Roy Keane puts the boot in on Klopp and 'bad champions' Liverpool

Former Man Utd skipper reckons champions have got carried away with their own hype after one Premier League title

NO MERCY: Roy Keane didn't spare Liverpool following their 4-1 defeat at home to Man City, their third successive loss at Anfield. 'Bad champions' he called them in the Sky Sports studio.

ROY Keane laid into Liverpool after their thumping 4-1 home defeat to title rivals Man City, labelling them ‘bad champions’.

“To me they’ve been bad champions. I just don’t mean today,” he said on Sky Sports as Jurgen Klopp admitted that a Champions League place finish was now the club’s top priority for the remainder of the season.

Said Keane: “I can’t figure this group out. I think they’ve all believed the hype over the last year or two. It’s as if they’ve won the league last year and they’ve all got carried away and believed their own hype.

“In my mindset when you won a league title, your next challenge was can you do it again. You never got the impression from this group, even from their manager last year, when they won it. It was almost, let’s enjoy this. It was a long wait for them, 30 years, but I never heard any of the players come out and say ‘let’s do it again’.

“They’re now talking about trying to get in top four from winning the league last year. I think they’ve been bad.” 

Asked should people take account of the number of injuries they’ve had to key players in defence, Keane countered: “People keep telling me Liverpool is a great club. It’s a huge club, but you have to deal with setbacks. Is that not part of the game? If everyone had their players fit all the time, it would be fantastic.

“I think Jurgen Klopp said after the game, maybe the goalkeeper’s feet were cold. I know it was tongue-in-cheek a little bit but it’s excuse after excuse. Jurgen Klopp said City had a break because of the virus. It just goes on and on and on.

“You could say it’s a one off, it’s a freak season, it’s coronavirus, just get on with it, perform like champions. You’re Liverpool Football Club. If you keep performing like that it’ll be another 30 years before you win the league title, trust me.”