The more things change.
Considering Jurgen Klopp really only had two days to work with his new squad, things looked to have markedly improved from the end of the Brendan Rogers era in today’s 0-0 draw with Tottenham at White Hart Lane.
Liverpool’s opening 20 minutes of today’s game was impressive, and away fans could not but be happy by the German’s seemingly immediate impact.
However among the positives were some of the same old failings that have seen Liverpool slip off the pace in the Premier League already with yet another draw.
So what did we learn from today’s dour 90 minutes in London?
1. We’ve had our first glimpse of Liverpool version of ‘gegenpress’.
1 – Liverpool made 50 more sprints than Spurs (614 v 564) & were the 1st team to run further in a PL game than Spurs this season. Gegenpress
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) October 17, 2015
Klopp built his Borussia Dortmund sides on the famous hard-pressing and pressure system designed to force teams into mistakes.
And in the opening 20 minutes Liverpool had Tottenham in all sorts of problems with Divock Origi and Adam Lallana pushing up to create one or two half-chances for the Reds.
Origi’s pace was used effectively to shut down the Tottenham centre-halves and Lucas and Emre Can were very tight to their midfield counterparts.
The early heatmap could be a sign of things to come
Liverpool's heat map. Gegenpressing. pic.twitter.com/evmppMotTe
— Squawka (@Squawka) October 17, 2015
2. A bright start led to a typically nervous Liverpool performance.
The early fire that had Liverpool players zipping around the pitch was doused by the home side after the 25th minute and for most of the rest of the game.
One of the many  faults of the Brendan Rogers era was how his side would dominate games in possession but often fail to score and then gradually retreat into their shell.
Once Tottenham got to grips with the pressing, they attacked the Liverpool full-backs and they pushed up the field.
Only for Simon Mignolet saving from Clinton and Kane, the away side would have been at least 2-0 down at the break
3. All huff and puff but not enough of the right stuff
Divock Origi has completed 87% of his passes. Good link-up play. pic.twitter.com/mcZCnxru8G
— Squawka (@Squawka) October 17, 2015
Divock Origi may have been hailed as ‘world class’ by Brendan Rogers but he definitely isn’t yet.
The Belgian is what John Giles might describe as a  ‘game’ lad, chasing hopeless balls and working the channels, but his header off the crossbar would surely have been converted by a Benteke or a Sturridge.
https://twitter.com/dlqaguy/status/655368316714921984
Considering he only played a handful of minutes of Premier League football before today the former Lille striker did OK, but playing up front on his own he was never the dangerous threat that the Tottenham defence could have expected.
His link-up play was good but he is not a like-for-like replacement for Sturridge or his fellow Belgian.
4. Liverpool’s defence needs  a lot some work.
@5timesco Good first half but Skrtel needs to switch on!
— Jamie Carragher (@Carra23) October 17, 2015
Martin Skrtel and Mamadou Sakho are Liverpool’s first choice centre-half pairing, but several times in the first half their communication left a lot to be desired.
Simon Mignolet had to come to their rescue with two top-class saves in the opening 45 minutes, with both players affected by Liverpool’s pressing game that had pushed them much further from the edge of the 18-yard-box than they may have been used to.
Liverpool’s full-backs were given a tough time with Alberto Moreno seeing plenty of the ball but never creating the overlap that Klopp, we imagine, would like to have seen.
5. Injuries will determine Klopp’s success as manager
With the amount of injuries Liverpool have, I'll take a draw #YNWA
— Mike Powney (@MikePowney1) October 17, 2015
Before the game started we compared how a Liverpool injured XI would look compared to the side that actutally started the game.
Brendan Rogers had to make do last season with no recognised frontman due to Daniel Sturridge ‘s constant injury bothers, and Klopp clearly will need to find a goal-scorer who can play nearly every week to get his system working at maximum output.
Klopp expects his players to cover huge distances and will need his team to be much fitter, which will probably mean players training harder and likely to pick up more injuries as they adjust to his system.
Jordan Henderson and Roberto Firmino as well as the injured strikers will all add quality to the starting XI but it’s just a matter of keeping his best players as fit as possible for the coming months.
Spurs 0-0 Liverpool FT:
Shots: 13-12
Pass accuracy: 75%-76%
Chances created: 10-10Good start Jürgen. pic.twitter.com/N1WtWPaMqT
— Squawka (@Squawka) October 17, 2015
The pressing in the first 20mins was brilliant. They tired out afterwards but a week's more training under Klopp and they'll get used to it.
— LFC NEWS (@LFCTransferNRS) October 17, 2015
