Whats Our Problem??

Well I would say good evening redmen, but tbh its not following yesterday.

so to get to the point.....what is our problem atm?

have we become a bad team since the stroke of midnight 31/12/2016? performances against the PL big hitters suggest we haven't.

are we the all conquering red machine that was so devastating in the first half of the season?
no. we overachieved.

yes we are underperforming for what we should be(every team does have a bad spell), but its being made worse by the drop in performance level from the incredibly high levels achieved before xmas. so because we were so good, it makes us seem so much worse now. (im not saying we aren't bad btw). im sure most of us, before the season, wudve said a top 4 challenge wud be a decent season.
should we, realistically, have been 1st/2nd this season? with our current squad? no, definitely not. first 11 is good, but far from title winnng. squad beyond that is poor. lots of young potential (grujic, origi, Gomez) or older middle of the road journeymen (lucas, milner klavan).

so people will point the finger at mr klopp." should've bought in jan"
"didn't invest enough in summer". and you have a point. however, how many have u have said or thought in the past with previous managers
"why do we buy players that aren't good enough??" I know I have. remember the end of the rafa era and us investing in poor players? it was a reason that rafa left. lack of investment in the right quality.
im not bashing the owners(I feel they are doing the right things in making us as profitable and sustainable) so I don't want to discuss them. klopp has said that you cant get the right players in jan as their clubs don't want to lose the,m midseason. so u have to overpay if u want them. he is being responsible by not overpaying but also not just buying any dross to satisfy demand from (some) shortsighted fans.
plus klopp also said he wanted to clear out a lot of unnecessary players (which he did, hence the summer profit). then he wants CL quality so we need CL to get them. again he didn't just buy anyone, he wants the right ones. I say hes right!

so is our squad underachieving? not really. current form is bad but the season as a whole, isn't too bad. consistency is the problem.

the above doesn't absolve klopp from his mistakes and the squad from their lack of stomach for a hard fought win.
klopp should've realised and adapted by now, to the required tactical differences required vs the "bottom half" teams. the false nine firmino and pace of mane and couts trickery works great vs teams that don't sit back and counter. if they do........
it wudnt be so bad if matip had a partner with pace and aerial ability and a lb that was a natural def and can position appropriately. or even a mobile, natural, DM. if we had these, we may be able to play the same way vs these deep def teams without fear. but we don't so dif tactics are required.

personally atm I would play, away from home vs the deep def teams,

----------------mig
----- Gomez matip klavan/lovren
clyne-------- lucas --------------Moreno
--------lallana firm couts
----------- studge or origi

so a 3331 formation almost. the fwd must be working thw whole line and the 3 behind getting fwd with movement and pace and swapping positions. however all get back as and when. the wbs give us width and pace and crosses without too much fear as there are 3 cbs back to cover.
lucas isn't ideal as hendo is injured but can just cant atm tbf.
this doesn't rely on mane pace behind and the cleverness, movement and trickery of the 3 AM means the opposition mf and def wont know who picks up who. plus mane can come off the bench if we need

obv its not perfect but it cud work with the squad we have.

somebody posted earlier regarding squarepegs and im inclined to agree. lets adapt the tactics to suit the squad.
if we get CL come the end of the season(we can do it, I really believe we can) and klopp fills the squad with quality then great. but he needs to change against the deep lying teams and play to our squad more.

as for the players attitude, some of them need to man up and put their all in everytime they pull on the shirt. it seemed earlier in the season we were all playing for each other. that's fallen away somewhat during this poor spell. confidence maybe? I can see why klopp took them to try and build team spirit again. in a way the break hindered us a little, losing our momentum after the performance vs Tottenham. if we can get a victory and good performance vs arsenal then it may go some way to restoring the confidence

itll be interesting in the game after arsenal to see what we do differently. I really hope jurgen finds a solution