Are there cracks now appearing in Liverpool and Jurgen Klopp?
POINTED REMARKS: Liverpool’s Andrew Robertson talks to referee Stuart Attwell as Brighton’s Danny Welbeck shakes his hand after the Premier League match at the Amex Stadium on Saturday.
Jurgen Klopp’s recent outbursts, and in particular, his post-match rant at television officials for scheduling Saturday’s game against Brighton at 12.30pm, suggest it is not only Liverpool’s players who are starting to feel the pressure of defending their title in a pandemic.
Klopp’s argument included a personal attack on Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder - who disagrees with him over the use of five subs - and the method of delivery gave impression of tension in the camp following two dropped points in a 1-1 draw at the Amex.
There’s no criticism of the Liverpool manager per se for that, after all there cannot be a single person whose patience or stress levels have been left untouched by what the world is going through; but it could nevertheless be significant in what is going to be a hugely complicated title race.
It also opens up the possibility the German may be struggling to come to terms with the nuanced – and some would say rather strange - way his host country deals with success.
It’s an old cliché that England loves an underdog, but not quite as much as it enjoys shooting down a champion - and that's an adage that certainly rings true in football.
Last season, when Liverpool were chasing their 30-year impossible dream, the feeling was that neutral fans, media and just about everyone outside of Manchester and Goodison was secretly cheering the Anfield side to complete a perfect fairytale ending.
But his predecessors from the Anfield boot room should have warned Klopp about what happens next once the title is in the bag.
Klopp has seen some of his selections questioned, been attacked for his obsession to bring in a five subs rule – a measure which people fear is wrapped in a health debate but centred around gaining an advantage through squad depth – and now lampooned on the back page of tabloids on Sunday with headlines such as ‘Jurgen Strop’.
The German was pushed to the limit by a game in which almost everything, except for Brighton missing a penalty though Neal Maupay at 0-0, appeared to go against them.
The list included playing at 12.30 having only just recovered from losing to Atalanta in the Champions League on Wednesday, seeing two goals disallowed by VAR (the first, for Mo Salah, one of those ludicrously tight offside decisions that makes a mockery of the system), losing James Milner to yet another muscle injury and then finally conceding a controversial last-minute penalty which handed Brighton a point as Pascal Gross converted.
The fact that creative and hard-working Brighton, who also lost Maupay and ex-Liverpool man Adam Lallana to injury (the latter just minutes after coming on as a substitute) deserved the scoreline did nothing to soothe Klopp’s nerves, so perhaps his frustration at the final whistle was always going to boil over.
But an 8 minute 18 second rant at BT Sport reporter Des Kelly, in which he claimed playing a Saturday lunchtime kick off was ‘criminal’ and ‘dangerous for players’ and called Sheffield United manager Wilder ‘selfish’ hinted at something far deeper. Is Jurgen struggling to cope? Are there cracks now appearing in the champions’ camp?
On reflection it is probably disrespectful to say so, but Klopp knows his every word will now be scrutinised in a bid to prove there may be – and there’s a big audience out there no longer waiting for a happy ending but hoping to enjoy watching Liverpool fail instead.
That prospect looked slim when the champions went ahead at Brighton through a well-taken goal from Diego Jota, one of the big positives of the season so far since arriving from Wolves. But when Sadio Mane’s header was ruled out for offside by VAR in the second half, the home side were given a lifeline, one which they grabbed when Andrew Robertson attempted a big clearance but caught the edge of Danny Welbeck’s boot as he did so right at the death.
Not a single Brighton player appealed, nobody in the press box or even on the bench noticed anything. But eagle-eyed VAR operators awarded a controversial penalty kick which not only resulted in a point for Brighton but also threw Klopp into a rage that he could not hide under interview.
By the time he arrived for his official post-match press conference, the German had calmed down and his reaction to the VAR decisions was admirably measured. But the short briefing did include a dig at Wilder whilst discussing the five-subs debate, saying: “I don’t speak only about Liverpool. He speaks only about Sheffield United. But I speak about football players. The most difficult time is coming up – for Sheffield United as well by the way.”
Milner’s hamstring injury means Liverpool now have eight players out, with few of them likely to recover in time for Wednesday’s Champions League game against Ajax or next weekend’s Premier League home clash against Wolverhampton Wanderers.
That fixture, thankfully for Klopp, takes place on Sunday evening and not Saturday lunchtime. Maybe by then he will have calmed down and the genial smile will be back.
Ryan 6, Veitman 6, Dunk 7, White 6, Webster 6, March 8, Bissouma 7, Gross 7, Maupay 5 (Trossard 25, 5), Connolly 6 (Lallana 63, 5; Jahanbakhsh 71, 6), Welbeck 7.
: Alzate, Steele, Burn, Molumby.
Alisson 6, N Williams 6 (Henderson 45, 7), Robertson 7, Phillips 7, Fabinho 6, Milner 7 (Jones 74; 6), Wijnaldum 6, Minamino 5, Jota 7, Salah 6 (Mane 64; 6), Firmino 6.
Adrian, R Williams, Tsimikas, Origi.
Stuart Atwell
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