If you want Jurgen Klopp to be sacked as Liverpool manager, you are talking complete nonsense and are everything wrong with modern football. It really is that simple.
Opinions are part of what makes being a football fan so much fun, but when people spout knee-jerk bile for the sake of it, it becomes irrelevant.
All it shows is that they clearly don’t understand the game, and that they will only ever be happy with the Reds if they win every match for the rest of time. It may shock you, but the 1970s and 1980s were littered with bad Liverpool performances.
Now, let me say this straight away: Klopp is a long way from blameless when it comes to assessing the current situation. He has made mistakes this season, and in the two preceding it, and deserves some of the criticism that has come his way. He isn’t perfect.
Not addressing the defensive mess that has held Liverpool back for so many years is baffling in the extreme, and an endless string of frustrating displays have left us scratching our heads at some his decisions.
Substitutes have taken too long to enter the fray, if used at all, and the goalkeeping situation is a long way from being ideal, too.
Managers make mistakes, though. Every manager in the history of the game has, from Bill Shankly to Pep Guardiola, and that will always be the case. Is Klopp making too many at the moment, in what is a difficult run of form for the Reds? Possibly. But anyone calling for his head does not deserve to be taken seriously. They deserve their own team to be created all for them, with Roy Hodgson as its manager.
Just look at what Klopp has done since taking charge in October 2015 – a time when Brendan Rodgers had left the team in a real mess.
He united the fanbase, for starters, something that has inevitably changed now because some people are so short-termist it’s painful, and his impact was felt immediately, with some stunning wins against the likes of Chelsea and Man City. In his first seven months in the job, he got Liverpool playing some of their most exciting football since the 1980s, and reached the final of both the League Cup and the Europa League.
He lost both, of course, which was a mighty shame and led to questions marks about the team’s mental strength, but the progress being made was undeniable.
Then, in his first full season in charge at Anfield, he had Liverpool swatting everyone aside up until the late autumn, when injuries crippled the progress of the country’s most exciting side. Had they been afforded the luck of Chelsea in the injury department, they would have challenged for the title right up until May, and possibly won it.
Should Klopp have built a squad capable of thriving without key men? Quite possibly. Managers make mistakes.
Still, the goal at the start of 2016/17 was Champions League qualification – let’s not forget the majority of fans and pundits thought the Reds would finish sixth – and Liverpool did just that, coming fourth in an extremely competitive Premier League campaign.
It was just the second time that feat had been achieved since Rafa Benitez built such a strong side almost a decade earlier.
This summer was hit-and-miss in the transfer market, and once again Klopp deserves criticism for that. Failure to sign Virgil van Dijk was an enormous disappointment, and not bringing in an alternative was even more inexcusable, but Mohamed Salah is an exceptional signing
Whether it was ultimately down to Klopp or FSG, they got it badly wrong, and it is now likely to hurt Liverpool until January, at least.
The start of this season has seen a similar mix of positives and negatives, with superb displays against Hoffenheim and Arsenal but also toothless showings against Watford and Leicester. Some of the performances have been in between good and bad.
Liverpool have to do better, we all know that, and nobody be will more aware of it than Klopp himself.
He is having a tricky period, just like Bob Paisley, Alex Ferguson, Jose Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti, Diego Simeone and every other great manager past and present has experienced, but he will prevail and shut up the naysayers.
So what about those unbearable individuals pathetically calling for Klopp to be relieved of his duties? These keyboard warriors and phone-in callers who have so little knowledge of football and so little patience.
We shouldn’t have to put up with them, but they keep appearing like irritating insects that won’t fly off never to be seen again. Can they honestly not see the progress being made? Are they really so stupid that they judge things on such a game-by-game basis?
I am incredibly wary that this all sounds very arrogant on my part, and 99 percent of the time I welcome fans having a different opinion to me.
The difference here is that I just know these “supporters” are wrong, and that anyone whose opinion I respect will be not be wanting our great club to dispose of such a special individual.
Klopp is a magnificent manager who is rightly seen as one of the best Europe has to offer, and it is still incredible to think that he is Liverpool’s manager. It may be a tough time to feel too positive right now, following such a dispiriting few matches, but remind yourself how much you wanted Klopp a couple of years ago.
When things were going horribly wrong under Rodgers, the acquisition of the former Borussia Dortmund boss felt nothing more than a pipe dream. He was literally the ideal available candidate in world football.
His character felt perfectly in-tune with everything Liverpool represents, and while it is fine to think a select few are better than him, nobody felt more right for the part.
Klopp hasn’t yet been at Anfield for two years, but some have already had enough of him. That’s despite the great football, some stellar signings, Champions League qualification and admirable promotion of youth.
Frankly, if you can’t be happy with what is doing on the whole, you will never be happy with any manager. Who on earth do you replace him with? I’d advise taking up rugby and giving the rest of us some cheer.
