Three marginal gains Liverpool must make to go to the next level

Advising Jurgen Klopp on how to improve his Liverpool side is a little like offering guidance to Leonardo da Vinci on how to best add finishing touches to the Mona Lisa.

By any standard, Liverpool’s 2021-22 campaign was astonishing. Defeat to Real Madrid was only their fourth in 63 games. They scored 147 goals across all competitions, were miserly in defence and took a quadruple bid as far as their penultimate game, ultimately reducing rivals to the most hollow jibe that they ‘only won two major trophies’. 

But there is no doubt that the two they most wanted were also the ones to elude them, with the Premier League lost by a point and the Champions League by a single goal to Real Madrid.

So, how does Klopp find that extra few percentage points to take his side to an even higher level?

Liverpool won two of their three finals this season, too, although strangely they never scored in open play in any of them. Klopp and his analysts must decide if this is a quirk against high class opponents like Chelsea and Real, or a habit which will be addressed ahead of the next showpiece occasion. This sounds like a classic ‘First World Problem’. 

Liverpool were the superior side in the Carabao Cup, FA Cup and Champions League finals. In the first two, they did not suffer for their failure to turn so many chances into goals because of Klopp’s foresight preparing his players for dead-ball situations. The price was paid in Paris, and as much as Courtois deserves the credit there was a lack of killer instinct.

Liverpool’s prolific finisher, Salah, did not convert as many chances in the second half of the season, and the next stage of Luis Diaz’s development will be to upgrade his chance to goal ratio. Sadio Mane delivered in the latter