That magic word... Consistency

Sporadic poster, long time lurker here, go easy on me. Supporter since 1990. My opinion only and do not presume any facts in the following... apologies if this topic has been covered elsewhere

From watching the games since Klopp took over and since I started supporting the team, I have seen some outstanding performances, some average performances and we won't talk about the rest. I am happier amount Klopp's appointment than the proverbial pig in the brown stuff. I believe he will take us forward, and watching last night's game you could see the Klopp plan executed almost to perfection last night. Great hassle in numbers, a team that is perhaps greater than the sum of its parts. Yet Sunday was a different performance altogether, and we were lucky/grateful to Raheem* (delete as applicable) for getting to extra time & penalties. For other "average" performances read Watford, West Ham, Sunderland etc..

I have watched the team under various managers raise their game for the "big games" (e.g United/City/Chelsea/Arsenal plus UCL games against Milan/Barca/Real - consistently the top four during my time) and then watched as we are rolled over by (no disrespect meant) teams we should beat on a consistent 9/10 basis - West Brom, Crystal Palace, Stoke, Leicester, Sion, Basel, Besiktas etc.. you get the idea.

My question is thus... how can JK deliver the consistency we require to make top four / five this season and going forward with a team/club that has consistently struggled (during my time and IRO the league campaign) for erm... consistency?
I believe this is a quality that has eluded most if not all the managers I have seen during my time with arguably better teams/squads.

I think the summer window will be crucial and by bringing in more experienced/higher quality players that should help which for me includes a reliable goalkeeper & creative midfielder. A full pre-season under Klopp and co will also help but there is no guarantee. As long as I can see improvement in the team for the rest of this season then the results (on the whole) do not matter to me.

I believe some of the current players are just not good enough for LFC, and, as many more knowledgeable posters on here have already alluded to, Klopp probably has a better idea of who he wants/doesn't want next season. I believe some of the players are good enough but sustaining their best level of performance remains elusive. I do not believe we have any truly World Class players at present based on either performance or fitness issues. I am hoping that the board and JK can attract better players in the summer as a result of the gaffer's higher profile than BR.

One request for the team/management: Please solve this issue prior to the Crystal Palace game at the weekend and then BATTER Utd over 2 legs. That would be just peachy, thanks!! 

Supporter since 1990.

Let me get this straight.... you started supporting the club in 1990, and that was the last time we won the league

This guy is the curse!!!   

My question is thus... how can JK deliver the consistency we require to make top four / five this season and going forward with a team/club that has consistently struggled (during my time and IRO the league campaign) for erm... consistency?
I believe this is a quality that has eluded most if not all the managers I have seen during my time with arguably better teams/squads.

Liverpool are kings of inconsistency as you point out.  Fact is you need a collection of players with belief in each other, and the necessary drive to push forwards.  Competition within the team is also important.  Sturridge and Suarez spent a season both getting involved in the action - now that Sturridge has had the weight of the goalscoring placed upon him he invariably goes missing.

I believe some of the players are good enough but sustaining their best level of performance remains elusive.

I'm not sure.  On the whole I don't think the players are good enough.  Gut feeling is that the Man City result was more about professional pride rather then them having rapidly turned a corner.  We've been here before when we beat City 4-1 away and for the most part the season has continued to be very average.

It wouldn't surprise many if we had another poor result at Palace - and at the minute it wouldn't surprise the manager or the players either.  That's the bit that has to change first.

Easiest way is to play the consistent players more often.

Flanagan/Clyne instead of Moreno/Clyne.
Skrtel and Lucas at the back.

Allen in for Can etc.

Then rotate the inconsistent players if they aren't producing.

Easiest way is to play the consistent players more often.

Flanagan/Clyne instead of Moreno/Clyne.
Skrtel and Lucas at the back.

Allen in for Can etc.

Then rotate the inconsistent players if they aren't producing.

Flanagan isn't consistent.
Skrtel and Lucas aren't consistent.
Allen isn't consistent.

