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Having only been in charge at Anfield for a week now, it would be unrealistic to expect Jürgen Klopp to send out a radically rebuilt side against Tottenham on the weekend. At his first pre-match press conference ahead of Saturday's match, the new Liverpool manager was keen to stress the process would take some time.
However, he also said he's spent a lot of time watch his new players over the months and years—and reportedly took the time to review every Liverpool match from 2015 after becoming the club's manager—and knows what they can and can't do. He also knows how he wants to get them playing in the end; the shape and approach his Liverpool side will end up taking.
"We've had three excellent training sessions this week, and the boys are willing to listen," said Klopp. "It's not the time to change too much, just to turn the screws a little bit in the right ways. I watch football all the time, so I already know many things about my players. It would be better if we had had six weeks to work together for, but it's not a perfect world."
For Liverpool heading into Saturday, the goal will be to take what they were already doing under Rodgers, make some minor tweaks, and hope to feed off the energy and optimism of the past week to turn in a strong performance. Then, little by little over the weeks and months, Klopp will seek to incrementally change the side into one that reflects him.
"We are playing against a very good Premier League team in Tottenham," added the new Liverpool manager. "They have been together for a long time, and we know how they want to play. But I also know how I want to play. We have to run and fight and shoot together; to defend together and attack together. We have to play like our best dream."
With the games coming fast over the next month, there won't be much downtime following the Spurs match, however it ends up. Liverpool face two games a week through to the November international break, including a match away at Chelsea, home and away in Europe against Rubin Kazan, and their next League Cup match, against Bournemouth.
Small, incremental change will clearly be the only way forward for Klopp's side. Except maybe in their dreams, Liverpool will not be expecting to look like Borussia Dortmund tomorrow or by next Thursday. The manager has an end goal, though, and no matter the results, it will be good to see Liverpool again—finally—working towards something.
"Some things you can change like this," Klopp said, snapping his fingers. "But to get tuned as a team? That takes time. I want to see more bravery; more fun in their eyes. I want to see that they like what they do. But I also want us to be as organised as we can be. We have to feel stability, and when we feel this we will be free to look at attacking work."
