Operation rebuild: can Klopp revive Liverpool?

Perhaps the hardest aspect of management is to take apart a team that has been successful and build a new one

- Jonathan WILSON

These days, when the managerial life span is scarcely longer than that of the mayfly, it is rarely even considered but, after a fifth-place finish last season, Jurgen Klopp, who has always felt a throwback to the old dynastic managers, is faced with overseeing major transition. Ahead of his eighth full season as Liverpool manager, the German faces the awful task of looking at faithful retainers and telling them their time is up, while tweaking the principles that have made the Reds so successful under him.

Many of the great managers have struggled to create a second great side. Bill Shankly managed it belatedly, but only after a defeat to Second Division Watford in the FA Cup in 1970 had made clear the cost of loyalty to his ageing Liverpool players. Don Revie left Leeds rather than have to go through the process. Arsene Wenger managed it once but couldn’t pull off the same trick a second time. Sir Alex Ferguson was a master of it, most notably in 1995 when Mark Hughes, Paul Ince and Andrei Kanchelskis were all sold after Manchester United had finished runners-up in both the league and the FA Cup.