One significant and looming question as we get further along in this year’s season, is what league should Klopp be putting his focus into?
It is a tough question for Klopp that must be analyzed carefully, given the prestige of both the Premier League and the UEFA Champions League. To give some background, we lifted the Champions League trophy five times, a number that stands up there with some of Europe’s best. However, we have yet to lift the Premier League title since its name change over twenty years ago.
What really makes the choice tough, is that it feel as if though this year we could really compete and even win both. Even with our depth, with our bench usually featuring the likes of Daniel Sturridge, Fabinho, Nathaniel Clyne, Xherdan Shaqiri and a rotation of midfielders. These players have proved their worth as Klopp has already rotated the side in the PSG game, starting Sturridge and Jordan Henderson, with both of them playing exceptional games.
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Not to mention Liverpool will also have the talents of Dejan Lovren and Rhian Brewster in the coming months adding to their depth. With this amount of talented players in the squad it seems as though Klopp could create competition in the team for who gets to play in the big games.
The team is just starting to go through their first run of tough games with Southampton, Chelsea twice, Napoli, and Manchester City yet to come. Even though we played well against both Tottenham and PSG, the squad will need to be tough and rested for the future games. I am not making the argument that Klopp can only use one squad in Europe and one in the league. But when things get tough, and we are playing 2-3 games per week, who do we start in the huge games and who do we play in the less important ones?
First, Klopp must establish what front is more important to win. He has been criticized before for not taking cups in England serious enough, so the fans probably do not need to worry about the FA or Carabao Cups. Klopp also knows that Liverpool fans are dying to finally win the League again. It has been a long-awaited drought, and we finally have the team with enough talent to do so.
However, from the other side of the coin, look how good we did in Europe last season. Making it to the final of club competition in Europe, and just coming up short. This team is almost built to compete in these competitions, with the ability to play half of the knockout games at Anfield in an atmosphere almost nobody can handle.
It is really the first year in a very long time that pundits going into the season have thought that Liverpool could actually go the distance in both leagues. But when it comes down to it, I feel as if Klopp will put the best teams out in the Premier League. The fans demand it, the squad has already got off to a great start to where they can compete with other top clubs, and we have the depth to fight for games every week.
Even if it is hard to justify rotating the team in a big knockout game in the Champions League where the best possible team is not playing, it is a choice Klopp must make at some point, when the schedule picks up. Luckily, we have enough quality players on our bench, we do not have to worry all that much about the teams Klopp does pick. I think people were nervous when Sturridge was listed against PSG, but look how well he played.
No matter what trophy it is, hopefully we can bring some sort of hardware back to Anfield this year.