“We have to change from doubters to believers” –  were the words issued by Jurgen Klopp during his official unveiling as Liverpool manager.  Two years on from this, he is now faced with the same task again.

As the full-time whistle sounded at Anfield on Sunday afternoon, the fans that still remained at full-time headed for the exit doors, with feelings of frustration.

The 229th Merseyside derby ended honours even, as Liverpool were made to rue their missed opportunities, while Everton accepted Dejan Lovren’s gift with open arms, as the Croatian defender’s foul on Dominic-Calvert Lewin gave the visitors a penalty; which Wayne Rooney converted.

Reds supporters vented their anger as they carelessly surrendered three points, on a weekend where their rivals were there for the taking.

Chelsea had slipped to defeat against London rivals West Ham, while Arsenal could only salvage a point against Southampton.

This was certainly an opportunity missed.

While Jordan Henderson and Dejan Lovren suffered the majority of the backlash, Klopp didn’t escape unscathed whatsoever.

In a game of such a high magnitude, Reds supporters had to look twice at the teamsheet when Dominic Solanke was the name that was leading the line and Brazilian’s Philippe Coutinho and Roberto Firmino were among the listed substitutes.

Surely, there had been some sort of mistake?

There hadn’t…. but it certainly felt as if there had been.

Just like against Chelsea a fortnight ago, Klopp’s subjective selections left fans questioning his decision-making pre-match, and these were questions left unanswered at full-time.

Why make risks like this in games of such great importance? 

Like the Everton game, the match against Antonio Conte’s men ended one apiece, though, both results could well have been turned from stalemates to successes, in the eyes of many.

Summer signing, Solanke, was handed the responsibility and authority to occupy the striker’s role in both contests, the 20-year-old was unable to repay the trust put in him by Klopp as his lack of experience in the heavyweight affairs placed him in uncharted territory.

By no means was the Chelsea academy graduate poor, but these are games that would always be tough for Solanke to leave a lasting impression on.

The Samba stars, Coutinho and Firmino would have relished facing up against their Merseyside neighbours and would no doubt have risen to the occasion. The issue was that they weren’t presented the opportunity to do so.

Was Klopp allowing Solanke to play and Coutinho and Firmino to be dropped to add an element of surprise to the fixture?

Allardyce will have been working all week piecing together a masterplan on how to keep Liverpool’s fab four at bay, but his tricky task was eased by Klopp himself, as the omission of the deadly duo made the attack much less of a frightening proposition.

Or was the decision simply based on the fact that squad rotation was required, amidst the gruelling winter schedule?

This is the argument that many put forward, while others counteracted this by stating that these changes were unnecessary and should have been made on Wednesday against West Brom, not versus your bitter rivals.

On the other hand, we shouldn’t be so quick to point the finger at Klopp.  After all, this is a manager with 16 years’ worth of professional managerial experience, who knows the ins and outs of the beautiful game.

Immediate reactions on the final whistle consisted of outrage aimed at  Lovren’s mistake and Klopp’s setup, but little was made of Sadio Mane’s glorious chance which he horrendously squandered on the stroke of half-time (which would have made the scoreline 2-0), for this was something that couldn’t be pinned directly on the German.

Love him or loathe him, Klopp is the man with the blueprint plan.  This is no quick fix, it’s a long-term project.

Two years on from his appointment, progress has undoubtedly been made, despite the fact that plenty of people have been keen to downplay development.

Klopp’s record against the big guns of the league speaks for itself and the German’s exciting brand of football, that is so easy on the eye, is not easy to carry out, that’s for sure.

The defence has been the area that Klopp has been ridiculed for, as after being presented multiple opportunities to address the issues sat in plain sight, he simply hasn’t.

Defensive errors have been a common occurrence before and after Klopp’s arrival, yes, and this is an issue that should have been resolved, yes. But based on the German’s track record, one wouldn’t expect wholesome changes in the slightest.

Discovering diamonds in the rough and transforming unknown/unproven players became habitual for Klopp at Dortmund.

The 50-year-old had a net spend of £45 million during his seven years at the Westfalenstadion, and his cost-effective approach was illustrated in 2013, as his team that started the Champions League final against Bayern Munich cost just £28 million.

He doesn’t always do things as other managers would, and yes; has a fairly unorthodox approach. But in today’s market, where everyone is now suddenly worth £30 million plus, Klopp has held firm to his beliefs and hasn’t made signings for the sake of making them.

His success at Dortmund was not instantaneous, he came 6th and 5th in his first two seasons. Whereas, the following two campaigns he brought back to back titles to the club.

Defensive additions are needed at Anfield, but Klopp requires the support of the fans to back him to the hilt. Signings will come, but they won’t be rushed and regretful, but instead precise and pragmatic.

The Liverpool manager must turn doubters to believers once more, it will be no simple task that’s for sure; but no one ever said it would be easy.

Tom Cavilla.