Now Klopp knows the magnitude of the task at Liverpool
Dour draw shows why Klopp needs time to clean up the mess
TOTTENHAM 0
LIVERPOOL 0
The curtain was pulled back. It wasn't a dog called Toto, but a team called Tottenham who obliged.
They pulled the curtain back to reveal not a wizard, but a man.
He's an intelligent, amiable, gifted man, but a man nonetheless, pressing buttons and pulling levers in a desperate bid to make magic.
In the end, he couldn't succeed. Magic is impossible when the box of tricks is broken.
Juergen Klopp avoided defeat on his Liverpool debut and a point at White Hart Lane was a creditable result, considering Manchester City were humiliated 4-1 at the same venue.
He applauded his side on and off the pitch at the end of each half, smiling beguiling, but his megawatt smile ensured that he was the only Liverpool employee who dazzled.
A point was applauded against opponents that Brendan Rodgers had defeated five times in six games as Liverpool manager, but times have changed.
In truth, a terrible game got the goalless draw it deserved and a first cleansheet in nine games for the visitors will not mask the colossal task that awaits Klopp.
The tepid encounter's only positive contribution was to burst the bubble that has engulfed the German since his arrival. He didn't believe the hype and perhaps others will now acknowledge that a little healthy cynicism will help the medicine go down in the months to come.
Klopp knew he wasn't the Messiah. Now he also knows just how mediocre the men on Merseyside really are.
Momentum was all he had at White Hart Lane. After 15 minutes, it became clear that momentum was never going to be enough.
Not surprisingly, Rodgers' old pussycats started like bats out of hell for Klopp.
His favoured 4-2-3-1 formation encouraged a high pressing game, particularly through James Milner on the right flank.
Milner's corner in the 11th minute should have contributed to the Reds' opener, but Divock Origi's rawness revealed itself when he directed Emre Can's flick onto the bar.
From six metres, his header had to count. In the end, his previous 17 minutes of Premier League football counted more. The 20-year-old lacked composure.
But the Reds were very much the impressionable students trying to impress the new, trendy PE teacher. Even the erratic Simon Mignolet was eager to please, auditioning for Cirque du Soleil with astounding acrobatics to deny substitute Clinton N'Jie and Harry Kane.
Both chances originated from Liverpool's sloppiness, presenting possession to the home side as the balance of play soon shifted.
FADE
The Reds started the first half like Klopp's Borussia Dortmund but ended it like Rodgers' Liverpool as the dearth of quality took its toll.
Klopp's philosophy, swiftly changing his formation into a front six, can only work in short bursts with existing personnel. And as Liverpool faltered, Tottenham poured forward, seizing the gaps left in midfield.
Only Mignolet's heroics spared Klopp a difficult first half-time team talk in his second language. Whatever he said must have been lost in translation as Liverpool tapered off further in the second half.
Can benefited from playing in his natural position in central midfield, a luxury denied him by the indecisive Rodgers, but he was handicapped by Lucas Leiva offering little and Spurs' elegant Mousa Dembele gliding around the centre circle.
Klopp's resume didn't offer immunity to the inherent problems that plagued Rodgers' regime, namely that Philippe Coutinho struggles to find a middle ground between inspired and invisible.
He picked the wrong occasion to opt for the latter. Coutinho's impact was negligible and it must have alarmed Klopp how his most gifted player could be so peripheral.
Alberto Moreno hardly helped Coutinho. The leftback granted Erik Lamela too much respect, viewing the opponents' half as a minefield. He rarely ventured forward.
Like a distant voice in the breeze, Adam Lallana drifted in and out. When Joe Allen replaced Lallana in the final minutes, few noticed.
The Englishman's inability to maintain consistency is just one of many boxes for Klopp to tick in the coming weeks. Milner also faded, essentially isolating Origi.
The Belgian finally broke free in the 78th minute, but flashed his drive straight at Hugo Lloris.
Of course, the absence of injured pair Danny Ings and Daniel Sturridge (not to mention Christian Benteke), was keenly felt.
Klopp made the most of a poor hand, but the plodding performance merely underlined the extent of the rebuilding job to come.
Maybe now, the messianic nonsense will calm down, leaving others to reflect on a more sobering reality, one pointed out several times already by the German.
He's just a normal manager trying to clean up an abnormal mess.
JUERGEN: A DRAW IS FINE
Juergen Klopp was satisfied his Liverpool reign began with a clean sheet and a point but admits they have plenty of work ahead of them.
"Now I'm happy with this result because I saw many good things," he told BT Sport 1.
"Very good first 20 minutes, we were very aggressive, good timing for pressing and counter-pressing.
"Tottenham are a good team and so they came back into the match. It was an open game, we had our chances, they had bigger chances of course, but if we play better football then we'll be stronger next time.
"We need to improve but for today, after three days, it finished nil-nil. I am completely satisfied for the moment, this was a good first step, I can work with this, I can work with the impressions.
"I'm not angry, it's okay for today. Nil-nil is not my dream result but it's okay."
They next face Rubin Kazan in the Europa League on Friday morning (Singapore time), a fixture Klopp admitted he had not yet begun to contemplate.
"I'm only prepared for this game, now we have to start our preparation against Rubin Kazan. I cannot do in this situation two things," he added.
Liverpool midfielder James Milner echoed his new manager's thoughts.
"On another day we could have won it but I think we could have played better with the ball than we did," said the England international.
"I thought we acquitted ourselves well and put on a good show. Disappointed not to get the three points but it's a solid start."
Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino was also happy to take a point.
"I'm very happy and very pleased because it was a very high tempo," he said. "I think it was an exciting game. I'm happy with my players, it was a very difficult game."
- PA Sport.
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