Flanagan isn't consistent.
Skrtel and Lucas aren't consistent.
Allen isn't consistent.

Will you stop pointing out the obvious   

Sturridge is our most consistent player when he's fit. Henderson is usually consistent too when he's fit. Clyne is quite consistent. Coutinho is consistent when he's got a striker with movement ahead of him. When he's playing in a team that lacks movement, he's inconsistent.

The rest of our team is fairly inconsistent.

Also, Henderson in an interview recently said he thought the team's biggest weakness was consistency.

Let me get this straight.... you started supporting the club in 1990, and that was the last time we won the league

This guy is the curse!!!   

Least it wasn't 1991 he'd be supporting bloody Leeds!

Sturridge is our most consistent player when he's fit.

Having watched the three last games he started I'd say that was highly debatable.

It will come, just wait and see. Next season for sure, mibees even the rest of this season, now we have most players fit again.

The only consistency we had so far is from Moreno... consistently sh*te ! 

In all seriousness Clyne, Milner, Lucas, Firminho, Coutinho have been our go to guys.

Origi, Lovren, Allen and most recently Can  have had spells of consistency where they have shown some hope.

Sturridge, Henderson, Flannagan, Skrtel and Sakho have been in and out with injuries but have been dependable in the past.

Lallana, Moreno, Mignolet, Ibe and Benteke... 

Wow I think I have accidentally summarized our season if you read between groupings. More need to go into first group. When you only have 4/5 dependable players and 4/5 mercurial ones and add the two idiots at the back you get a season like ours.

Sporadic poster, long time lurker here, go easy on me. Supporter since 1990. My opinion only and do not presume any facts in the following... apologies if this topic has been covered elsewhere

From watching the games since Klopp took over and since I started supporting the team, I have seen some outstanding performances, some average performances and we won't talk about the rest. I am happier amount Klopp's appointment than the proverbial pig in the brown stuff. I believe he will take us forward, and watching last night's game you could see the Klopp plan executed almost to perfection last night. Great hassle in numbers, a team that is perhaps greater than the sum of its parts. Yet Sunday was a different performance altogether, and we were lucky/grateful to Raheem* (delete as applicable) for getting to extra time & penalties. For other "average" performances read Watford, West Ham, Sunderland etc..

Nice Op. I agree with every word of it. In all of our best wins under Jürgen (see City twice in the league, Chelsea away and Saints away in the cup) the team have pretty much executed Klopps well known vision for football. We've pressed the ball intelligently, not allowed the opposition to find any sort of rhythm, they've won the ball back in high areas and been clinical when chances have come along. Offensively there was a good tempo and movement and a similar intensity with the ball to without. The question is why haven't and can't we play like that every week?

- Fitness and depth is the first thing that springs to mind. We have got some quality players in the squad but there is a genuine lack of depth in certain postions. Pochetino at Spurs a year further down the line with his squad and likes to play in the same fashion. His players run like dogs and have been all season but he has rotated his players regularly and has faith in the players he brings in. You only have to look at the full-back position, they get through a ridiculous amount of work but he has Trippier, Rose, Davies and Walker. The big challenge for Jürgen is whether the squad can play at this intensity during Christmas periods or when we have fixture congestion (and we have had plenty of that this season). Pochetino has managed it but let's see, if Spurs lose to Arsenal at the weekend maybe we'll be saying the players have hit the wall.

- Plan B? With that in mind, if games and physical condition dictate that for certain fixtures we can't play at such high intensity what is the backup plan? I can't say I'm too sure and was having this debate with a mate of mine the other day. Some of the games you mentioned we just sort of coasted through them without any clear gameplan as such. For two years under Brendan (before he completely lost his way) we were a possession football side who dominated the ball, that was our identity. I'd like to see another way of playing under Jürgen and am interested to see what is his plan b.

