Jurgen Klopp was heralded as the messiah when he was first announced as Liverpool’s new manager.
Three weeks ago, the narrative spilling out of Anfield and across the world’s media was that the club’s board had pulled off a major coup by securing one of European football’s greatest managerial minds.
The German would surely bring instant success to the biggest of England’s sleeping giants. Johnny Foreigner to the rescue.
But oh, how things have changed. After less than a month in charge at Anfield, nothing much has improved. In fact, whisper it around Merseyside, but maybe they made a huge gaffe in letting British manager Brendan Rodgers leave.
The three games under Klopp’s ‘genius’ management have resulted in three draws. That’s three points – I’ve seen teams manage that in a single game. Call me old fashioned, but I prefer wins to draws. And Jurgen obviously disagrees.
During his time at the helm, Liverpool have scored a meagre two goals and looked decidedly off the pace. Meanwhile, their last three games under Rodgers included a win against high-flying Aston Villa – something Klopp is still yet to achieve, and might never be able to.
People argue that the former Borussia Dortmund man requires patience, but how much time does he need? Due to the international break, he has had the luxury of around a fortnight with his new players. Where is the improvement? I simply don’t know.
Two and a bit weeks is more than enough for a decent coach to instil a completely new style of play, whilst at the same time eradicating the lack of confidence and self-doubt that had infected the squad. Klopp has clearly failed.
There has been much talk about the 48-year-old’s famous ‘gegenpressing’. I couldn’t be bothered to properly research what it means, but surely that’s just ‘working hard’ – we’ve been doing that for years in this country! Keep up, Jurgen. Or work harder.
Questions must be asked about the German’s training methods. Injuries to key men like Joe Gomez, Danny Ings and Jordan Henderson can’t be mere coincidence. Nor can we ignore fresh concerns about Daniel Sturridge’s fitness.
It’s interesting that Liverpool fans were happy enough to criticise their former manager’s every decision but the new man gets a free pass. It seems all he need do is smile at the camera and frequent local drinking holes to keep them happy.
No amount of gallivanting around the pubs and tea rooms of Liverpool will help improve the team. Requests for the fans to go from doubters to believers will wear thin. We were all willing to believe at first – but that was three long games ago.
We were told that Klopp is so well-respected throughout the continent that the world’s best players would be falling over themselves to join Liverpool. Where are they? Klopp has kept exactly the same squad, which speaks volumes about Rodgers’ legacy.
I don’t recall seeing Robert Lewandowski in a red shirt this season. Apart from the Bayern Munich one. And the Poland one. But not a Liverpool shirt. Perhaps he knows what we’re all beginning to suspect – that Klopp is on borrowed time.
Brendan Rodgers was a good, honest man. He had vision, desire and most importantly a British passport. Klopp – who had the sheer arrogance to call himself the ‘normal one’ – is beginning to look like a dodgy charlatan.
I’ve got two words for you, Herr Klopp: Auf wiedersehen pet.
