Jurgen Klopp radiates optimism. After the 2-0 defeat at Newcastle United on Sunday, the Liverpool manager was quick to point out that he "didn't say before that we are title contenders." He's right. He never uttered those words. At least not in public.
Klopp has been at Anfield a mere two months and, in that time, the mood at the club has changed completely. Belief had faded during the final months of the Brendan Rodgers era but the new manager restored a sense of purpose.
Make no mistake, Klopp looked at the inconsistency of the Premier League this season and calculated that a title challenge was possible. It is a message he conveyed to owners Fenway Sports Group (FSG) from their first meetings. His target is not the top four but the four trophies that are still available to Liverpool: Premier League, FA Cup, League Cup and Europa League. If expectations are high among the support, they reflect the 48-year-old's craving for silverware.
The realist in Klopp will be taking stock after the 2-0 defeat to Newcastle this weekend. Which is the real Liverpool? Is it the side that looked an incoherent mess at St James' Park? Is it the team that beat Manchester City 4-1? Or the group of players who huffed and puffed to beat Swansea City 1-0? Is it the XI that swept Chelsea aside? Or the team that could not contain Crystal Palace?
The unpredictable nature of the Premier League this season that gave Klopp the scent of success makes it impossible to judge the strength of his team. Stoke City looked at least as assured as Liverpool when beating Manuel Pellegrini's City; victory over Chelsea no longer represents a landmark result. Aston Villa's 1-1 draw against Southampton at St Mary's puts Liverpool's 6-1 League Cup rout on the south coast into some perspective.
FSG have long felt that they have put the basis of a winning squad in place at Anfield. The problems under Rodgers stemmed, the owners believe, from the way the manager set up the side. Individuals were being misused and the team as a whole were not positive enough. Klopp agreed with his employers that the players had real potential, but performances like the one against Newcastle may make him think again.
If the German intends to play his gegenpressing game, he will need midfielders with more mobility than Joe Allen and Lucas Leiva, and forwards with more appetite to pressure the opposition than Christian Benteke and Roberto Firmino. Newcastle too often got behind Liverpool's botched pressing game, leaving the centre-backs isolated against the home side's runners. To execute Klopp's tactics with any level of consistency, he will need to strengthen in the transfer window.
At times over the past three years, Liverpool's recruitment process has appeared haphazard. Rodgers' relationship with the owners started to strain less than three months into his appointment at the end of his first transfer window and recruitment was the issue.
Much of the former manager's tenure was characterised by a low-key war over player selection with members of the club's infamous transfer committee. Klopp's honeymoon is likely to last considerably longer and he has enthused owners who are considerably less naive than they were in 2012. The key to the future is a more intelligent approach to the transfer market, though. It is crucial Liverpool go shopping with a clearer sense of purpose and look to bring in players suitable for the manager's style.
Liverpool should be optimistic. There will be afternoons like the one on Tyneside but Klopp will drive the club in the right direction. He wants to win the title as badly as the fans do and understands the impact that achieving the feat would have on his reputation. It will not happen overnight but one thing is certain: Klopp wants trophies and he wants them now. He may not verbalise it but every action articulates it.
ESPNFC
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