Jürgen Klopp already replaced one Liverpool leaver as Steven Gerrard plan can finally happen

Liverpool did its best to grant Jürgen Klopp’s request. The manager had asked that in the Anfield send-off, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Naby Keïta were not forgotten; each duly received a plaque of their own, and were able to bask in a guard of honor and some warm applause from the stands.

Inevitably, however, the real focus was elsewhere. Even James Milner arguably ended up being a little hard done-by — he got a rendition of his song from the Kop, but the day was really about Roberto Firmino, perhaps the greatest icon of Liverpool’s success under Klopp.

Strangely enough, though, replacing Firmino is probably the least of Klopp’s worries come the summer. He has said he will look at every outfield position in the transfer market, but Liverpool could certainly get away with not recruiting any new forwards, primarily because Cody Gakpo has been such a revelation as the heir to the Brazilian.

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Potentially more problematic is the departure of three of his long-serving midfielders. Milner will leave the biggest void, having been utilized far more often than the others, but the combined effect of losing the trio all at once will be significant.

It also presents an opportunity. In their own ways, Keïta and Oxlade-Chamberlain each represented a concerted effort by Klopp to transform the Liverpool midfield. Now he has the chance to start from scratch, and he could finally get something akin to his own Steven Gerrard.

The club made no secret of that desire with Keïta, offering out the hallowed number eight shirt for the first time since Gerrard departed the club. The logic was clear — an all-action player, it was hoped that he would combine the hallmark defensive workrate of a Klopp midfielder with some output in the final third, evolving the Liverpool threat.

With Oxlade-Chamberlain, too, there was some kind of desire for a Gerrard figure. Certainly, that was the goal from the player’s side: directly after winning the FA Cup with Arsenal in 2017, he gushed about how he has always wanted to emulate the Liverpool legend.

Departing Anfield with that ‘oh, he can hit one’ moment to his name, Oxlade-Chamberlain did at least get to live that Gerrard dream in isolated patches. Likewise, when Keïta was able to string any kind of run of games together, he offered tantalizing hints of his potential. But ultimately, neither plan worked as intended.

Originally, it seemed Klopp would look to try again in the upcoming transfer market. Setting Jude Bellingham as the primary target, this would have been a brazen new attempt to acquire a Gerrard figure, with the Englishman another who stands out both in the data and in the flesh as a midfielder who can do it all. And if the numbers depicted shades of Keïta, the player’s public admiration for the former Liverpool captain was trademark Oxlade-Chamberlain.

But that idea has been shelved, and Liverpool will seemingly seek to improve its midfield in a more collective manner, constructing a unit that can have a greater combined influence. However, Klopp’s plan may not be entirely dead in the water.

Keïta’s best season in a Liverpool shirt was probably last campaign. Amassing more minutes than ever before, he was a regular presence as Klopp’s side won the double. Admittedly, he was still a long way from being that Gerrard presence, but the number eight was at least heading in the right direction.

That has been conspicuously absent this season, with Keïta reverting to the norm of being barely available. But over the last 10 games, at least, he has not been especially missed. That might be because the Klopp plan has been continued from within.

The emergence of Curtis Jones caught almost everyone by surprise. But even the doubters have had to concede that he has done very well during this run in the side — and it turns out his numbers compare very favorably to the ones Keïta posted last year.

Whereas Keïta averaged 0.23 goals per 90 minutes, Jones is up at 0.28 for the season. Over the course of his Premier League career, Gerrard averaged 0.24.

In terms of expected assists, 2021/22 Keïta has the edge with 0.15 per 90, but Jones has recorded a respectable 0.11 this season. Extrapolating across a full campaign as a regular starter, he could be expected to finish on somewhere in the region of 10-11 goals and three to four assists — very solid numbers from midfield.

One question mark has always been his defensive work rate, with Jones having emerged from the academy as an attacking presence. Klopp has previously sought to find space for him as far back as the number six role, but it never seemed a natural fit. Yet when it comes to pressing from the front, the 22-year-old has proved he has what it takes.

His 2.92 tackles per 90 place him in the 88th percentile of midfielders across Europe’s top five leagues over the past year. Meanwhile, he gets up to the 87th percentile for progressive carries, all while retaining an unerring pass accuracy. Quietly, he has become a real all-rounder.

Of course, like Keïta and Oxlade-Chamberlain before him, the big challenge will be proving he can do this over a sustained period. He, too, has had injury troubles, and nobody stands even the slightest chance of becoming anything resembling a Gerrard figure if they are not someone around whom an entire team can be built.

But the recent signs have been very promising. At the very least, Klopp knows he has already replaced Keïta in the Liverpool squad — and that means project Gerrard can continue, even if fulfilling it is always likely to prove an impossible goal.