Of all the stories written during the first two months of Liverpool’s season, it’s perhaps the one few supporters would have anticipated.
But there is something wholly appropriate about Joel Matip enjoying a renaissance as a building block in Jurgen Klopp’s latest Reds revolution.
Matip was arguably the initial piece of the jigsaw Klopp painstakingly put together that transformed Liverpool from perennial underachievers to a team capable of conquering Europe, the world and, for the first time in 30 years, England.
Marko Grujic had been the first permanent senior signing of the Klopp era in January 2016 but ultimately started only five games for the Reds, none of which were in the Premier League. The following month, though, saw confirmation of Matip’s imminent arrival that summer from Schalke on a free transfer.
That the centre-back is still six appearances short of reaching 200 after more than seven season at the club – for context, Virgil van Dijk, who joined 18 months later and missed most of the 2020/21 campaign with a serious knee problem, has made 229 outings – points not only to the injury problems that have hampered Matip’s Anfield career but also the competition for places at the heart of defence.
Not once has Matip made the most appearances by a Liverpool centre-back during a season, although he shared the highest number with Dejan Lovren during his debut campaign. He was fourth in that pecking order in three seasons (2019/20, 2020/21 and last season), and second in 2017/18, 2018/19 and 2021/22.
Indeed, after starting only three of Liverpool’s final 17 games last season – even if he netted the winner in one at West Ham United – it appeared Matip had definitively slipped down the pecking order.
The 32-year-old, though, has made a habit of defying convention at Anfield. While the signing of Ibrahima Konate two years ago seemed to edge Matip nearer the fringes, he made 43 appearances in 2021/22 and, in the last two seasons, made only one outing fewer than the previous three campaigns combined.
This term, having been given the glimpse of a first-team opportunity by Konate’s muscle problem in August, Matip has started the last six Premier League matches. Should he begin Merseyside derby against Everton on Saturday week, he’ll match his longest stretch of successive top-flight starts since April 2019.
Matip has stayed in the starting line-up on merit, delivering a clutch of impressive displays arguably of which the best deserved more than to inadvertently smash the ball into his own net in the final minute at Tottenham Hotspur a fortnight ago to send Liverpool tumbling to a first defeat in 20 games.
As a long-time servant under Klopp, Matip has long been aware of the need to evolve. “This is my eighth season at Liverpool and I have always tried to be the best that I could be for the team,” he says. “If I’m needed, I want to be there and I want to show my quality. The manager has tried to adapt our style during my time here. It’s not the same football we played six or seven years ago, so he’s adapting but he’s still trying to do it his way and I think this is working quite well.”
While Matip has indicated he wants to stay beyond the expiry of his contract at the end of the season, Liverpool appear to already be planning for the future and, with Van Dijk also in his thirties, will soon want a fresh injection of young centre-back talent. The emergence of Academy graduate Jarell Quansahh has also highlighted the extra competition that could also soon come from within.
For now, though, Matip will look to continue a Reds revival that is proving as popular as it is welcome. The defender is helping bridge the gap from Klopp’s first great side to what supporters will hope is a similarly successful ‘Liverpool 2.0’. It would be the ideal parting gift.
