Why Liverpool are ready to emulate Dortmund this season

Are Dortmund and Liverpool really that different?

As Jurgen Klopp settles into his Melwood office, and acquaints himself with the requirements of Liverpool Football Club, he will have reasons for optimism and confidence. He is, after all, one of the finest coaches in Europe, with a track record of rebuilding a once-great club into a serious European challenger. He has worked on a budget, too, something that Liverpool will need him to do if they are to outperform their nearest rivals for the Champions League spots.

There’s a great deal of work ahead of him, imposing his philosophy and tactics on a disparate squad who had lost their way under Brendan Rodgers. Brendan was clearly a progressive thinker and a near genius when it came to tactics, but perhaps he was too intelligent for the players given to him by the transfer committee. But as many Liverpool fans have claimed, they have some world class players, and young players with absolutely outstanding potential.

The similarities between Dortmund and Liverpool do not end with a comparison that the two clubs had fallen on hard times despite an impressive history, but with the squad, there’s a ready made set of hardworking, explosive players able to mirror the football achieved by Dortmund under Klopp.

Mamadou Sakho, we were told, was one of the finest young central defenders in the world. Why else would Paris Saint-Germain let their club captain go, it was asked. And yes, on the pitch he plays with a calm poise, with a unique reading of the game and a similarly unique approach to positioning. In many ways, he is the French-Scouse version of Mats Hummels.

There are more analogous pairings. Shinji Kagawa launched counter-attacks from deep with his perceptive and insistent passing, often keeping up with the attack, being on hand to convert the very own move he started. Intelligence, pace, and an eye for a pass - all of this and more can be found in James Milner, the new heartbeat of Liverpool’s team. With Henrikh Mkhitaryan, there is Danny Ings, a rampant goal threat. For Ilkay Gundogan, see Joe Allen, and for Robert Lewandowski there is Divock Origi. When Philippe Coutinho leaves for Barcelona, there is a strong base for Klopp to work with over the coming seasons.

There are those who have changed their mind on Sakho, who now think that he is a bumbling liability, and that Danny Ings and James Milner are uninspiring, cut-price signings made because it made a reasonable degree of financial sense beyond any other concerns, and that Joe Allen is an ineffective possession-merchant. However, given that Liverpool fans are generally the most perceptive, intelligent, knowledgeable and reasonable fans in Britain, there is very little chance that there can be more than a handful of such cases.

Arsenal success with players on international duty

Arsene Wenger just cannot stop being successful. The man breathes achievement. At the start of the season his side finally beat Chelsea, consigning Jose Mourinho’s side to a season where they crumbled and were beaten by most sides they took on. Arsenal played them during this match, and were cruelly punished with two sendings off, and were unfortunate to have been defeated. That speaks to the huge strides made this season under Wenger.

Before then, Wenger powerfully and meaningfully ended his decade of failure with two consecutive triumphs in the hardest English knockout tournament about - the FA Cup. The way he celebrated the first of these victories showed that in his mind, he had cracked open a new route to success. Few would now doubt his team’s ability to win two of the remaining four games in the Champions League group. They are operating from a position of towering strength.

But that’s not Wenger’s only claim to success so far this year. Oh no. This international break no fewer than 10 players scored or assisted for their countries. There are those who would point out that Arsenal players scoring for their countries means absolutely nothing in respect of anything to with the Premier League, but as Arsene Wenger - a man who once boasted of being top of the league for the longest time in a campaign when he didn’t actually win the league - knows, success can be found from wherever you wish to look.

Rooney must be a remarkable presence in the dressing room

Wayne Rooney is going through a slight dip in his form at the moment. Sadly for him and his side, that dip has lasted approximately three years. Of course, nobody expects this to be anything than a blip in his career, and as Alex Ferguson said when promoting his book in New York, he will shortly go on another goalscoring run, ‘don’t you worry about that.’

So while Manchester United and England fans are assuaged by those words of wisdom, it is perhaps time to single out Rooney for his outstanding contributions in another respect. After leading a United side in transition to fourth place last season, they have improved further and sit in third place. After a depressing exit in the 2014 World Cup, Rooney’s captaincy has propelled them to a perfect 10 victories to qualify for the Euro 2016 tournament.

There is only one conclusion to draw from this. If a player offers absolutely nothing of use to a team on the pitch, but remains first-choice and captain, then he must be an astonishingly adept presence in the dressing room. We must salute Rooney, then, for some remarkable behind-the-scenes contributions for club and country.