopp

By contrast, Klopp has played with his ‘gegenpressing’ philosophy from the start. Players like Can, Lallana, Firmino and even Coutinho, have all improved under Klopp. They have the legs, the energy, and stamina for this type of play. In 2 seasons, overall Klopp has bought in less players, but paid more for individuals. Matip (ironically on a free), is a solid if not extraordinarily good defender, Mane and Salah, have hit the ground running and will be fan favourites. Wijnaldum needs a bit more consistency. Solanke and Robertson have shown good signs of potential. Keita is coming next season. If YouTube is correct, he’s going to absolutely boss it from August 2018 onwards. Were it not for a noisy member of the LFC staff, we’d also see Van Dijk with the liver bird on his chest (possibly)

Klopp wins this point for me. He’s made better use of his budget to sign better players (Mane vs. Markovic, Salah vs. Aspas, Matip vs. Lovren to name a few). He’s improved players already at the squad. Sure, he’ll sign some duds; Klavan is not convincing but he should only be a backup. Karius is a little scary sometimes. I mean, he’ll sell more than a few bits of merchandise, such a beautiful face, so not scary in that sense. So far the Ox has not done anything to note, hopefully he’ll come good, but surely he’ll eventually offer more than all the players Rodgers signed and got rid of (or Klopp then got rid of). I’ll never have an answer as to  why Caulker was signed on loan…  

FINAL SCORE

Klopp 2 – 1 Rodgers

I hope the above highlights (in overwhelmingly boring detail) why I think Klopp is a better manager than Rodgers. Sure, Rodgers stats are better, he won more games, he MUST be! However I’ve tried to outline in this article than there’s more to it than that. I’ve not even begun to scratch the surface. Klopp has bought a better group of players and turned them into a better squad. He plays a more attractive style of football than Rodgers. He could rival Obama in the charismatic stakes. Players want to join Liverpool because of him. Was that possible under Rodgers? I doubt it. I could argue that, had Klopp been at Liverpool in 2014, he might have convinced Sanchez to join us over Arsenal.

Yes, it is incredibly frustrating that we are making so many defensive errors. On another day we could’ve beaten Leicester 6-2 last night, and that’s not the first time I’ve said that this season about Liverpool. Klopp is lower in the stats compared to Rodgers, but I genuinely believe he’s 1 or 2 players away from improving those stats greatly (at least 1 centre back and 1 keeper). Rogers had 1 or 2 players in an almost league winning team, but it was never a sustainable solution; once that title winning player had gone, so had our chances. We all knew that. I don’t feel that with Klopp. We have a group of players who create loads of chances and, can score lots of goals. Before the City defeat, Klopp had not lost against the top six. Of course we can be more clinical but our front 3 have got 12 already in 9 games. Lallana is still to come back. Coutinho still needs to come back officially. Sturridge has barely been involved. We will have games where we will create 30 chances and not score. It’s happened to Utd, to City, Chelsea and Arsenal. What we need to do is become more consistent at the simple things. ‘Experts’ argue that we are too exposed at the back because we are too cavalier going forward. I can’t think of many occasions where Lovren/Klavan/Matip find themselves stuck in the opposition box when the opposition then score. It’s always down at the defensive part of the pitch, down to panicking, down to disorganisation. This is the address. I also feel that we can go into a game and win it. He’s a positive guy, it almost hurts to see him upset with the results. Yes it’s down to him to address it, and he should’ve had a backup for VVD, but maybe in January that’s going to come good aye?

Anyway, what do you think? Is Klopp better? Is Rodgers better? Is your life better for reading this? Probably not. I’ll be quiet now. Thanks.

Ahh stats. Stats don’t lie. I always thought hips don’t lie, but that might just be a Colombian musical myth. Anyway, here’s a new stat. Rodgers is better than Klopp. Here it is after 108 games for each manager, in black and white.

The Mirror said it. Alan Shearer said it. Well, he actually said “Liverpool are no different under Klopp”. We just need the great Craig Burley to put his tuppence on the situation to put the nail on Klopp’s coffin. But wait, Shearer has read this wrong, Liverpool cannot be the same, for you see, Klopp has won less than Rodgers! But wait, Rogers lost more than Klopp! Hold on… Klopp has scored less… but wait, Rodgers has conceded more! Oh this is confusing! Which numbers are the right numbers? Perhaps the right answer to this isn’t actually the numbers, Alan. Don’t pundits themselves say “the stats don’t mean everything”; possession is 9/10ths and all that.

Liverpool fans can be divided over some of the previous managers in existence. One thing I never thought I’d argue for is the point that Klopp IS better than Rodgers. He’s better in so many ways. More than stats. More than losing 5 less games. More than 1 glorious if fortuitous league campaign. Klopp has so many more attributes than Rodgers, he’d top trump him and take away all your other cards in one hand too.

