I’ve penned many words about the Arsenal strategy of building towards a world where Manchester City aren’t where they are now. We know they have a least two swords of damocles hanging over their head. One is Pep exiting. The second is the charges. What we maybe didn’t expect was Klopp’s rebuild to have impact as fast as it has. The hope was that when City aren’t about, it’s a fairer fight with Liverpool.
It was quite clear this past summer that Arsenal didn’t have eyes on the prize this season, they were thinking about what’s to come in the next 5 years. Instead of adding more experience to an inexperienced squad, they aged down, and moved on players that we’d have to change up. The thinking, I believe, was to wait until those above us declined so we could move in on their lofty position as top dogs. Well, today, Jurgen Klopp was the first shoe to drop. He announced his retirement from Liverpool early, presumably so he could do a victory lap for the next 5 months, knowing he has a pretty decent chance of at least one trophy.
But there’s a bigger picture here people aren’t seeing.
Klopp is being very strategic about his exit. Why" Because he knows what’s coming and amongst all the ONE LAST DANCE romanticism, he’s a realist.
THE REBUILD
Liverpool are a Europa League team at the moment and had to engage in a mini-rebuild last summer. People seem to think that’s the job complete. Ignoring ...