With Liverpool finding themselves smack dab in the middle of the table, 11 points out of the top four, from 20 games played, patience is clearly starting to wear thin at Anfield.
Few personified this better than Jurgen Klopp, who shocked with his refusal to take questions from Athletic reporter James Pearce after the Reds’ humiliating 3-0 loss to Wolves.
Of possibly more importance, however, were the German tactician’s thoughts on the ongoing hangover incurred from playing every possible game in the 2021/22 campaign: “Yes, definitely, it’s clear that [last season] has influenced the first part of the season.
“But how long do we want to suffer with that? Now it is the second part of the season.
“From my point of view it’s February, we had a full week to prepare, we have another eight/nine days to prepare for the next game.
“We are in shape, now we are there. There may have been a problem earlier in the season with injuries, but today these are the first 12 minutes that are not allowed.
The former Mainz head coach went on to highlight that his side were in the game for much of the remaining minutes, although it is telling that this was the point he chose to draw a line in the sand regarding the consequences of the quadruple manhunt. .
You are certainly right. If the World Cup break was not enough for some players to reset and recover, questions must be asked about the difficulties Jordan Henderson, Joe Gomez, Joel Matip and Fabinho, to name a few, are experiencing, given that the schedule ( except for a period between January 14 and 21) has not been relentless of late.
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Why do we even bother to tolerate the question ‘Should Klopp leave?’
My editor Jordan Chamberlain has already done his bit on the matter and I strongly suspect that the team’s views here at Empire of the Kop are in line with most Liverpool fans on the matter: we don’t want Jurgen Klopp to go .
Is it time for Klopp to go? No chance, says @Jordan_AC90 of @empireofthekop, even if #Liverpool at #’Wolves made “the most embarrassing 12 minutes of a humiliating season”. ://t.co/oOi1IOsOga⏳ pic.twitter.com/GYIL9ZVyKG
— Joe Bradshaw (@joebradshaw004) February 7, 2023
In fact, it would simply be the most self-injurious decision we could make between now and the end of the season.
Do you need to take some (SOME not ALL) of the blame? It’s fair to suggest so given that his pick calls and tactical adjustments haven’t been as on point this term as we’ve seen previously.
Regardless, the notion that the Premier League-winning manager is fighting to secure his future, whether it comes from pundits or reactive fans on social media, should receive nothing more than snorts or giggles, better yet, just keep scrolling.
The treatment of a manager who nearly put Liverpool in the history books, while taking on a financially doping Manchester City side, if the allegations are backed by an independent commission, the last term with a campaign unlike any other belief of beggars.
As far as we’re concerned, the season seven syndrome that, according to some tinfoil hat dealers, apparently robs Jurgen Klopp of all his managerial powers is pure nonsense.
Just ask Hans-Joachim Watzke, Borussia Dortmund CEO and close friend of the former BVB head coach, for his thoughts on what the German team should have considered doing before parting ways when things started to fall apart.
A new challenge for Klopp… but an FSG can help him accept it
Make no mistake: it is becoming increasingly clear that it is those on the pitch who are playing for their future at Liverpool Football Club.
That’s a scary prospect in itself, especially when you consider that Fabinho, Jordan Henderson, Joel Matip and Joe Gomez may not have covered themselves in glory, while all three James Milner, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Naby Keita remain. set to leave the club once their contracts expire this summer.
On paper, it may seem easier for some to reinvigorate the current team by installing a new face with fresh ideas at the helm, but we’ve already established that this would be a pointless approach. After all, managers of the caliber of Jurgen Klopp are much harder to find than any player we might part with in the summer.
We know, of course, that the scale of the problem ahead is not going to be fixed with a single foray into the Jude Bellingham market, let alone the next two windows.
Clearly, midfield takes precedence, but if the likes of Matip and Gomez, to offer a couple of examples, are unable to prove themselves in the coming months, it’s clear more surgery is needed to reinvigorate this beleaguered side.
That leaves us with a question yet to be answered by the FSG after a relatively ineffective January transfer window: Will Jurgen Klopp be given the necessary backing, both financially and with regard to the overall decision-making apparatus? around him, which has been rocked by the departure announcements of Julian Ward and Ian Graham: to start a rebuild?
If the answer is ‘no,’ can Fenway ensure that a buyer can take over before the summer to give the manager the tools he needs to meet the challenge ahead?
Whatever the answer to that, the German coach’s future simply shouldn’t be up for debate until he’s had a fair shot to turn our luck around.
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