So how do I show my reasons? Well, I guess the best thing is to pick out several aspects that managers are judged on; league results, cup results, trophies, transfers, playing style. I’ll try to score it in a head to head style, with each manager landing a few fair blows in this evenly matched contest, no Mayweather Macgregor shenanigans here. I’ll add, I might waffle, but who doesn’t like a good waffle? Especially one with blueberries, or if you’re feeling savoury, bacon and maple syrup, perfect for post workout foo… wait, I’m already waffling, and about waffles. Hang on, I’ll get back on track.

Trophies

We’ll get this one out the way first, neither have won anything. Rodgers was close to the league by 1 slippery stud on the bottom of his number 8’s boot. Klopp was a few spot kicks and a disastrous Albert Moreno performance away from 2 trophies in his first season. Ultimately, they have nothing. I could be cruel and say Rodgers was the first manager to not win a trophy in his first 3 seasons in 50 years, but I won’t. So, the first round is a draw.

Klopp 0 – 0 Rodgers

Seasons – League

Rodgers

OK so although I bemoaned stats in my first paragraph, I’m returning the Stat Man to make a point here. Rodgers had 3 full seasons at Liverpool. Klopp, although managing most of the 2015/2016 season, has had 1. I’m going to show their full record rather than the 106 games as it shows a different story. As all of us know, Rodgers’ 2nd full season was the title challenge, of which a lot of ground has already been covered. If you look at his other 2 seasons, they were pretty average and fairly consistent.

There are two cycles of Rogers time at Liverpool; life with and without Suarez, and aside from that title chasing season (which any honest Liverpool fan will admit was way above our expectations), Rodgers had a fairly consistent record in the league. Rodgers had Suarez for 2 full seasons (even though he did as much as he could to either leave or get a ban) as well as an almost fully fit Sturridge for season 2. We also know how much of a loss both of them were in season 3. Sturridge only made 7 league appearances in that season compared to 26 the season before. Does this explain the drop in goals and wins in season 3? Why yes, yes it does. There’s no way of dressing that up. So, could I argue that Rogers’s second season was actually a blip? An unexpected triumph? Yes, yes I can. Just look at Leicester. Consistent strugglers in the league and then whoop! League champions! Then back to strugglers. 2013-14 was a season we shouldn’t have had, but did. Get over it. We go again, blah blah.

Klopp

Klopp’s league record is very similar to Rogers, notwithstanding the Suarez title challenge season. He has spent his time playing without a target frontman. I mean, he had one, in Benteke, but he’s not a Suarez. Benteke was also used less than I was by a Tinder date on the rebound. Anyway, digressing again. It’s clear to see the goals scored have been improved, the responsibility is now shared between the team as opposed to one or two target men. The first season was always going to be a transition period, but the figures show that there was an improvement. Wait, that was a stat, but one I wanted to use in my favour so it’s fine! Also let’s not forget how weird a season that was, what with Leicester winning the league!

His first full season was a big improvement on the previous, and whilst they drew too many games, they won a lot more than the previous season, scoring more goals. Liverpool did in fact mount a title challenge by Christmas, which fell to the wayside in January with the loss of Mane and the obvious lack of depth in the squad.

This season has started oddly, but aside from the 2nd half vs. City, we haven’t played badly, not at the front anyway. The back line is still weaker than my jokes in this article but we’ve come close to wins; a last minute clearance from Wijnaldum and we beat Watford; 1 of the other 34 chances converted vs. Burnley and suddenly we’ve won 4 games and lost 1, 12 points in the table and 3rd behind the two (annoyingly) impressive Manchester teams. Fine margins.

So who wins in the league results head to head? This is a very tough one to call. I was excited and heartbroken in equal measures by the title challenging season. I’ve been waiting for a league title since I started supporting the club in 1992. However, I often wonder if that would’ve occurred had Suarez been sold to Arsenal for £40m+£1. My head and heart says no. I’ll always feel that Suarez carried that side more than we care to admit. Rodgers rode that wave and inadequately replaced Suarez (more on that later) and I think the following season shows more of his consistency in the league. Klopp, although having similar results to Rodgers in the league, has worked more on the team, but as yet has not come close to winning the league. Rodgers pips the league performance for me, but only just, and just because I dream of what might have been.

Rodgers 1-0 Klopp

Seasons – Cup

Rodgers

Rodgers reached the semi-finals of the League Cup and FA Cup in 2014-15; a decent albeit losing aggregate performance against eventual League Cup winners Chelsea, and an awful defeat to Villa in the FA Cup, finalists in the most one sided final I’ve ever seen. Aside from that, Rodgers never mounted a decent cup run in either season. I think my coffee mug has been unclean on the side for longer.

