Blog: Home run a good thing for everyone

Jürgen Klopp was able to get his first taste of Anfield this week – a momentous step for any new manager taking the reins at Liverpool. The 1-1 result against Rubin Kazan only gave us a point in the end, but offers hope in the sense that it was another more promising performance.

Prior to Thursday night’s game, Klopp said he was looking forward to experiencing Anfield on a matchday for the first time and wanted to ‘feel’ the world-famous atmosphere. At the same time, he urged the fans to be ‘louder and wilder than ever in your life’, indicative of how he is able to engage with people in a unique way.

It certainly seemed as though the players fed off that in the opening stages. Until the away side scored, against the run of play it must be added, the Reds played with excellent tempo and energy – a great sign of Klopp’s early influence.

Now we can look forward to two more back-to-back home games, starting this afternoon when Southampton make the trip north to Merseyside. The game against the Saints will certainly be an interesting one and a good challenge. Ronald Koeman has once again assembled a talented squad after losing a few key players in the summer and they have the same number of points and the same record as us after nine games.

There are a few things that stand out about our opponents and the fixture. Interestingly, Southampton have only kept three clean sheets so far in 2015-16 - something that is a little surprising given their defensive solidity last season. In fact, their last shut-out came more than a month ago on September 12, so there is definitely a potential weakness at the back.

As the squad continues to adapt to Klopp’s famed style of play and press hard and fast from the front, there are likely to be opportunities to cause defensive panic. It’s then up to our players to use the quality we know they have to finish those chances off.

There have been an unfortunate number of injuries to attacking players this season, but it was good to see Roberto Firmino and Christian Benteke both back in action against Kazan. For Firmino in particular, now that he’s working with coaching staff from Germany, it might help him to tap into the form that made him one of the best in the Bundesliga last season.

Southampton are dangerous in front of goal themselves, though. Graziano Pelle is a striker in form, but a clean sheet at the first time of asking for Klopp against a strong Tottenham Hotspur team was most definitely a good start last weekend. Defence hasn’t always been our strongest point in recent years, but it’s a good sign that Spurs couldn’t find a way through.

After Southampton it’s another home game against a south coast club when Bournemouth are the visitors in the Capital One Cup.

For fans to have so much exposure to Klopp and his new methods so early on is exciting to say the least. It’s not often supporters get to see quite so much of a new boss at close quarters so quickly, but because of the way the fixtures have worked, we will. These few home games are an opportunity for him to really put his mark on the team with a passionate home crowd fully behind him and the players.

Now is the time for Anfield to be a fortress once more.

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