Klopp: We have NOT lost our football brain!
Reds boss blames fatigue for dire form but Jota return offers a glimmer of light
JURGEN KLOPP is adamant there are reasons Liverpool’s form has dropped off so dramatically this season but believes no one wants to listen to them.
Liverpool are under siege after a dreadful start to 2023 and have not won in the Premier League since December 30, when they beat Leicester 2-1 thanks to two Wout Faes own goals — nobody has scored more for Klopp’s side since the domestic season restarted than the Foxes defender.
The campaign reached a nadir at Wolves last week, with a 3-0 defeat leaving Liverpool in 10th place. Their manager accepts the criticism coming his way but is adamant that his squad remain significantly better than they are showing.
When it was put to Klopp that Jordan Henderson — who has not started since a 3-0 defeat at Brighton on January 14 — had played 91 times for club and country since August 2021, he took the opportunity to indicate, again, that top players are being stretched to breaking point.
‘Of course (there is fatigue), yes,’ said Klopp. ‘People don’t want to hear these things because it sounds like excuses but there must be reasons for a few things we did this season. We don’t turn into bad people overnight. It is not that we lost a football brain or don’t know the game any more.
‘Other players from other clubs have had similar problems — they cannot play the season they played last year. We try to manage things as much as we can, like with workload. We can’t do it (properly) now. In the past, we could because pretty much everyone available had to play.
‘We had changes up front and we want to have a more settled midfield. This week they all look incredibly fresh — that is the truth. The training sessions were really good, super intense.’
There is a glimmer of light for Klopp in terms of injuries. Diogo Jota, such an influential figure, has trained for the last two days with the first team and could be on the bench against Everton on Monday.
Roberto Firmino, Virgil van Dijk and Arthur Melo have all made good steps in their recovery.
Klopp gave his players 48 hours off earlier this week, with those who played at Wolves staying away from the training facility at Kirkby. The manager was also absent, taking the time to clear his mind after being left emotionally spent by the display at Molineux.
He said with a wry smile: ‘In Germany this question would have come much earlier: “How can you give them two days off in the situation you are in?”. You can train every day but it is not beneficial. We made the analysis and then gave them two days off.
‘It is a very long time between Saturday and Monday. I left on Sunday in an average mood and came back in a good mood and I worked through it.’
Words and gestures, however, will prove meaningless if Liverpool do not respond against Everton. Klopp has only lost one Merseyside derby, in February 2021, and it would be a calamity if that tally was to be doubled.
‘All the signs are there (in training),’ said Klopp. ‘But when I say that now people will say: “Show it on Monday!” and we have to show it on Monday. Training has been good. The aggression was there, it’s been a really good week.’