Jürgen Klopp has come even closer to Liverpool’s immortality after another masterstroke against Everton
These are the moments that make you. Zero-zero, the game in a complete stalemate. Your arch-rivals have come to destroy your party at your doorstep. Things are not going well. Everything is off script. Only divine intervention, a deus ex machina can save you now.
Fortunately for Jürgen Klopp and Liverpool, when the German boss stormed into the Anfield dugout at half-time, he knew there was one card left to play, one that would serve as the perfect means of redress. But Klopp was in no rush to play it. The best playwrights are the ones who know exactly when to introduce their characters, not too early, not too late, but only when the moment is right.
That moment would last until the last third of the match, the final hurrah. Klopps deus ex machina came in mortal form. While in some parts of Merseyside, Divock Origi and Luis Díaz may be considered gods, they are still very fallible creatures of flesh. But they showed none of their fallibility in their half-hour cameos at Anfield on Sunday afternoon.
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Origi’s contribution may seem marginal in the lead up to Liverpool’s first goal, but until his introduction, Liverpool struggled to find the kind of space he managed to free up in the Everton penalty area, and his clever trick worked to perfection to break the deadlock.
No words can describe the sheer genius that made Liverpool’s second. From the precise pass of Klopp’s third substitute Jordan Henderson to Díaz’s acrobatic ball, who had already stunned the crowd with his mastery of control, delivering the kind of magical perfection that belongs in the Louvre as an exhibit. All Divock Origi had to do was do what he does best: score against Everton.
Klopp could not have written the plot better. The Liverpool boss made the right moves and his substitutions delivered another success this season. It’s one thing to have a generous amount of options on the bench, it’s another to know how to use them, and Klopp seems to have mastered the art.
From his rotations to the cameos of Roberto Firmino or Diogo Jota, Klopp has introduced a plethora of match winners this season with bold tactical decisions. It is a facet of his management act that is often undervalued. But it is one of its greatest weapons, especially with a squadron of this size at its disposal.
This side of Liverpool is on the brink of immortality. Jürgen Klopp may not want to admit it, but he could be about to achieve something very special. One that will forge its name in the highest echelons of football history books.
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