Klopp is a boxer who’s had too many fights. He’s got no punches left to throw… and nor do his team
IT was the afternoon when a mighty blow had been inflicted to Liverpool’s title challenge, the day Crystal Palace rattled Anfield’s foundations. Those who work at the stadium have seen many versions of Jurgen Klopp post-match: the ebullience and energy that follow big victories, the outpouring of emotion that comes when things have not gone to plan. Liverpool’s manager is an imposing figure, physically, and you always know he’s there.
But after that 1-0 defeat by Palace on April 14, Liverpool’s first at home in the Premier League for almost two years, Klopp’s demeanour was noticeably different.
Yes, he was present but underneath that black quilted jacket and baseball cap he seemed hollow. Not broken — it would be disingenuous to suggest that — but here was a man whose fuel tank had run so dry that only fumes were left.
Back on January 26, he warned a red light was showing. Looking down the barrel of a TV camera, he announced his time at Anfield was to end, saying his energy had gone. Klopp made it clear he did not want the ensuing months becoming some kind of farewell tour but that was the day everything changed.
You saw how much in Everton’s demolition job at Goodison Park on Wednesday. As red shirts ran down blind, blue alleys, losing tackles and second balls, Klopp shuffled back from his technical area and found a temporary perch.
The symbolism was huge. Like a boxer retreating to his corner, unable to lift his arms for the final round, Klopp had no more left to give — and nor did his team.
It will be viewed in some quarters, given the time of year, as Liverpool choking when it mattered but, really, the answer is much simpler.
A Premier League season is rather like the route on the Tour de France known as the Puy de Dome. The climb to the summit, where the stage in the Massif Central ends, is lung-burning and leg-bending and asks the hardest emotional and physical questions of participants.
There will always be a rider who thinks he can break away to make history, but the one who goes for broke first will always be caught. Liverpool, in working so hard just to get into a position to challenge for the title, had nothing to offer when they needed something for the final attack.
What happened against Everton was coming. Since beating Chelsea in the Carabao Cup final, Liverpool have been running at full speed just to match strides with Manchester City and
Arsenal. There hasn’t been a clean sheet in the Premier League since March 2, when they secured a last- gasp win at Nottingham Forest. The performance they subsequently produced against City, to secure a draw in the second half, has proven to be an exception rather than the rule.
Sheffield United could have beaten Liverpool at Anfield in April, Brighton had opportunities of their own to cause mischief. All the while, you looked at the run-in, and the peak they had to scale, and wondered if they ever really believed they could do it. At Goodison it all came asunder.
‘ You have to fight through these periods,’ said Klopp, as he sifted through the wreckage of his first defeat in the neighbours’ backyard. ‘People ask about the mentality but it is not a problem of attitude or what the boys want.
‘ No one is doing it on purpose. It’s my job to bring them into a situation where they feel confident to do it. That part I am responsible for and I’m responsible for what happened (here). ‘ In the moment it didn’t work out. We must keep trying.’
He would not have it any other way but you looked at the squad on Wednesday and, for the first time, saw vulnerability in those who have been totems; you began to wonder whether some who have recently arrived can truly live up to their predecessors. Mohamed Salah has, for some reason, become a headline grabber. This was his most ineffective performance at Goodison Park and this campaign not will rank in his Anfield highlights.
There is an argument to say, though, that he has been let down by others. On social media, a clip has been compiled of key passes Salah has made in games. It begins with the chance he created for Darwin Nunez at Goodison, the one which the Uruguayan blasted straight at Jordan Pickford.
From there, it goes on to Nunez missing from eight yards against Crystal Palace, then winger Luis Diaz fluffing his lines against Manchester City, then on to Trent Alexander-Arnold hitting the bar against Arsenal at Anfield when he was clean through.
Still there is more — a pass to Dominik Szoboszlai at Old Trafford: wasted. A knockdown for Nunez at Luton: over the bar. A cross for Nunez at the Etihad Stadium? Saved. Another through ball to Nunez at Luton. Blocked. Say four of those chances go in, Liverpool are four points clear at the top.
You will note five mentions of Nunez here and Jamie Carragher has suggested that maybe a parting of the ways with the Uruguayan is inevitable.
Nunez is a popular figure, cheeky and chaotic, but he does not have an assassin’s coldness in front of goal. Many wonder if it will ever come.
Nunez is more of a conundrum than Salah, who is running on empty and has not been the same since returning injured from the Africa Cup of Nations in mid-winter. He has barely missed a game, home or away, for seven years and has given his all throughout.
Of course, there was always going to be a point when his
remarkable numbers and consistency dropped off but it’s been a perfect storm in that his dip has coincided with an injury to the club’s best finisher, Diogo Jota.
Nobody — Nunez, with two goals in 11 included — has stepped up.
Take Szoboszlai. His initial months in England were blistering, with cannonball shooting, wonderful pressing and passing. Liverpool went the extra mile financially to get him last summer and the terms of his transfer meant his £60million fee needed to be paid within 12 months.
A fine player lurks within but he has not yet mastered the consistency required and that is something he must change when the new guard arrives with Arne Slot. Like so many at Goodison, he looked totally lost.
‘Everyone has to look in the mirror and look at their own performances and ask if they really gave everything,’ said Virgil van Dijk, Liverpool’s captain, who has been pleased with his club’s links to fellow Dutchman Slot.
‘Do they really want to win the league? Honestly, we are fighting and still have games after tonight but if we play like we did against Everton, then we have no chance to win the title.’
Fine words, but the reality is different. Nobody is expecting Liverpool to become champions any more and the focus now is what happens down the line once Slot is confirmed as the man who will take Klopp’s mantle.
There is going to be change and big decisions must be made by Michael Edwards — who is now running the club on a day-to-day basis — and new sporting director Richard Hughes.
Salah, Van Dijk and AlexanderArnold, for instance, all require new contracts. None of that will come cheap and history has shown not everyone will be happy with what they are offered in negotiations.
Van Dijk and Salah are beyond 30 and James Milner, Jordan Henderson and Georginio Wijnaldum will all testify that service does not matter when the bottom line is being discussed.
It is Liverpool’s way to wheel and deal and money will be raised by offloading players such as Kostas Tsimikas, the Greece left back.
The scouting department is already looking at options to provide back-up for Andy Robertson, with Sergi Cardona of Las Palmas being monitored.
Perhaps the nature of the upheaval has not yet been fully appreciated. Klopp has an army of lieutenants around him, from Pep Lijnders, Vitor Matos and Peter Krawietz, to a number of compatriots in key technical areas. The vast majority will leave.
Change won’t be easy but change, certainly, is required and for Klopp, change will be restorative. He has taken Liverpool on a joyride since 2015 but it has worn him down: one year managing Liverpool is like two anywhere else and, in recent weeks, the toll it has taken has been obvious.
You could see it for yourself on Wednesday night, as he did his debrief with Sky Sports. He picked at his fingers, bit his nails, his eyes had sunk.
Usually he comes alive in front of a camera but this was different. The end is coming. Goodison proved why the decision he made in January was right.