Is the time up for Jürgen Klopp at Anfield?

If Someone asked you this question a year ago the answer would have carried words less favored by many. It would have been to the extent that it would have offended a lot of Liverpool loyals. How times have changed and the fans would feel that 2021 had done more damage to the club than the pandemic. Until Liverpool visited Goodison park for the first fixture of the Merseyside derby they looked like a team well poised to defend the title and horror struck. The ever colossal figure holding the back line faced a career ending tackle, luckily it was only going to keep Van Dijk until April. The much decorated signing of the season Thiago Alcatara was also injured in the same match and it was surely a match which turned the tides for the defending champions. With every passing match the players kept getting injured adding Matip, Gomez, Keita, Fabinho, Allison, Milner to the list. Even then Klopp found a way to win shuffling his back line with players from the midfield often new to the territory like Fabinho dropping to center back from midfield and with the aid of a few academy outs. It all went well until the new year. Every team in the premier league started picking up their winning pace but it was not to be for Liverpool. A draw against Fulham and New Castle exposed the inability of the much praised front 3 to score. The defense kept shuffling and by March Klopp had used 18 different partners at the center back position. Without a single win in 2021 fans were left to ask questions on how the next transfer window should be looked at. With FSG waiting until the final minutes to sign Kabak from Shalke on loan and Ben Davis from Preston there was some sort of expectation building up. Until Liverpool faced Burnely on the 22nd of January little did the world know that a team at the bottom half of the table was going to beat a team which had not lost at home in the league in 68 matches which was almost in 3 years. Burnely exposed the weak point at Anfield fortress and every team which visited thereafter went back with 3 points leaving Liverpool pegging down the table with 6 straight home defeats with only 1 goal scored in the process. A top 4 finish is out of the question and even a spot in the Europa league is too much to ask for. Liverpool are 8th in the table and with Aston Villa having 2 games in hand with just 2 points they could leapfrog Liverpool. This is by far the worst position a defending champion has ever been in the history of the premier league. When they all wondered what more is left of this season Klopp reminded us why he is among the most elite and why the man who made us believe that a 3 decade wait for a premier league silver wear and a 14 year wait for the champions league title cannot be crossed out. With a team in shambles he flew to Budapest for the second leg of the champions league to face a team which is now second in Bundes Liga breathing under the neck of Bayern Munich with just a 2 points difference. It was with a 2 goals away advantage but still with a free scoring team as RB Leipzig, Liverpool were destined to gift goals. Nagelasmann’s Leipzig were favorites against his fellow countryman’s Liverpool. Klopp’s team selection indeed raised eyebrows but this man is a mentality monster, The normal one. Within minutes of the first whistle, those who were watching knew that the team has got its form back. From a team which hardly had any shots on goal to a team with more than 4 shots on target and a few missed opportunities it was well understood that something was happening at Puskas which the fans loved to see, and it was so. Two goals within 4 minutes from the same guys who brought victory in the first leg Mane and Salah were in motion. Who would have thought that Nat Phillips would lead the center back and would commit himself to every arial challenge as if that was his life on the line. With Fabinho, Gini and Thiago building up the Midfield, Klopp finally found the correct combination. The 3 men midfield was dynamic. Fabinho’s ever favored No. 6 role after a lapse of 4 months was indeed a game changer and it allowed a creative Thiago to move forward and create those passes he is known for, and an acrobatic shot on target summed his night and surely would have made fans around the world lose the grip on their seats. Gini Wijnaldum, the machine kept working as usual and proved why he is one man Klopp played day in day out. Naby Keita and the much criticized Divoc Origi crafted the second goal to perfection and it is fair to say Origi is a cult at Liverpool, when the team needs a savior he is there. Such was the performance of a team scrapped out of their local league. If Liverpool goes on to win the biggest title in European football, Klopp would become a Legendary manager and possibly get his own sculpture carved at Anfield. Could he do that? For a man who brought this team from ashes to become Champions of Europe and Champions of England, nothing is impossible. Jurgen Klopp could be the hope Liverpool has always longed for. Is his time up? Certainly not. Not after the show at the Puskás Aréna.