beIN SPORTS

By Graham Ruthven (@grahamruthven)

In the immediate fallout of defeat it’s somewhat difficult to take the positives from bitter disappointment. Jurgen Klopp and his Liverpool side will take some time to pragmatically dissect their season following the Europa League final defeat to Sevilla, but when they do there will be more to consider than just Wednesday’s loss. 

Before kick-off Liverpool invoked memories of Istanbul - the club’s greatest European triumph - but that famous night in Turkey was recalled for altogether different reasons with defeat to Sevilla. In a sense this was a reverse Istanbul, with the Reds conceding three second half goals to let their first half dominance slip. 

Whilst the opportunity to lift European silverware for the first time in 11 years was a golden one in its own right, Wednesday’s final was also a gateway to the Champions League for Liverpool. They might have finished a lowly eighth place in the Premier League, but the Reds could still have pulled up a seat at European football’s top table next season.

Liverpool won’t even have a seat on the plane to the continent next season, with Klopp’s side set for a strictly domestic campaign after the summer. That might not necessarily be a bad thing as the German continues to impose his own style and methods on a side still forging an identity under his charge. 

The Reds’ trajectory with Klopp at the helm is still an upward one, though, despite the defeat to Sevilla. Progress might have been somewhat slower and gradual than initially expected, with Liverpool only rising from 10th place in the Premier League to eighth place since the former Borussia Dortmund manager’s appointment. 

It was in Europe where their development was most obvious, with wins over Manchester United, Dortmund and Villarreal demonstrating the extent to which Klopp’s methods have started to take root in his squad. Such displays suggested, ultimately incorrectly, that they could overcome Sevilla, the undisputed masters of the Europa League. 

"Our development is not as good, until now, as we hoped,” a crestfallen Klopp sighed after the defeat at St Jakob Park. “That’s the information from tonight.” The German has now lost five consecutive cup finals as a coach and will now work on strengthening his side’s big game mindset, as well as his own perhaps. 

Next season will prove a true litmus test for Klopp at Anfield. The squad he took to the Europa League final wasn’t his, working with what he had been left by Brendan Rodgers before him.

His team in Switzerland was a mishmash of styles and systems all forged into an improvised team in order to achieve a singular objective. Now with that objective missed Klopp must start to make Liverpool a club in the mould of his own personality.

Without Champions League football to offer Liverpool will almost certainly find it harder to attract top tier talent in the summer transfer window. Moves for the likes of Mario Gotze - rumoured to be on the Anfield club’s radar - might be compromised by the Reds’ Europa League final failure. Sights might have to be set lower with regards to transfer targets.

But in the moments following defeat in Basel Klopp was already talking about using the extra time afforded due to a lack of European football wisely next season. “We will use it well,” he smiled through somewhat gritted teeth, taking responsibility for the way Liverpool folded in the second half. The German is irrepressible as a leader and will have no doubt devised a plan of sorts for recovery on the plane home to Merseyside. 

Of course, pragmatism shouldn’t be used as a means to understate the consequence of losing a European final. Defeat to Sevilla is a setback for Liverpool, even if their development under Klopp remains steadfast. In time, however, Wednesday’s Europa League loss might prove to be a watershed moment in the German’s Merseyside tenure.