Klopp is the man to take Liverpool forward, and in the coming weeks, months and years, he will prove that. He should be judged over a long period, rather than three or four-game spells when anything can go perfectly right or horribly wrong.
Mistakes will be made along the way, and the Reds might not be able to achieve the levels of success that some of their big-spending, wealthier rivals do, but our brilliant manager will go on to be the club’s most significant appointment of the Premier League era.
Benitez was great and still has a special place in our hearts – no doubt the “Klopp out” oddballs hated Rafa too – but Klopp can eventually usurp him. Whether that’s in two years or five remains to be seen, but I can’t wait to sit back and slowly watch his lazy critics disappear with their tails between their legs.
This current poor run of form is infuriating to watch, and anyone excusing Klopp from any blame clearly has too much blind loyalty towards him, but the positives are outweighing the negatives by a country mile.
It is so frustrating to see this side so close to being something special with a few tweaks made, but things are only going in the right direction.
It is going to be a long time before the “Klopp Out” brigade can be taken seriously – something will have to go horrendously wrong with Klopp for that to happen – but from this point on, ignoring them makes sense in order to preserve our sanity.
They are an embarrassment.
i think it will be extremely hard to find more fitting words than this piece of educated writings that you have written my friend jurgen klopp is a legend in his own right and im proud of what he has brought to liverpool nothing happens over night except sleep listening to boring garbage about kicking him out if you couch potatoes dont see the progress thats already been made then your on your own planets
A rational piece but one that feeds the twitter tw*ts endless entitlement to comment. Only a tiny minority of these people have or ever will go to Anfield. Most will have no real connection with the Club and what makes us what we are. As you say on your title they are that new and ugly word ‘fanbase’.
The supporters have faith in Klopp. FSG have faith in Klopp. Didn’t any of the divs on their laptops hear the support we gave the team in defeat against Leicester?
Klopp is our manager, that’s it so give your keyboards a rest.
Totally agree with your opinion here. Some of our fan base are way too knee jerk. All 4 of our bad results could have been so different. We were getting at City consistently until Mane ( our best player) was sent off. Against Sevilla/Burnley we had enough chances to win 6 games, the same could be said of the Leicester game. In the last 3 it could be said our overall defensive game management was good because we restricted the opposition to very few chance, and it’s rare/ unlucky for a team to be punished by such efficient finishing, whilst being so inefficient ourselves. I have been a fan of Lfc for over 30 years and in the last 27 or so I have seen some terrible football. Under Souness, Evans, Houllier, woy (arrgh) and Rodgers ( 1 season apart) there were some horrible performances. Each one of them was given more than 2 years ( Roy apart, thank the lord)Some of our football has really got my heart racing and my head believing, which hasn’t really happened since Rafa. It’s the expectation that kills, we only feel so down because Klopp has actually raised this so much in the last 2 years.
All fine pal but why are Liverpool conceding as many now as Rodgers side when we all knew we were conceding WAY too many goals even then? Even the likes of Allardyce and the Pulis of this world shore up the defence when they get a job so what’s Klopps problem?? Seriously I’m lookin for an answer. The players at the back hes brought in are no improvement whatsoever on the ones he has allowed to leave and they were also rubbish.So criticism is surely deserved and rational. Two years is more than enough time to fix a leaky defence.
Allardyce and Pulis? Are you serious? It’s easy to play defense with ten players at the back but it sure is some boring football. A team as attack minded as Liverpool will always be a little susceptible to counter attacks but we generally do a good job defending them. It’s the odd ball set piece goals and mental lapses that are hurting us. Fortunately it’s fixable even with the current squad. Up until City we had a run of six clean sheets out of seven with these players! It can be done. Of course we need help at CB to improve our consistency and give us more toughness. Hopefully it comes in January. The Klopp put bunch Are mind boggling. Remember when Rodgers was sacked there was all the talk of getter De Boer? Wouldn’t that have been fun? Where are we going to find better than Klopp? Not many exist and we are damn lucky to have him. Besides the exciting brand of football tgat is so enjoyable to watch, we us a perfect fit for the club. I hope he never leaves.
I love and respect Klopp but this hypocritical argument in favour of “Mr Stubborn Klopp,” who is just another Brendan Rodgers that we you and us condemned and fired, only reaffirms the failures of our management and just reminds me of one thing that has been our song for 20 years: everything takes “time” to work at Liverpool but it takes less than 2 years to get fixed at other clubs. Even the sound of that is just baffling and ultimately turns LFC into a joke. Why did you not vouch for Brendan Rodgers then? Funny! The fate of Hodgson, Kenny and Rodgers and naturally what Klopp deserves too. Period.
Great piece, that you still don’t undstand like your assessment of football the game and Klopp/ Liverpool, take solice that you are not on your own today’s forums allow any dimwit to talk crap.