Gauging the temperature one month into Klopp era

It’s been a month, nearly to the exact day, since Jurgen Klopp was confirmed as the new Liverpool boss.

It’s been a month, nearly to the exact day, that I finally shunned fears that ownership would low-ball Klopp during contract negotiations and end up hiring Eddie Howe or Garry Monk. That’s genuine, too. I’d been conditioned by my life as a Liverpool supporter to expect the worst.

It’s been a month, nearly to the exact day, that I’ve been genuinely hopeful and excited to be a Liverpool fan once again. I tend to push myself to optimism so I would always take the realism of reality and try to tinge it into an optimal light, but nothing as truly defensible as a future with Klopp.

The last day I felt anywhere near what I felt when Klopp was confirmed was May 5, 2014. It was the 55th minute of an infamous match, Luis Suarez scored his side’s third goal to widen their lead to 3-0, the floodgates were opening. Instead of celebrating, the Uruguayan ran to the net, grabbed the ball to reset the game.

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The crazy lovable bloke thought we were going to win 8-0. And I did too.

For those who say that a run of seven matches in which there’s been three wins shouldn’t translate to the irrational happiness flowing within me, maybe my translator is a bit wayward.

Taking the temperature of Klopp’s Liverpool reign just a month in is totally unfair. But what else is there to do over an international break other than lament the lack of Liverpool matches and read way too deep into every quote or envision the future with every obscure link?

Moving past Klopp’s record of three wins, three draws and one loss, which is an improvement in and of itself, his side has simply passed the eye test. The team as a whole seems to be enjoying themselves a bit more. The games have been much more eventful than some (most) of the matches towards the end of the Brendan Rodgers era, bar Klopp’s first match against Tottenham when his players pushed the limits for the first 25 minutes until the limits pushed back (and won) for the final 65 minutes. Other than that, the team has played on the front foot and been much more creative under Klopp. They’ve played inspired.

As for individuals performances, a number of players have seen upticks in immediate output: both marginally and exponentially.

For the latter, Jordon Ibe is a microcosm. He started the opening match for Liverpool then lost his spot and confidence. He was no longer the fearless teenager who didn’t care who you were, what you’ve done in your career: he was going to dribble you and beat you.

This season? He’d seemingly forgotten how to dribble and sprint.

Then Klopp took over, galvanized the side and Ibe went on and scored his first senior goal for Liverpool against Rubin Kazan in the Europa League. His new manager was happier about it than he was.

That notion shouldn’t be scoffed at. Players need belief and Klopp has a bottomless pit of belief. It’s infectious.

It’s likely that Mamadou Sakho improved exponentially, but he was always quality whenever he played under Rodgers. He just didn’t seem to play enough. Up until he landed awkwardly yielding a potentially serious knee injury in the last match before the break, he had hardly put a foot wrong.

Alongside Sakho, the most impressive has been Lucas Leiva. The Brazilian was an afterthought in August for Rodgers and was almost banished to Turkey on deadline day. Against quality opposition, he’s essentially irreplaceable.

Ibe, Sakho and Lucas are just three of many players who were jump-started by the new manager.

Emre Can had in initial leap in form but has since shriveled back a bit.

Moreno started his revival right before Rodgers was relieved and continued to push on.

Philippe Coutinho has scored a treble of goals for Klopp in the last month. Another creative mid, Roberto Firmino, was finally allowed to play down the center as he preferred, and it correlated in better performances. Who would have thought?!?

Everyone must take a step back, of course. He’s called “Jurgen Klopp” not “Jesus Klopp.” He can’t walk on water (has this been confirmed, though?) It’s impossible for him to walk into a shattered Liverpool dressing room with some unimpressive or out of form players and turn them into an immediate title challenging side, especially after the sub-par start to the season.

That should be obvious, but apparently not. On Reddit after the win against Chelsea, someone typed “Why won’t anyone say it? Liverpool are in the title race.” And no one told the user that they were wrong.

In less than a season, Klopp was never going to transform Liverpool into Dorussia Dortmund circa 2012-13/2013-14 when they incredibly beat Bayern Munich to the summit of the Bundesliga. Those titles were the culmination of years of tireless work.

Maybe the loss to Crystal Palace was a kick in the teeth to some irrational supporters who really did believe that Liverpool are in the title race this season.

However, for all the reality checks ticked off in the prior few paragraphs, optimism should flow. As much as I disagreed with what that user on Reddit had said, it’s more fun to watch Liverpool with a smile and the hope that things will play out well than the common frown and expectation of disappointment.

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Klopp is a world class manager and has a better chance than anyone to turn Liverpool back into a superpower. Let’s not expect too much too soon. Let’s revel in the process, enjoy the ups and downs.

It would be silly to put any more unnecessary pressure on the new boss, but, here goes anyway. The Jurgen Klopp era is one month old. This very well may be the beginnings of something special. He’s making us dream.