Klopp’s king of the subs! Liverpool have 30 goal involvements off the bench this season – TWELVE more than any other club… so how does he do it? And where does YOUR team place in substitutes’ success table?

Liverpool are top of the Premier League, and top of a number of other tables as well. They lead the way in scoring goals from substitutes and making the most adjustments from the bench, and they have changed their starting XI more than any other team in the league.

That’s 30 goal contributions from players off the bench, 136 in-game substitutions and 185 changes to the XI game-to-game. Of the many weapons Liverpool possess in their four-front battle, Jurgen Klopp’s use of his deep and versatile squad is one of the most lethal.

Of course, many of these figures are skewed due to Liverpool’s continued participation in four competitions, with only Manchester City matching this season’s 31 games played, plus a significant number of forced changes due to a long list of injuries.

But Klopp and Liverpool – whose flame-throwing 1970s and 80s striker David Fairclough was the original super-sub – are now the undisputed kings of the substitution. In Wednesday night’s Carabao Cup semi-final victory over Fulham, they won thanks to the introduction of Darwin Nunez, who contributed two assists, and Cody Gakpo, who made it 2-1.

In the FA Cup against Arsenal on Sunday, Klopp’s changes may not have supplemented these statistics – some were changes of position rather than personnel – but by moving Nunez to the left, Luis Diaz to the right and introducing Diogo Jota as number 9, helped Liverpool gain control. and win the tie.

Jürgen Klopp’s in-game management throughout the season has been fantastic and the impact of his substitutes fuels the Reds’ lead in four separate competitions

In the Premier League alone, Liverpool have conceded the first goal nine times. They have lost just one of those games – helped by a VAR howler at Tottenham. This is a testament to the unique mentality and belief of everyone in the team, not just the eleven starters.

“To turn a game around you need quality, to turn a game around you need belief,” Klopp said on Wednesday. ‘And the most important thing is mentality. We have had to overcome real difficulties this season.”

Klopp went on to explain how Liverpool won with ten men in two of those games in August, with Alexis Mac Allister sent off in the 58th minute against Bournemouth and captain Virgil van Dijk in the 28th minute at Newcastle, with the Reds also trailing stood. time of the red card.

In retrospect, these two results served as a springboard to the success that Liverpool now enjoys. Sources suggest those within the club saw it as a eureka moment, with seasonal ambitions – Liverpool were unsure what to expect given this is a team in transition – revised upwards.

Klopp recently recalled those fortnights, saying: ‘We realized quite quickly what we can do if we really stick together. What we made of that was absolutely exceptional. I said after the match: “If we can defend with 10 like this, who has a problem with doing it with 11?”.’

Togetherness has been the foundation of this team’s remarkable performance, which has seen them lose just one Premier League match since the 4-1 defeat to Manchester City on April 1 last season – 31 games ago.

Every member of the squad knows their role, with an extremely talented crop of young players acting as the skilled supporting cast to a top roster of superstars. Van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold are said to have been crucial to the team spirit since taking on their captaincy.

Many clubs now view substitutes in a different light, with managers instead calling them ‘finishers’. Even in League Two, AFC Wimbledon hired Sammy Lander as ‘substitute coach’. Since then he has done consultancy work for Premier League clubs.

David Fairclough, Liverpool’s striker in the 1970s and 1980s, was the original super sub

Ryan Gravenberch (right), Harvey Elliott and Joe Gomez have all been substituted more than ten times midway through games

Even if players don’t come on, they will still receive detailed instructions from Klopp and right-hand man Pep Lijnders. On Wednesday, young left back Owen Beck seemed to get a positive reading from Klopp. The Welshman looked exhausted – in a good way. Klopp also praised former striker Divock Origi, now at Nottingham Forest, as the ‘perfect player’ because he knew his place in the pecking order as a super sub and the Belgian never complained about deserving a starting spot just because he scored in a previous match. game.

That’s less the case these days, with the likes of Jota, Diaz, Nunez and Gakpo all fighting for two places alongside Mohamed Salah in the front three. Ryan Gravenberch, Harvey Elliott and Joe Gomez have all been substituted more than ten times midway through games.

Even when big names have been injured, youngsters have stepped up, such as Jarell Quansah and Conor Bradley, both in their twenties.

Whether you’re in the starting XI or on the bench, every member of the team craves success. This was initially seen as a transition year, but after the famine of no trophies last season, Liverpool look ready to start partying again, with their super subs at the center.