Jürgen Klopp has refined his playing style over the years at Liverpool in order to cope with the demands of English football in comparison to Germany. He arrived at Anfield with a reputation for pressing high up the field, but although the Reds began to gradually master his methods, weaker Premier League sides continued to find solutions and alternative ways to escape.His early tenure consisted of high-profile wins over the likes of Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal, coupled with struggles against the more defensive and stubborn teams in England's top-flight. When Liverpool pressed opponents such as West Bromwich Albion, Crystal Palace and Burnley, they would simply hit long passes over the press in order to avoid mistakes, and those aerial balls proved to be problematic at times.Burnley in particular have managed to pick up points against the Reds over the years, with Klopp eventually appreciating the need for physically-imposing central defenders to reinforce his aggressive brand of football. Joe Gomez, Dejan Lovren, Ragnar Klavan, Mamadou Sakho and Joël Matip were fielded in defence at the beginning of Klopp's tenure, with the latter who is the strongest of the group aerially regularly absent due to injuries.Read MoreRelated ArticlesRead MoreRelated ArticlesVirgil van Dijk was eventually signed for a record-breaking fee, with Ibrahima Konaté who stands around 6-foot-4 added this summer from RB Leipzig for a transfer fee in the region of £35m. Pep Lijnders, Klopp's second in command, has elaborated on Liverpool's need for tall and powerful centre-backs, stating: As a pressing team you have to accept a lot of long balls and second balls, so its important you have centre-backs who are good in the air so they can win the first challenge.Liverpool now have four elite central defenders in Gomez, Van Dijk, Konaté and Matip, with at least three of those fitting the mould of physical defenders who are extremely strong in the air, winning around 70% or more of their duels.The new Premier League season started last weekend with a 3-0 victory over Norwich City, and Burnley are next up; Sean Dyche's men inflicted Liverpool's first Anfield defeat in years last season, but the Reds are better equipped to cope this time around thanks to the resurgence of the centre-back department.The club's recruitment since prioritising tall defenders has been tailored to face sides like Burnley, with Van Dijk and Matip likely to start. They will be challenged in the air and around set-pieces throughout the bout but ultimately, Klopp has been recruiting to guard against such a threat for some time.Read MoreRelated ArticlesRead MoreRelated Articles