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The celebration of Kloppmas—the anniversary of Jürgen Klopp’s arrival—continues. On Tuesday, we discussed the swift departure of Brendan Rodgers during this international break a year ago, and now let’s take a look at the results since that fateful switch.
Of course, the most memorable parts of the 2015/16 campaign were the two cup finals. The narrative from last year suggests that Liverpool mostly “gave up” on the league campaign to focus on their cup runs. Although this is true to a certain extent, particularly as the Reds approached their first European final in 9 years, they also had some strong performances in the league last season. Indeed, many supporters might be surprised to look at the results from 37 league fixtures between Klopp’s hiring and now:
1. Tottenham 74 +39 (GD)
2. Leicester City 74 +27
3. Arsenal 71 +32
4. Manchester City 66 +29
5. Liverpool 64 +23
6. Manchester United 63 +15
Ultimately, fifth isn’t where we want to be, but Liverpool are looking like a much better side in the early going stages of this campaign than last.
Klopp recently pointed out in a press conference that his point “base” is much better this season than when he came in. Indeed, Klopp & Co. have six more points than they had at this point last year (in seven games instead of eight). Those six points, depending on goal differential, could have been the difference between finishing eighth (as we eventually did) or finishing above both Manchester sides in fourth. It is nearly impossible to make up for a bad start in the league, particularly at the top end of the table. Despite Klopp’s best efforts, he could never really gain any traction in the league after that 10th place start under his predecessor.
One thing that Klopp has reiterated time and again is the process of training and continual improvement. Liverpool’s results under his stewardship have shown steady improvement so far. Klopp will have a big chance to display even further improvement against Manchester United when the league campaign resumes in a week and a half for his 38th Premier League game in charge.