On foreign shores, Rodgers got past the group stage of the Europa League in 2012-13, losing to Zenit in the last round of 32, whilst in 2015-16, only 2 draws in the group stage before his sacking. Rodgers had no European football in 2013-14 (which might have aided the increase in league performance) and the less said about the 2014-15 Champions League exploits the better…

Klopp

Domestically, in 2015-16, Klopp led Liverpool to a Cup final defeat vs. City (on penalties), and a semi-final defeat to Southampton on aggregate in 2016-17. 2017-18 yielded a disappointing defeat to Leicester, at which Klopp looked angry at the missed chances. Klopp hasn’t done well in the FA Cup, reaching the 4th round in both seasons with poor defeats to a last minute West Ham winner, and a poor performance vs. Wolves. A Europa Cup final defeat to Sevilla in 2015-16 would’ve ensured Champions League football in his first (part) season, something Rodgers was nowhere near to achieving in 2012-13. Klopp has had more success but is still a bit inconsistent.

Klopp wins this round for me. Rodgers reached 2 semi-finals in his last season. Klopp reached 2 finals in his first (without his players), and a semi-final in his 2nd, despite his poor runs in the FA Cup. He was one win away from regaining Champions League football, and who knows where we’d be in 2016/17 had we beaten Sevilla Realistically, this has been our best chance of winning silverware over the years, and Klopp nearly managed it twice over Rodgers once in the (albeit incredibly impressive) league run.

Rodgers 1 – 1 Klopp

Signings

Ahh signings. Buy buy buy! Sell sell sell! (less so unless they are crap). This probably divides fans more than the red sea. I’ll try to summarise this bit, but there’s so much to talk about in this bit, good and bad!  

Rodgers

Rodgers has bought and sold a lot of players, and I mean, a lot of players. This is mostly due to his constant changing of philosophy. Lots of the senior statesmen were gone in his first season due to an end of shelf life. (Aurelio, Carrol, Kuyt, Cole, Rodriguez, Bellamy, Adam, and Aquilani, remember him?!) This was to make way for young, passing technically gifted players (Allen, Borini, Yesil and Assaidi, with Coutinho and Sturridge in January). Sahin was also loaned in but cancelled before the seasons end. A lot of the youth players were given game time in the first season (Sterling, Suso, Wisdom, Flanagan, Ibe, and Coady). The squad was a bit of an experiment, old with the new, seeing what works and what doesn’t, and showing that in all its glory on that crigeworthy Fox documentary. We didn’t have a great league finish but hey, we could still have Hodgson. This new philosophy with young players and different style may take a while to bed in. How long will it last?

Ultimately… it didn’t last. Rodgers changed this philosophy by season 2, with the transfer policy changing as a result. Out went the youthful, passing, technically gifted players that were sought so highly in season one, (Ibe, Assaidi, Borini, Suso, Coady, mostly on loan but they never came back to make an impact), and in came Sakho, Toure, Illori (who was then loaned straight away) Mignolet, Luis Alberto and… Aspas. A weird mix here; young and old, new and experienced, foreign league players and domestic players, and… Aspas… A complete change from the philosophy of the first season as mentioned; Luis Alberto was probably the only player with any sort of technical gift, and he only started 2 games all season, none in the league (he came on 9 times). The game plan changed to pressing high, applying pressure and generally terrorise defenders with Sturridge, Sterling and Suarez chomping at the opposition, oft in the literal sense. Out of those transfers, Toure and Sakho made sense. MIgnolet was an odd addition, given that Reina did have a bad season, but only one bad season, and the less said of Aspas and his corner the better…

By season 3 Rodgers bought in Can, Lallana, Lambert, Markovic, Lovren, Origi (then loaned out) and Moreno. The biggest upset was Suarez leaving, and his eventual replacement of… Balotelli. Sanchez did not fancy a switch from Camp Nou to Anfield and opted for the bright lights of London (and possibly Manchester this July coming).

Aside from Sterling, the young players Rodgers played in season 1 were almost afterthoughts. Either he thought they were no longer good enough anymore, or didn’t trust them, or both. He could no longer play with an always moving forward 3; Suarez had gone, and Sturridge couldn’t move from the operating theatre. That said, he probably would’ve moved around more than Balotelli. Honestly, I’ve seen wallpaper move around more than that man.

Rodgers didn’t really know how to resolve a poor run of performances until he moved Can to the back and played a 3-5-2, going on a run of 12 or so games without a defeat. However, it wasn’t the same as going on a run of 12 games the previous season; this felt like this was saving Rogers’ season rather than making it. A huge disappointment on the season previously.

