Klopp’s science and rigour paves way for Liverpool to win a game of inches

FA Cup was decided by the width of a post but Chelsea were beaten by a side that ensures tiny margins make the difference

Liverpool's (left-right) Assistant First Team Goal Keeping coach Jack Robinson, First Team Goalkeeping coach John Achterberg , manager Jurgen Klopp and assistant manager Pepijn Lijnders pose with the trophy after the Emirates FA Cup final at Wembley Stadium. Photo credit: Nick Potts/PA Wire.

Imagine, for a moment, you’re the goalframe at the east end of Wembley. Last summer, you watched as Marcus Rashford, at the climax of that sulphurous July night, took a straight run-up, stuttered, and then, as Gianluigi Donnarumma fell to your left, dragged his penalty to your right.

You like the young man, his obvious decency, his stance on various social issues – and you are an English goalframe after all. You wanted him to score. You tried to just stretch a bit further, to widen your stance, but your feet were rooted and the ball cannoned off the base of your post and away. If only he had struck it three inches more centrally you probably could have helped it in, and if you had, England would probably be European champions and Rashford might not have had such a miserable season; Manchester United might not feel like quite such a faded force in need of desperate reconstitution.