Jürgen Klopp previously labelled Željko Buvač as "the brain" in his coaching team
Liverpool suffered their third consecutive away defeat in the Champions League on Tuesday night, as Red Star Belgrade beat last season's finalists 2-0 in Serbia.
If it could be written off as a complete anomaly, a blip, then there would be no cause for concern. However, Liverpool fans are becoming more worried by a drop in intensity and urgency from the players.
They are no longer the swashbuckling attacking juggernaut that steamrolled teams last season. Something has changed. They are more solid defensively and more patient in their build up, but not necessarily for the better.
A run of bad results in Europe and less convincing performances in the Premier League has led many fans to believe that the departure of Jürgen Klopp's assistant Željko Buvač could be the leading cause behind the drop in form.
Buvač
left Liverpool six months after working alongside Klopp for 17 years. It was reported that a dispute between Buvač and Klopp was the reason behind his decision to leave, but it remains unclear.
https://twitter.com/BOXTOBOXlade_21/status/1059895988813320192
https://twitter.com/Portatori_Acqua/status/1059879198456655872
https://twitter.com/VintageSalah/status/1059899724248047617
https://twitter.com/TheSalahRole11/status/1059905221739118594
https://twitter.com/kovacsteve/status/1059924944690196481
Other fans are not as convinced that the coach leaving has caused Liverpool's dip in intensity.
https://twitter.com/DACrookster/status/1059877656911601665
https://twitter.com/harrypatto/status/1059880393942425602
https://twitter.com/charliegillno1/status/1059925200794542081
Klopp has previously said that Buvač was 'the brain' behind his Borussia Dortmund's side while Klopp himself was 'the heart', which could suggest a decrease in attention to detail when it comes to tactics, but Klopp is no mug. He knows you can't win on hugs alone, and will be doing everything possible to try to lift this Liverpool side back up to the levels we all know they can play at.
