Can Jurgen Klopp Make Liverpool Great Again?

In the absence of real football — internationals are usually about praying your own team’s players emerge unscathed — fans made do with a charity match between Liverpool Legends and Real Madrid Legends on Saturday.

It was for a good cause and unsurprisingly played at a relaxed pace. People were in such good humour they didn’t care if the word “legend” was abused a little.

For instance Edwin Congo, one of Madrid’s scorers in a 4-3 win for the Reds, never even registered a first class appearance for the club. There were others who more than made up for that. Players like Michael Owen, Robbie Fowler, Clarence Seedorf, Roberto Carlos, Emilio Butragueno and Luis Figo all took part.

The afternoon inevitably became about Steven Gerrard, back on home soil. He assisted on two goals, won a penalty and scored Liverpool’s fourth. He also struck a typical thunderbolt from 30 yards which crashed off the crossbar.

On a day laced with obvious nostalgia, the fans also remembered former coaching great Ronnie Moran who died last week. Amidst all this looking back, there were inevitable thoughts about which if any of Liverpool’s current crop would find themselves playing in a game like this 10 or even 20 years from now.

There were even claims on social media that Gerrard could slot into Jurgen Klopp’s midfield and do better than anyone there now. Fanciful of course, conveniently amnesiac regarding the end of Gerrard’s playing career in the States. His last season at Liverpool wasn’t exactly golden, either.

This was a friendly played amongst many men who had given up football a while back. Some of Madrid’s players were on the plane to Liverpool a day before the game.

There was some nostalgia that didn’t have to go back too far. Liverpool beat Real Madrid 4-0 in the Champions League in 2009.

That match marks the Reds’ last great game in the tournament while Real were angered enough into making a return of sorts to their Galactico era, signing Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo and Liverpool’s Xabi Alonso almost immediately.

They’ve since won the Champions League twice and regularly come close while Liverpool slipped into relative obscurity. The Reds currently do not have a superstar on a par with Gerrard, the kind Figo claims could easily have played for the Real team he starred on.

The likelihood of Liverpool ever finding another like him is currently minimal at best, and the chance of actually buying one at current prices is zero. That’s frustrating for the fan-base of a club that has five European Cups to its name.

With Philippe Coutinho off on Brazil duty and playing alongside Barcelona’s Neymar, there was inevitably a rekindling of rumours he’ll soon move to the Nou Camp, although recent club form suggests he’s still not at that level yet.

Sadio Mane has played well all season without really getting the amount of goals synonymous with superstardom. That could all change, as it once did for Luis Suarez. His first 18 months at Anfield were noted more for controversy than goals, though his potential was clear.

As soon as those goals came the transfer bids arrived and the player acquired an ambitious wanderlust. A move to Arsenal collapsed, but one to Barcelona was bound to succeed.

Should Mane ever begin to reach such performance levels the vultures will immediately circle Anfield again. Therein lies Liverpool’s current problem. Finding the talent has become difficult, keeping it almost impossible.

Wages are a factor, but the main difficulty is offering regular trophy-winning, Champions League football — and how do you supply that if you can’t keep your stars?

It will be argued the hiring of Klopp was Liverpool’s throw of the dice in returning to the elite, but the role of the manager can often be exaggerated. It’s a factor clearly, but money and the chance to play with other special players are major influences.

When Gerrard was at his peak he was playing alongside Fernando Torres also in his best days while the Reds’ central midfield was Javier Mascherano and Alonso.

It is comforting to recall Rafa Benitez began his Liverpool rein in much the same position as Klopp, although 60 points was then enough to come fourth and gave the Spaniard the Champions League football that helped kick-start Liverpool under his management.

This season Klopp could collect 70+ points and it still might not be enough. The Premier League has become extremely competitive — and Klopp doesn’t have a Steven Gerrard.

The Legends match was pure nostalgia. Cynics claim that’s all Liverpool can provide nowadays, but in the first half of this season they won 43 points. Even without major investment and much overhaul of their squad they managed to improve.

The hard part is to keep improving, keep their manager and keep those players deemed good enough to play for Europe’s elite. Those tests hopefully lie ahead, as it would at least mean Liverpool had successfully negotiated Phase 1 of their comeback.