Jurgen Klopp has built the equivalent of a hybrid car in his two years at Liverpool.

The front end is like a Ferrari, with an engine that purrs under the bonnet... and unfortunately, the back end is like a milk float.

I’m a huge fan of Klopp’s passion, his charisma, and I believe he will get it right. I believe he will bring the glory days back to Anfield.

But I’m surprised he let the transfer window close without solving Liverpool’s chronic weakness at the back.

Once it became clear he was not going to prise Virgil van Dijk away from Southampton, was there not a Plan B to bring in an alternative centre-back?

When the signing of Van Dijk failed, there was no plan B (
Image:
Southampton FC)

I can’t believe a club of Liverpool’s stature would put all their eggs in one basket and decide that if Van Dijk wasn’t available, nobody else would plug the gaps.

There are people out there who think Liverpool isn’t a big club any more because they haven’t won the title since 1990.

Oh, really? So was Manchester United not a big club when they went 26 years without winning the league between 1967 and 1993? Pull the other one.

And the first call on Six-0-Six last weekend was a Liverpool fan calling for Klopp to go. How depressing.

Klopp managed to keep hold of Coutinho in a tough summer (
Image:
UEFA)

You don’t win back-to-back Bundesliga titles ahead of Bayern Munich, or reach a Champions League final, if you can’t put a football team together.

But when Klopp reaches his second anniversary as Liverpool manager next month, there should be clear evidence that he is taking the club in the right direction – back towards the top.

After 72 Premier League games in charge, he has taken 131 points where his predecessor Brendan Rodgers had won 138, but that doesn’t tell the whole story.

Klopp has had the unenviable task of rebuilding Liverpool after 15 years where Steven Gerrard had been the team’s heartbeat.

Klopp has a poorer win record than Brendan Rodgers did after 72 games (
Image:
Getty Images Europe)

So far, he has made them the most exciting team in the country going forward, and it wouldn’t surprise me if they were the Premier League ‘s top scorers this season.

I could happily sit and watch Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah’s movement and interchange all day long. And the return of Philippe Coutinho is a huge bonus.

But what is going on at the back?

At the top end of the pitch, Klopp’s team is entitled to be inventive, expansive and dynamic. But at the other end, they have to be more disciplined, ruthless and consistent.

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Dejan Lovren and his back three have been chopping and changing (
Image:
REX/Shutterstock)

There is too much chopping and changing at centre back, with Dejan Lovren partnering Joel Matip one week and Ragnar Klavan the next.

There is too much chopping and changing with the goalkeeper, with Simon Mignolet in goal one week and Loris Karius the next.

And although they are both very good players, I am not convinced that Jordan Henderson and Emre Can provide the best ‘screen’ for their centre-backs as a pair of holding midfielders.

Ragnar Klavan tries to keep up with Daniel Sturridge (
Image:
Liverpool FC)

Look at the best teams from the last 20 years, and that central defensive block was always settled.

At Manchester United, there was Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic with Edwin van der Sar behind them and Paul Scholes and Michael Carrick holding the fort in midfield.

Or in the 1990s at Old Trafford, it was Steve Bruce and Gary Pallister with Peter Schmeichel in goal, with Roy Keane and Paul Ince as minders for the back four.

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Klopp has chopped and changed keeper but insists Mignolet is No.1 over Karius (
Image:
Liverpool FC)

In Arsenal’s heyday, the personnel were Tony Adams, Martin Keown, David Seaman, Patrick Vieira and Emmanuel Petit.

And two seasons ago, Leicester showed what you can achieve with consistency. They may not have been the best players individually, but as a unit Wes Morgan, Robert Huth, Kasper Schmeichel, N’Golo Kante and Danny Drinkwater were organised, spirited and outstanding.

All of the above were settled combinations. At the moment, Liverpool don’t have a ‘block’ anywhere near as settled, or as good, as those I’ve listed above.

I don’t understand, for example, why Klopp didn’t go for Michael Keane when it became clear Saints weren’t going to play ball over Van Dijk.

Liverpool will be fantastic to watch again when they are playing the game in the opposition half of the pitch, but the way they crumbled defensively at the Etihad was alarming.

For heaven’s sake stick with Klopp, but while he searches for the right formula at the back, it looks like more of the same this season: Nice roof, shame about the foundations.

Aspiring champions don’t just have a Ferrari engine under the bonnet – they have to be as reliable as a Mercedes.