Klopp had 4 years after inheriting a squad that had challenged for the title until he got success (If I out aside my conspiracy theories for a while on how he achieved it). But the point stands that it took a long time of slow building piece by piece. Brands inherited a truly terrible squad in 17/18 with only one decent asset (Gueye) and some unproven youngsters (Holgate and DCL) as they only bright spots at all. If we gave Ancelloti and Brands 4 seasons of continuous investment then I would guarantee we’d be miles ahead of where we are now. It’s a process and as long as the quality of the squad keeps increasing that’s all I care about and from my point of view the squad has improved hugely since Brands came in with us now having far better players on the pitch. We just need to keep going in the right direction.
I agree with all of that. Klopp also inherited an under achieving squad. While I think that Firmino is painfully overrated by that lot, he was not well used under Rodgers. He had good dependable players, Lovren, Lallana, Firmino, Coutinho etc they just weren't well used.
Brands came into a squad that was over performing to get 8th. It was a hideous squad really. Strangely I think Silva did this odd thing of help us move forward but also mis manage us drastically on the pitch. He helped us re-shape the squad and I think he was a good coach, but had zero tactical awareness. So I do think he was a central problem and the squads better than 2 years ago, even if the results as yet don't show it.
Under the 15 league games under Silva we were 18th, under the following 16 games we are 4th in the league (and under Carlo we are 5th level on points with Wolves in 4th for his 13 games). Within that we have played 8 of the "big 6" in that period so it's been a pretty horrendous run of games. There is little doubt we are probably overperforming a bit post Silva, I don't think we are a top 4 team (and a lot of this is because with 1 side romping the league the points requirement to be 4th is lower) but there's no doubt we have a top 8 squad now with a capable manager.
The other stat to me that stands out, is we have 19 points from 8 games against sides outside of the top 6. Under Ancelotti we have become much better at putting away these teams, or when it's not going right getting draws. It will be tested against Leicester and Wolves (who are the best outside of the top 6) but looking at Leicester I think they are coming back down to earth and it's winnable, Wolves will be a real test.
Either way, 3 defeats in 16, given the fixtures we've had is a massive turnaround. And yes, if we can finally have a bit of consistency, with Brands and Ancelotti you will see incremental progress. That will be even more important than spending tonnes of money as well.