- Balance & quality. In equal measure really., we need better players but  are also missing the right sorts of player in several areas. Clearly there is a lack of quality and need to upgrade in certain areas. You've already alluded to the goalkeeper and most would agree we need to upgrade the left back position. But the side are also incredibly unbalanced. We've got a dysfunctional midfield. Henderson, Can and Milner have all taken their fair share of criticism this season and rightly so but the truth is they're all pretty decent BUT they should never be playing together because they share the strengths and the same weaknesses. Whether it needs an Alonso metronomic DM in there or a Modric ball player sort is another debate but it absolutely needs sorting. There is only one winger in the squad and that's young Ibe, he has bags of potential but has suffered from playing behind a very static forward line (see Benteke) and needs a number 9 playing on the shoulder (which neither Benteke or Firmino do) to get the best out of him. The result is we've relied on Moreno and Clyne for width for much of the season. And obviously we've been buggered up front. Studge on the table all season, Ings crocked, Original only just starting to look the part and Benteke completely unsuited to our style and now devoid of any sort of confidence as a result.

- Clearly so much depends on the next couple of transfer windows, being lucky with injuries and a strong pre-season. I like some of the improvements we've seen defensively, the team defend as a team for much of the time but silly individual errors have hurt. The problems have come at the other end and were we. To score early in games I doesn't half make defending easier. That is Jürgen's biggest challenge I think. That and finding a plan b for when the players are in need of less energy expenditure.

Flanagan isn't consistent.
Skrtel and Lucas aren't consistent.

Bullshit!

Your not going to get consistency when your player's are decidedly average,  not all of the players who play regularly will have or find the level required.

Can for example will play decently but not top of his game one week then play sh*te the following week,  we can count the fingers in one hand the times he's played at  his best since he signed, 
Lallana is another,  in fact you could argue most of the regular picks are way off of being consistent,  simply because they are average and not top drawer level players,

You only have to look at Barcelona to see consistency because they are awash with top drawer quality,  we're not,  simples!


YNWA

Stop selling our consistently good players would go a long way to helping

Don't think we're the only ones scratching our heads about the inconsistency this season.
It's frustrating, no doubt.
Injuries have played a huge part. Can't recall a season like it.
Trying to work in the 32mill lump of wood had us off on a tangent for a good number of games.
And of course, new manager, and other backroom staff - causes disruption.

BRs main failing imo was that during his tenure, we didn't sign - on balance - enough quality players.  That has to improve under Klopp. We have players imo that are capable of being better than our current league position - but we've been too inconsistent (some reasons above). But they are not good enough imo to challenge for top spot. Need Jürgen to work some magic.

Having watched the three last games he started I'd say that was highly debatable.

3 games after being out for months. Is that a fair way to judge a player? He's shown in 12/13 and in 13/14 that he's ridiculously consistent. He's usually good at spreading his goals out too rather than scoring 5 in one game.

The only way to achieve consistency is for him to be given the money and freedom to buy better players and the time needed to settle. We have enough unrealised potential in the squad, now we need proven players. Proven in title races, proven in Europe, proven in big games and big competitions.

Flanagan isn't consistent.
Skrtel and Lucas aren't consistent.
Allen isn't consistent.

The point is that they are more consistent than the other options in the squad.

3 games after being out for months. Is that a fair way to judge a player?

He's hardly played in 2 years so I don't think we can call him the most consistent player in our squad just yet.

Flanagan isn't consistent.

Give the lad a break, we are lucky he has come back at all after his injury. Been out over a year and you are declaring him inconsistent.

Easiest way is to play the consistent players more often.

Flanagan/Clyne instead of Moreno/Clyne.
Skrtel and Lucas at the back.

Allen in for Can etc.

Then rotate the inconsistent players if they aren't producing.

You're a laugh a minute, the players are over-trained now you want to play the same team all the time. As soon as one of them pulled up with a hamstring injury you'd be back on your soap-box.

You're a laugh a minute, the players are over-trained now you want to play the same team all the time. As soon as one of them pulled up with a hamstring injury you'd be back on your soap-box.

The question was about how to improve our consistency.