Is June 2019 a long time ago? In some respects, yes, in some respects, no – that’s probably the weakest way to answer the question, and the most accurate.
This is about longevity and change, how we measure them and (sometimes) treasure them. The reason for the question is that June 2019, the Champions League final, Tottenham Hotspur versus Liverpool, somehow feels long ago and not that long ago.
Liverpool won 2-0 thanks to that second-minute penalty from Mo Salah and a long-awaited 87th minute follow-up from substitute Divock Origi. It was a sunny night in Madrid and 3½ years in at Anfield, Jurgen Klopp had his first major trophy as Liverpool manager.
Subsequently Klopp won the Premier League, then began this year with the League Cup, then FA Cup. There have been lost Champions League finals along the way and narrow second-place finishes in the league.
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At Liverpool, it cannot be called unprecedented, but it is a prolonged period of sustained achievement that would have been considered golden on the October day in 2015 when Klopp named his first Liverpool XI.
That, of course, was at Tottenham. It was at White Hart Lane, a long time ago.
It was a nil-nil-nil kind of game and only one of Klopp’s first starting XI remains – James Milner. None of the seven substitutes, such as Jordan Ibe and Joe Allen, are still at Anfield. (Jordan Henderson was at the club but did not play).
Turnover was required to lift Liverpool from a plateau to the heights of Madrid and a first League title in 30 years. There was a definitive change from one era to another. There was a starting-point and there will be an end.
Change was the answer then and it is being mentioned again. Is fresh churn necessary?
Go back to June 2019 and Liverpool won that final against Spurs with nine starters who could conceivably begin tomorrow at Tottenham’s new stadium. Klopp’s initial turnover begat cohesion and faith – and success – and the longevity of the manager has been replicated on the pitch. Together it has strength and appeal. Liverpool are miles ahead of where they were the day Klopp arrived.
When, though, does longevity need a tap on the shoulder? This is not related to Klopp – the club should retain him as long as he feels excited to be there – but to the squad and in particular to the midfield.
Henderson was beside Fabinho and Georginio Wijnaldum in Madrid. And Henderson was beside Fabinho at the end of the 1-0 victory over Manchester City three weeks ago. Those results say continuity works. But Liverpool are ninth in the table having won four games. Longevity is under scrutiny.
What this shows is how managing change is so delicate for managers, clubs and teams. Even the greats endure fallow seasons
And the difficulty is revealed by Spurs. Their midfield in Madrid consisted of Harry Winks and Moussa Sissoko as holding players, with Dele Alli, Christian Eriksen and Son Heung-min in front of them. Only Son is still at Tottenham and he is not a midfielder.
The other four have departed either permanently or on loan – Winks is at Sampdoria – and manager Mauricio Pochettino has gone. The back four who started in Madrid have left too, and yet the ongoing presence of players like Eric Dier and Lucas Moura means Spurs are as familiar to us as Liverpool. There are threads of continuity.
But there has been significant change and it is reasonable to ask if Spurs are better for it. In the season after the Madrid final, they dropped to sixth in the Premier League with their lowest points tally for 11 years. Madrid turned out not to be the start of something a la Klopp at Liverpool. Instead Pochettino gave way to Jose Mourinho who in turn was followed by Nuno Espirito Santo.
Neither appointment really worked and now it’s Antonio Conte, who on the good days looks an inspired coach of serious insight, and on the bad an unorthodox man of orthodox Italian beliefs.
Conte is annoyed when portrayed as a catenaccio coach, but the fact is there are first principles and Tottenham have not scored a first-half goal in any of their last six matches. In Marseilles in midweek they were dull and would have been beaten by a better side than the team fifth in France.
But thanks to two midfielders – Ivan Perisic with a late block and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg with an even later winner – Spurs won their Champions League group meaning a theoretically less daunting last 16 game when Monday’s draw is made.
Conte was appointed a year ago this week. Spurs were eighth in the table, though only two points off fourth. Earning a Champions League place was a real achievement, nonetheless, more so than winning Group D this week.
But it gives Spurs and Conte a sense of what-comes-next and that can bring longevity. This week saw Klopp take charge of his 400th Liverpool game; imagine Spurs if Conte stays that long?
Ultimately tomorrow may simply confirm Manchester City’s Premier League excellence and unlimited financial heft. Or it may make those involved reconsider the time for change; and that change takes time.
Chastening week for the Glasgow giants
Celtic and Rangers ended their Champions League groups in midweek with a combined 8-2 aggregate deficit.
Both Glasgow clubs finished bottom of their groups without a win between them and superficially they fulfil the idea of Scottish clubs, and others from smaller leagues, as Champions League group-stage cannon fodder. What’s the point?
But it is a superficial assessment. Celtic played some lovely football at Real Madrid, missed a penalty and had two awarded against them that should not have stood.
The build-up play leading to Liel Abada’s thrust into the Real penalty-area, and foul, was clever, patient and an example of what Ange Postecoglu is trying to construct. Everything he said beforehand and afterwards about education and “hardening” of players made sense. Celtic will be better individually and collectively 12 months on.
Rangers should be too – people have already forgotten it was 1-1 at half-time against Liverpool at Ibrox, before the second-half demolition.
What this means for other Scottish clubs, though, is ominous. That is hardly new but it did provoke the thought this week that if there is one city where the dreaded European Super League would be impactful and, in a way, justified, it would be Glasgow.
Celtic and Rangers have long been in a marriage of inconvenience with the rest of Scotland, a divorce might be welcomed by all concerned.
