Klopp froze out 4 Liverpool stars – including ‘world class’ ace who never played

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp showed his ruthless side by sidelining four players – including a "world class" star who never got to play.

Klopp's leadership and trust-building skills have been key in creating a successful football team. Since taking over after Brendan Rodgers left in October 2015, Klopp has turned the Reds into one of Europe's most formidable teams.

Under his guidance, they've bagged the Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup and Carabao Cup titles. Klopp's unique playing style is a major factor behind his success.

READ MORE: 'I was close to joining Liverpool but it didn't happen – it's my biggest regret'

READ MORE: Join the Daily Star's WhatsApp for the sexiest headlines, showbiz gossip and lots more

Sky Sports is bringing you 500 live football games to watch, as well access to Cricket, Golf, F1, Boxing, NFL, NBA and more across eight dedicated channels. Sky Sports is the only way to watch all the action this year.

£22 a month

The German manager believes in the power of pressing and counter-attacking, making his Liverpool team famous for forcing their opponents into errors. The 56 year old's excellent man-management skills have also contributed to his achievements.

In 2019, Fabinho said that Klopp "has a different way of speaking to each player", praising how he develops his team both individually and collectively. However, Klopp has recently shown a more ruthless side.

After failing to qualify for the Champions League for the first time since the 2015/16 season, Liverpool underwent a summer shake-up. This led to several players, including Jordan Henderson and Roberto Firmino, leaving the squad.

Should Klopp have kept any of these players? Let us know what you think in the comments section.

Henderson confessed in a chat with The Athletic that he felt neglected by Klopp and Liverpool before his transfer to Saudi Pro League team Al-Ettifaq was sealed. Similarly, Roberto Firmino felt a sense of abandonment after leaving Liverpool last summer, revealing in his autobiography that 'the boss was avoiding me' at the start of 2023.

Henderson and Firmino are just two of the recent Liverpool players shown the exit door by Klopp. However, when Klopp first took the reins at Anfield eight years ago, Mario Balotelli was having a tough time on loan at AC Milan.

He returned to the Reds in the summer of 2016, reportedly telling his teammates about his eagerness to be part of Klopp's pre-season preparations. But Klopp had already made up his mind about the Italian player.

"I can talk of Mario because that one is obvious," Klopp shared with reporters that July. "I heard a lot about him ever since I came here. Since he has been back here, he's been a good guy and I can't say anything different than that.

"It's not that he's come back and said: 'Who's the boss, I'm the boss, no sorry it's you'. It's not been that at all. Everything's been good, it's all okay.

"We want Mario to become the player he was before his injury. The talent is still there – no doubt about it. When we have done the crossing, heading and stuff, he's been world class. But this is not a situation where he should be battling with other players like this for one position so it's clear we need a solution."

Ahead of their pre-season tour in the United States, Balotelli was left behind in Liverpool and made to train with the club's Under 18s. It was a ruthless decision by Klopp, who bolstered his front line that summer with the signing of Sadio Mane from Southampton. As for Balotelli, he joined Nice on a free transfer.

Balotelli wasn't the only player banished to the reserves that summer, after Mamadou Sakho was sent home from the pre-season tour in the US after joining up with the squad late. The Frenchman had also been late for a team meal and missed a treatment session.

That signalled the end for Sakho's time at Liverpool. "I have to build a group here, we have to start new here," Klopp said on Sakho, who later joined Crystal Palace in 2017. "So I thought maybe it made sense for him to fly home to Liverpool and after eight or 10 days when we come back we can talk about it. It's not that serious.

"He nearly missed the departure of the plane, he missed a session and was late for a meal. We have some rules and we have to respect them. If somebody doesn't respect it or somebody gives me the feeling he is not respecting it then I have to react that's all. It is private how he reacted. But we had no argument."

Lazar Markovic was another player to feel the brunt of Klopp's ruthless treatment. The winger, who was on loan at Fenerbahce when Klopp was appointed as the new Liverpool manager, struggled for regular game time upon his return to Anfield and spend further time out at Hull and Sporting Lisbon.

He played for Liverpool in a pre-season friendly against Tranmere in 2017, but was then left out of the Liverpool squad for the tour of Hong Kong. Klopp confirmed the Serbian was free to leave. "With Lazar, it's no secret that if he finds a club then we will negotiate. It was like this last year too," Klopp told the Liverpool Echo in July 2017. "He's a really good player. I like him as a person."

Join the Daily Star's WhatsApp for the sexiest headlines, showbiz gossip and lots more

The Daily Star is now on WhatsApp and we want you to join us!

Through the app, we'll send you the sassiest showbiz stories, some naught headline and a seismic smattering of aliens…along with the latest breaking news of course.

To join our community, all you have to do to join is click on this link, select 'Join Chat' and you're in!

No one will be able to see who has sign up and no one can send messages except for the Daily Star team. We also treat our community members to competitions, special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners.

If you don’t like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose Exit group. If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.

CLICK HERE TO JOIN

"He's now fit and another one who is in the best shape since I've known him. Before he had problems with his groin but now he's good. There will be a club out there who needs him." Markovic ended up having to wait until the following January to seal his next move, a loan spell to Anderlecht.

Loris Karius, another former Liverpool star, was shown the exit door after a series of critical mistakes, including two in the Champions League final against Real Madrid in 2018. After being replaced by Alisson as the club's No. 1 goalkeeper, Karius was loaned out to Besiktas and then Union Berlin.

In January 2022, Klopp said about Karius: "He is doing absolutely nothing wrong, he is in a really good shape and training very hard," and "He is committed, the goalie coaches are fully committed, that's clear. But before the season we made a decision. Obviously it was in the club's interest as well that Loris finds a new club, stuff like this. That didn't happen, so fine."

Klopp added: "We made a decision: he'll be treated completely normally absolutely but we have the goalies. As long as we don't have a massive situation here, our No.1 is Ali, our No.2 is Caoimh, No.3 is Adrian, No.4 is Marcelo and then there's already four goalkeepers. We were never in a situation where we had to use the fifth one."

This article was crafted with the help of an AI tool, which speeds up Daily Star's editorial research. An editor reviewed this content before it was published. You can report any errors to [email protected]

Source: Read Full Article