DEFEAT HARD TO STOMACH
All is not lost if Klopp can use pain as source of inspiration
THE international break often throws up a few strange stories and one of them doing the rounds this week is the suggestion that England boss Gareth Southgate could be the next Manchester United manager.
I believe Erik ten Hag is on borrowed time at United and expect the new co-owners led by Jim Ratcliffe (inset) to make a change this summer.
It remains to be seen whether Southgate is the right fit for such a big club and I would also question whether he wants a tough job like that.
He is getting handsomely paid to be England manager and if his team do well at the Euros this summer, they might want him to stay on.
Gareth is a really good fella and seems to be a nice bloke and he has a pretty sweet life at the moment.
That will change if he goes into United and inherits all their problems and all the pressure that comes with managing one of the biggest clubs in the world.
Liverpool need a new manager this summer and United might be in the same position, but the reality is that whoever comes in will be a gamble.
We saw what happened when Alex Ferguson left United and clubs like Everton and Chelsea have been changing managers consistently in recent years and failing to find solutions.
As Klopp has shown at Liverpool, the right manager can transform a club when he is given time to lay down some foundations.
If Southgate goes into United next season, he will have a massive job on his hands and as plenty of managers will confirm, that is one of the hardest challenges in football right now. Of that there’s no doubt.
WHAT happened to Liverpool at Old Trafford last weekend is the reason why I fear they might come up short in this season’s thrilling Premier League title race.
Liverpool should never have lost the FA Cup quarter-final against a poor Manchester United team, but conceding four goals was asking for trouble – and that’s what they got in the end.
I would never criticise Jurgen Klopp or his rebuilt team, as they have been fantastic in recent months and have already exceeded expectations.
You look at where with Liverpool were a year ago and you never would have expected them to be in a three-way battle for the Premier League title heading into the final ten games of the season and challenging in the Europa League as well.
They already have the Carabao Cup in the trophy cabinet and this has been a sensational season on so many levels, but top teams should not be going to United and conceding four goals.
Erik ten Hag’s side are not in a good place and while they’ve had a few decent results over the last few weeks, it feels like that was just papering over the cracks.
END
I said in my Sunday World column last week that it feels like the end is coming for Ten Hag and, even after their win against Liverpool, I still believe that. I feel the game is up for Ten Hag.
He doesn’t seem to be the man for new part-owner Jim Ratcliffe and I’d expect to see a change of manager there this summer.
So losing against United in their current state was a massive disappointment and I have to admit... it hurt.
You could see Klopp was hurting when he had a pop at the interviewer asking him questions after the match.
At 2-1, Liverpool should have finished United off, as they were clearly the better side, but they let them off the hook and paid the price for those missed chances right at the death.
The forwards didn’t take the opportunities that came their way and, defensively, Liverpool conceded some poor goals.
To their credit, Liverpool have done so well to snatch late goals in matches recently and have been winning games when they have not been playing well.
So maybe a slip-up was coming, but it shouldn’t have been against a poor United side.
This was the kind of performance you would not expect
Mo Salah netted against United, but it wasn’t enough in the end to see from Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City – and that’s why I believe they’re still strong favourites to retain the Premier League crown.
The champions have ten games left to play and I’d expect them to win all of them... yes, all of them!
City take on Arsenal next Sunday. It’s a massive match on so many levels, with huge ramifications for the title race.
Liverpool will be waiting to take over at the top of the table once again if Arsenal don’t get the three points, but I just feel City are getting into that New Year beast mode where they simply don’t drop points.
You have to hand it to Guardiola and his team because they have won so much in recent years and still manage to find a way to stay motivated and push on for more.
They set such high standards and it is up to Liverpool and Arsenal to match them, but that is easier said than done.
I’d expect Liverpool to win their remaining league games at Anfield, even though the matches against Brighton next week and Tottenham at the start of May will be tricky.
TOUGH
When you look at some of the away matches coming up for Liverpool, it is easy to see a slip-up or two along the way.
They nearly dropped points at Nottingham Forest at the start of this month and they have tough away games at United, Fulham, West Ham and Aston Villa still to play.
At least a quick return to Old Trafford will give them a chance to put last week’s FA Cup defeat out of their minds, and I’m sure they will be highly motivated for that match.
Yet, that is not the only big test for Klopp and his players, as Fulham will be tough to overcome at Craven Cottage. They proved that by hammering Spurs last weekend.
Then you look at Villa away in the penultimate game of the season. Unai Emery’s side could be pushing for fourth spot, so it could be a massive test.
Meanwhile, the City machine will continue to grind out win after win after win, and that means Liverpool and Arsenal simply cannot afford to drop points if they want to compete with them for the title.
What Klopp needs to do when he gets his players back from the international break is remind them how they felt in that dressing room at Old Trafford last Sunday.
Remind them of the pain they were going through and use that as motivation for what comes next, as losing a game in the manner they did was hard to stomach.
There is still so much for Liverpool to play for this season and if they get their hands on the Premier League trophy or Europa League silverware in the Dublin, that Old Trafford nightmare will be erased from the memory banks.
Klopp will be hoping Liverpool’s final below-par performance of the season came against United in the FA Cup and if he can get all his key players back and firing after the international break, there is still a chance for the manager to end his reign on a massive high.