Jurgen Klopp has improved so many things about Liverpool but their counter-press remains paramount

The counter-press is where you see all of Klopp’s personality and strategy in one place

Around an hour in on Saturday, a previously sprightly Mario Lemina pursued Andy Robertson until he realised his bandy legs were not moving anywhere near as enthusiastically as those of the Liverpool left-back. With that, Lemina stopped running seemingly to gather his breath as well as his thoughts.

When the ball came to him half a minute or so later, he was in space but he did not appreciate the landscape, instead sending a pass back in the direction from where it came. Perhaps he concluded that an opponent would be on to him. Perhaps Lemina and Southampton were simply exhausted. They were already defeated.

Jürgen Klopp has improved so many things about Liverpool, not least the quality of the players he uses and the depth of his options. “In games like this you kill the mood of the opponent with the counter press,” he reminded. “You cannot come through with each pass; that is not possible. But how we reacted was really good. There was a moment in the second half where Southampton had the ball and there were four players surrounding the one. The boys are really ready for this hard work and that is what I love the most.”

The counter-press is where you see all of Klopp’s personality and strategy in one place. To do it successfully, there needs to be a tactical appreciation and a physical capacity but there also needs to be desire and desire’s root is in emotion.

It usually yields the most dramatic results way up the field when a Klopp team gives possession away; they hunt in a pack and attempt to win it back just as the defender thinks he might be safe, assuming that the player who has just surrendered his opportunity is recovering from the disappointment.

It happened in the first half when Mohamed Salah tried to find Roberto Firmino and Jannik Vestergaard intercepted only to retreat back towards his own goal. Salah sensed blood and so did Firmino, the pair of them giving chase and suddenly, Liverpool had a throw-in.

From his position 60-yards away in the technical area, Klopp did that thing he does regularly, a sort of 360-degree pirouette of applause, as if to encourage all four sides of the ground to recognise the importance of the moment. By then Anfield was already clapping away contentedly anyway; this reflects how Liverpool’s fanbase understands him and trusts him more than it did at the point of his arrival, despite the pomp of the period.

His response would again remind how important the counter-press is, as if counter-press and passion is the same thing – or at least, it translates at the same thing. “If we deliver passion they are over the moon,” Klopp said. “Today we controlled the game so I am completely fine. If I was a manager of another team coming here I would never feel comfortable…”

Xherdan Shaqiri’s half-time substitution brought surprise when in cold assessment; it should bring encouragement. If a strength of Klopp’s is telling Liverpool’s players how great they can be, another strength is his ability to rein them in. Shaqiri had enjoyed a fine afternoon, playing a key role in two of Liverpool’s goals, but Klopp was unhappy with the balance of the team in the first half though it would be extreme to conclude that he had made a mistake with Liverpool leading 3-0. At that point, it would have been tempting to let Liverpool run riot, expending more collective energy ahead of two games with Chelsea, a trip to Naples and then Manchester City’s visit to Anfield. In removing Shaqiri, Klopp showed restraint.

Xherdan Shaqiri was Liverpool’s best player in the first half but Klopp opted to bring him off (Getty)

“Changing system and not having real time to do it in training doesn’t feel comfortable,” Klopp reasoned, attaching some blame to himself. “You saw it. Defensively we are used to jumping from midfield positions, and today that made it difficult. I’m not worried it will cost his confidence. He is a naturally confident boy, and he will play again. It’s all good.”

Sometimes, there is just as much to be gleaned about the status of a team when a manager, unrelated to the event, volunteers an opinion without prompt. Having been thrashed by Chelsea and Manchester City on successive weekends, Cardiff City’s Neil Warnock assessed his experiences by saying, “I think one or two teams will get a bit of a turning over by City and probably Liverpool this year.”

Mark Hughes was fresh from a pasting and a lot closer than Warnock to the realities that managers will face at Anfield. “You sense they believe in what they are doing and there’s a drive and determination right through the club at the moment that could see them go all the way,” Hughes said. “They’re knocking everybody over...You can see they’ve got talent and what they’ve got now is more depth and better depth than they’ve ever had.

“They’ve got pace all over the field. At the back, through the middle and clearly at the top end of the pitch where it really counts. It’s very difficult even if you match them up and you’re keeping them out to go the other end and create chances because they’ve got strength, pace and physicality at the back as well.”