Liverpool is in a curious position at the moment, as Jürgen Klopp has an extremely talented squad at his disposal, but one that is unbalanced. The German coach possesses a wealth of attacking firepower within his ranks, but his players are far too inclined to lean toward the offensive side of the game.
Indeed, the 56-year-old said as much in his very first conversation with Wataru Endo last week. The Japanese international was officially announced as a new signing from Stuttgart on Friday afternoon, and shortly after his arrival on Merseyside, he was greeted by Klopp in the locker room.
In a conversation that was caught on camera by the club’s media team, the Reds boss said: “As soon as you are available, we really need you. We really need you. Your heart and your legs and your football brain, we need it. We have a really good team. Ready to work, but very offensive.”
Endo will help Liverpool balance the scales now that he’s signed on the dotted line at Anfield, but Klopp needs further reinforcements if he’s going to truly establish equilibrium on the pitch. His words after facing Chelsea in the Premier League opener just last week capture the problem that he must tackle.
Somehow, the Reds posted a possession share of just 35 per cent against the Blues, and when Klopp was asked to reflect on the statistic, ‘an absolute joke’ was his response. “That was not our idea for that game, but it happened,” he said in his pre-Bournemouth conference. “We were too much in a rush with the ball.”
Cody Gakpo completed a total of just 10 passes in 65 minutes against the Blues, with Trent Alexander-Arnold also giving the ball away far too often. In fact, based on the numbers posted by the Scouse defender in the match, there was a 45 per cent chance that one of his passes would find an opponent, which is quite incredible.
Liverpool lacked control against Chelsea. That dynamic improved to a certain extent against Bournemouth on Saturday afternoon, but there is still plenty of room for an evolution, with Klopp appearing in need of a ball-playing midfielder who will keep possession and dictate the tempo of proceedings for him.
Upon inspection of the weakness held by the Reds, links with André appear interesting.
The Brazilian midfielder was tipped for a move to Liverpool earlier this summer, with Sky Sports reporting that the Reds had ‘made contact’ for the player, but nothing materialized; at least not yet. The 22-year-old maestro is currently representing Fluminense in his homeland, with his season roughly halfway through at present.
As Liverpool searches for reinforcements to bolster Klopp’s engine room, André continues to impress in Brazil. In fact, he started for Fluminense against América MG on Saturday afternoon and painted himself as one of the most dominant players on the pitch, amassing more touches than anybody else.
His total of 127 touches placed him in a league of his own, ahead of second-placed Nino on just 87 touches. André was everywhere in the clash, with his passing display guaranteed to grab Klopp’s attention. Indeed, he completed 105 of his 109 attempted passes in the bout, leaving him with a remarkable 96.3 per cent completion rate.
André isn’t particularly inclined to score goals or create chances, but he is as safe and reliable as it gets when he’s on the ball. The Brazilian international simply never loses possession, and when considering Klopp’s controversial ‘absolute joke’ statement, he could be a perfect solution for Liverpool to explore.
The Reds might have to wait until January to land his signature — which would allow him to finish his current campaign — but based on his showings of late, he could be more than worth the wait.