Rogers’ final season saw him sign Firmino, Gomez, Milner, Ings, Clyne and Benteke, with Sterling getting his handbags out and going to City. Presumably so he could put his extra money in those handbags. Anyway…

By this point, Rodgers was all over the place. He didn’t really know his best starting 11, or his philosophy, or the best positions for his players, or a plan B. I don’t think he had a plan A either. Nothing. He just knew how great the character was in the dressing room and that was pretty much it. Firmino played out of position, often too similarly to Coutinho. Benteke is a player that needs balls into the box, something the players on the pitch didn’t deliver because there were none to do so. It was clear to see Rodgers had lost his direction, lost confidence, and ultimately, lost his job.

As mentioned, there are a lot of players there! Out of all the players mentioned above, the only players to make a consistently positive impact in Rodgers time are Coutinho and Sturridge. Can and Lallana were improving players but Mignolet, Sakho, Moreno, Lovren and Origi were inconsistent. Aspas and Balotelli should never have been signed. The rest were never utilised or improved upon, and that is a lot of players to list.

Klopp

By contrast, Klopp has played with his ‘gegenpressing’ philosophy from the start. Players like Can, Lallana, Firmino and even Coutinho, have all improved under Klopp. They have the legs, the energy, and stamina for this type of play. In 2 seasons, overall Klopp has bought in less players, but paid more for individuals. Matip (ironically on a free), is a solid if not extraordinarily good defender, Mane and Salah, have hit the ground running and will be fan favourites. Wijnaldum needs a bit more consistency. Solanke and Robertson have shown good signs of potential. Keita is coming next season. If YouTube is correct, he’s going to absolutely boss it from August 2018 onwards. Were it not for a noisy member of the LFC staff, we’d also see Van Dijk with the liver bird on his chest (possibly)

Klopp wins this point for me. He’s made better use of his budget to sign better players (Mane vs. Markovic, Salah vs. Aspas, Matip vs. Lovren to name a few). He’s improved players already at the squad. Sure, he’ll sign some duds; Klavan is not convincing but he should only be a backup. Karius is a little scary sometimes. I mean, he’ll sell more than a few bits of merchandise, such a beautiful face, so not scary in that sense. So far the Ox has not done anything to note, hopefully he’ll come good, but surely he’ll eventually offer more than all the players Rodgers signed and got rid of (or Klopp then got rid of). I’ll never have an answer as to  why Caulker was signed on loan…  

FINAL SCORE

Klopp 2 – 1 Rodgers

I hope the above highlights (in overwhelmingly boring detail) why I think Klopp is a better manager than Rodgers. Sure, Rodgers stats are better, he won more games, he MUST be! However I’ve tried to outline in this article than there’s more to it than that. I’ve not even begun to scratch the surface. Klopp has bought a better group of players and turned them into a better squad. He plays a more attractive style of football than Rodgers. He could rival Obama in the charismatic stakes. Players want to join Liverpool because of him. Was that possible under Rodgers? I doubt it. I could argue that, had Klopp been at Liverpool in 2014, he might have convinced Sanchez to join us over Arsenal.

Yes, it is incredibly frustrating that we are making so many defensive errors. On another day we could’ve beaten Leicester 6-2 last night, and that’s not the first time I’ve said that this season about Liverpool. Klopp is lower in the stats compared to Rodgers, but I genuinely believe he’s 1 or 2 players away from improving those stats greatly (at least 1 centre back and 1 keeper). Rogers had 1 or 2 players in an almost league winning team, but it was never a sustainable solution; once that title winning player had gone, so had our chances. We all knew that. I don’t feel that with Klopp. We have a group of players who create loads of chances and, can score lots of goals. Before the City defeat, Klopp had not lost against the top six. Of course we can be more clinical but our front 3 have got 12 already in 9 games. Lallana is still to come back. Coutinho still needs to come back officially. Sturridge has barely been involved. We will have games where we will create 30 chances and not score. It’s happened to Utd, to City, Chelsea and Arsenal. What we need to do is become more consistent at the simple things. ‘Experts’ argue that we are too exposed at the back because we are too cavalier going forward. I can’t think of many occasions where Lovren/Klavan/Matip find themselves stuck in the opposition box when the opposition then score. It’s always down at the defensive part of the pitch, down to panicking, down to disorganisation. This is the address. I also feel that we can go into a game and win it. He’s a positive guy, it almost hurts to see him upset with the results. Yes it’s down to him to address it, and he should’ve had a backup for VVD, but maybe in January that’s going to come good aye?

Anyway, what do you think? Is Klopp better? Is Rodgers better? Is your life better for reading this? Probably not. I’ll be quiet now. Thanks.