Klopp insists he has 'no energy problem' after Liverpool's poor form

Jurgen Klopp insists he has ‘no problem with energy’ after Liverpool’s poor start to the Premier League season, but admits his side are going through a ‘difficult time’ as they prepare to face Arsenal on Sunday

• Liverpool currently sit tenth in the Premier League after a poor start
• They have dropped 11 points in seven games, and have won just twice
• Jurgen Klopp has ‘no problem with energy’ after seven years at the club
• He left both of his previous managerial posts after seven years amid poor results 

As he marks his seventh anniversary on the Anfield throne, the first questions concerning Jurgen Klopp’s long-term future have started to emerge.

The 55-year-old left his jobs at Mainz and Borussia Dortmund after seven years so it is a valid issue, particularly given that Liverpool are currently mid-table. With several players including Jordan Henderson, James Milner, Thiago Alcantara, Virgil van Dijk, Roberto Firmino and Mo Salah in their thirties, a rebuild will be needed at some point.

The question is not so much if Liverpool want to keep him — of course they do — but whether Klopp can maintain that ferocious energy that has brought so much success. He’s been a bit more softly-spoken this season, slightly slimmer and has lost the trademark glasses.

Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool currently sit tenth in the Premier League after a poor start

However, ‘new’ Klopp assures the Liverpool faithful he has the hunger to go again even if he acknowledges a second Premier League title to go with the runaway success in 2020 is unlikely given his team have already dropped 11 points in their opening seven fixtures. They visit Arsenal 11 points behind the Londoners, albeit with a game in hand.

‘I have no problem with energy,’ says the German, his voice rising for emphasis. ‘I didn’t leave my other jobs after seven years because I lost energy or whatever.

‘Mainz needed a fresh start because their players were leaving for the Bundesliga. Dortmund wanted me to stay but it was a case of our players constantly being pulled by other clubs so it was a really hard job.

They could only manage a 3-3 draw with Brighton last weekend and have dropped 11 points

‘The situation is very different here. Being here seven years is intense, no doubt about that, and we have all got older, but it’s nice too.

‘Yes, this is a difficult time. Did I think we’d be ninth after match day seven? No, but this is the place where we are now and we go from here. If there is one club that has a chance to go through it, it’s us.

‘You don’t have to do it the same way as all the others. I know that with one point more Chelsea sacked Thomas Tuchel. It was said, “Tuchel gets sacked with 10 points and Klopp stays in a job with nine”.

‘From this point, does it look like we will be champions at the end of the year? Unfortunately not, but in all other competitions we are not out yet. Nobody knows where we end up in the league so just give it a go. Difficult yes, impossible no.’

Klopp said that ‘nobody in the world can deal with Erling Haaland’ at the moment

It’s unusual for Liverpool to be underdogs in any game but the bookmakers make Arsenal narrow favourites on Sunday. Klopp’s team have been leaky at the back and, at the other end, Salah has only a couple of league goals, his name supplanted in the headlines by a new King, Erling Haaland.

Salah’s general play has been decent but Klopp admits his Egyptian superstar won’t be satisfied until his name reappears on the scoresheet more regularly.

‘Mo wants to score goals. Definitely, desperately, 100 per cent,’ says Klopp emphatically. ‘That will never change. I hope he is close to exploding.

‘Even if his goalscoring numbers are not that crazy, you see how often he is involved in the passes for goals. The problem is that if he doesn’t score a goal then no-one appreciates that. Forget about him scoring or losing the ball here or there. He makes three or four key passes and that’s exceptional.

The Liverpool manager also said that Mo Salah has played well, but ‘wants to score goals’

‘Nobody in the world can cope with the Haaland situation at this moment. It is crazy what he is doing. He is exceptional.

‘I don’t think we should compare anybody with Haaland at this moment — at least I don’t.’

Klopp had a big reputation when he arrived but has surpassed expectations, becoming the first Liverpool manager in the club’s history to win every major trophy.

His ambitions at the start were more modest, he reveals: ‘That first day, I was just happy to survive the press conference because my English skills were really not that good!’

Liverpool midfielder Arthur Melo is facing three months out after surgery on a thigh injury yesterday. It is a bitter blow for the Brazilian, who tore a quad muscle while running in training on Monday.

Share this article

Source: Read Full Article