Jurgen Klopp is confident Liverpool will start scoring more goals soon. Jurgen Klopp is confident Liverpool will start scoring more goals soon. Jurgen Klopp is confident Liverpool will start scoring more goals soon.
Liverpool's first couple games of wastefulness in front of goal were put down by many as just bad fortune. The frustrating draws against Sevilla and Burnley at home were simply passed off as "one of those days."
But when the same levels of dominance against Leicester City in the League Cup, Spartak Moscow and Newcastle United failed to yield positive results, Jurgen Klopp vowed to not "avoid" the issue going forward.
The stats are alarming. In the past seven matches, which has seen them pick up only one win, Liverpool have had 138 shots, scoring just seven times. In the Premier League this season they have a shot-conversion rate of 13.5 percent, in stark contrast to that of the Manchester clubs, who convert nearly one of every four shots and top the table.
"A lot of that is psychological rather than technical," Chris McGinn, a coach who runs courses to help strikers and has worked with Dennis Bergkamp, Thierry Henry and Raheem Sterling, tells ESPN FC. "What you really need to do is analyse what they did when they did it well and what has changed now.
"It may be that they're being forced into areas so the shots are further out or at different angles. It's a lot about what they were doing when they were getting success and what they are doing now. That's probably the start point.
"The way most [forwards] have managed to get over it is to analyse what they did well [in the past]. It may be they've worked out that their runs are now slightly later or earlier, or that the defenders are forcing them into areas they're not comfortable in.
"Then they work a way to be able to compensate for that. If a defender has forced them to play slightly wider, for example, then they'll adjust their runs to be able to arrive where they want to be, rather than where they're being forced to go."
For Klopp, the fact Liverpool are now creating chances against defensive sides is seen as a positive. During the 2016-17 campaign, Liverpool were easily frustrated by teams who used the low block and then looked to pounce on the counter-attack.
"The big improvement of this team in the moment so far is that we really create a lot," Klopp said prior to Sunday's draw with Newcastle. "We had a lot of talks in the last two years when we played against sides who are only defending and we don't create enough.
"That has changed and we've made a big step in this. So far it doesn't lead to the results that we want, but in a few moments you cannot create bigger chances."
Indeed, Liverpool have squandered numerous glorious opportunities this term which has already cost them points, but scoring goals is just one aspect of a forward's job in a Klopp side.
Jurgen Klopp is happy to see improvement from Liverpool in creating chances against defensive sides.
As part of the front line, Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah, and especially Roberto Firmino, are expected to be the first wave of high press that Liverpool enforce when opponents have the ball. However, that style of relentless football can undoubtedly impact a player's composure in front of goal when the opportunity arises.
"Strikers predominantly pounce on a free ball," McGinn says. "If a defender's touch is poor, can you pounce on it? If you're asking them to press all of the time and chase balls that they're not likely to get then you're consuming energy that you don't need to use. The mindset ends up being more about chasing than it is about being the predator that most strikers are.
"Pressing as a striker is more predatory, it's more, 'Can you be in a position to intercept?' -- that same instinct we're asking them to display in front of goal is used defensively."
But arguably Liverpool's biggest Achilles' heel lies at the other end of the pitch. In the past seven matches, the Reds have conceded 14 goals from 57 shots. And when Liverpool have scored to put themselves in winning positions, their much-maligned defence has failed to bail out the attack for missing chances to secure the result -- as evidenced in the Watford and Sevilla games this season.
The uncertainty of a shaky back four does have an impact on the players in the final third, according to McGinn.
"It adds pressure, for sure," he says. "When you've got a solid defence you know that sticking one or two in the back of the net should wrap the game up. "When you're conceding, you know scoring one or two may not be enough to win the game. It certainly changes the mindset.
"It makes it that those 10 chances you're getting, you better be scoring three of them rather than one. It does affect your mindset when you know one or two goals might not be enough, when really it should."
Being poor at both ends of the pitch is an unhealthy mix, and Klopp has to find a way to address Liverpool's glaring issues over the international break before rivals get out of sight.
Glenn is ESPN FC's Liverpool correspondent. You can follow him on Twitter: @GlennPrice94.
Comments
Use a Facebook account to add a comment, subject to Facebook's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Your Facebook name, photo & other personal information you make public on Facebook will appear with your comment, and may be used on ESPN's media platforms. Learn more.
Source: espn.co.uk