Klopp must have plan B to fulfil Liverpool´s Premier League ambitions – Garcia

Former Liverpool forward Luis Garcia has called on Jurgen Klopp to create a “plan B” to help the club fulfil their dreams of a first league title in 27 years.

Liverpool showed significant improvement under Klopp last season, flirting with the prospect of Premier League glory before finishing fourth last season – 17 points adrift of champions Chelsea.

The Anfield club last won the league in 1989-90 but have come close on a number occasions, most famously in 2014, when a late collapse handed the trophy to Manchester City.

Garcia believes Liverpool can go into next season expecting to win titles, but thinks they must develop an alternative approach against clubs further down the table.

While Liverpool beat Arsenal, Chelsea, City, Tottenham and held Manchester United to consecutive draws last season, Klopp’s men lost to Burnley, Bournemouth, Swansea City, Hull City, Leicester City and Crystal Palace

Speaking exclusively to Omnisport, Garcia – who is working as a pundit for Optus during the Confederations Cup – said: “I think he [Klopp] has done fantastically well in the last few years.

“Now he can start from the very beginning, choosing the players and the right ones. He did it with Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga.

“This year we can start asking him to win trophies. Hopefully he has a good start, which is important. That will build confidence and from there we can start dreaming of having the Premier League in the stands at Anfield.”

On their struggles against teams in the bottom half, Garcia said: “It happens in the all leagues. The top teams struggle. I see almost every game of Barcelona and they struggle so much when they have to play against teams who sit back and don’t try to do anything – just destroy you. It is a lot easier to destroy football.

“It wasn’t easy for Liverpool last season to play against those types of teams. Hopefully this season, Liverpool will try to make a plan B for when they come up in these moments.

“The small moments and details, like having [Philippe] Coutinho and [Roberto] Firmino, they can bring something special and break the lines. As many players that can play this way, the easier it will be to break down teams sitting back.”

Liverpool will have to balance their Premier League aspirations with Champions League commitments next season having seen the likes of Arsenal, Tottenham and United all struggle to deal with competing on domestic and European fronts last term, while Leicester City and Chelsea won the previous two titles free from the burden of continental competition.

Garcia – who won the Champions League with Liverpool in 2005 – does not believe the issues are strictly limited to Premier League clubs, adding: “I think it’s a cycle. I remember Spain struggled a few years ago, now we are seeing it with England and their teams.

“It depends on the year. There will be five teams in the Champions League now [after Untied won the Europa League]. I’m sure some will do well.

“We have to say the Champions League and Premier League are so different. The Premier League is so aggressive. It’s totally different. In the Champions League, you know you cannot have one bad game or you are out. At the end, you have to be very careful. It’s not easy to adapt the Premier League game to the Champions League.”