Here's the big takeaway for Liverpool from 1-1 draw at Tottenham

The signature game of this weekend’s slate of Premier League games turned out, as they say, to be a good one for the neutrals. It was fun and frenetic and end-to-end, and rather bad for the well-being of the partisans of both Tottenham Hotspur and visiting Liverpool.

It ended in a justifiable 1-1 tie, but it could just as easily have been a goal fest. When two gifted attacking lines faced off, that seemed a likely outcome, with Spurs’ recent lack of goals offset by Liverpool’s leaky defense.

But Philippe Coutinho missed a sitter for Liverpool early on, saved by the excellent Michel Vorm, who would make several more interventions. Despite the hysterical pace and frantic attacking, the Reds wound up getting their goal on a penalty, when Erik Lamela clipped Coutinho in the box and James Milner converted just before halftime.

Jurgen Klopp’s men could not secure the points when they were running the game, though. Joel Matip’s header skimmed off the top of the bar and Sadio Mane’s goal was called offside. And by then, midway through the second half, the home team had finally wrested control, although a goal would be slow in coming.

Christian Eriksen ruined a fat chance by putting his finish high and Simon Mignolet denied Toby Alderweireld’s header. Finally, Spurs got the point they probably deserved when Danny Rose picked up ball at the far post and whacked it past Mignolet to cap a fine move.

But if there was an overarching takeaway from this game, it’s the virtue of patience in management. Klopp, still only in charge at Liverpool for less than a year, is somehow already under pressure, in spite of a perfectly defensible 1-1-1 start to the season, considering the tricky schedule of all away games. He has gotten the storied club’s attack humming, as evidenced by the 4-3 season-opening win against Arsenal. But the defense remains a bit of a shambles, as evidenced by the 4-3 season-opening win against Arsenal.

A 2-0 loss at Burnley last weekend hardly helped, even though Liverpool utterly dominated the game and created chances in droves. But looking at the other bench should give Reds fans hope. After all, Mauricio Pochettino got the team playing good soccer first, pressing and taking the initiative, just as Klopp’s Liverpool is now. The defensive competence came later on.

In his first year in charge, after all, the Argentine’s Spurs side conceded a whopping 53 goals, the club’s most since the disastrous 2007-08 season, when they placed 11th. But he finally got all those talented attacking assets playing in unison. He forged a collective out of disparate pieces. And soon enough, the defense turned around. Last year, in just Pochettino’s second in charge, Spurs conceded a mere 35 goals in 38 games, its fewest since the 1970-71 season, and staged a title challenge.

So Liverpool coughed up 50 goals last year, the most since the 1993-94 campaign – which was a 42-game season. As Klopp stabilizes the team, and he is certainly expected to get the chance to, he likely will also get the back line in order as the solidified attack and midfield take some pressure off. Tottenham improved its goal difference from +5 to +34 from Pochettino’s first season to his second, largely on the strength of an improved defense, and that proved bedrock to its success.

Klopp needs time. Liverpool needs time. They’re slowly getting better. And great defenses – or even passable ones – aren’t built overnight.