THE ECHOES of Jurgen Klopp’s words and deeds in this time of crisis will be chilling to Liverpool fans.
For he is beginning sound and act just like he did in the 2014-15 season when everything began to fall apart at Borussia Dortmund.
Liverpool’s poor form continued with a shock 1-0 defeat to Burnley which ended their unbeaten streak at AnfieldCredit: AP:Associated Press
Jurgen Klopp left Borussia Dortmund in 2015 after a challenging final season at the clubCredit: Reuters
And by the end of it he had bailed out.
Since the defence of last year’s Premier League title began he has complained almost non-stop and about almost everything.
In no particular order there have been moans about the number of games, VAR, early kick–offs, a congested schedule and injuries.
His tunnel strop with Sean Dyche came weeks after an astonishing rant at TV reporter Des Kelly over TV scheduling.
In the build-up to Thursday night’s defeat by Dyche’s Clarets the Anfield boss launched a thinly-veiled attack on today’s FA Cup opponents Manchester United.
Their Prem clash seven days ago ended 0-0 and the German said: “Our performance was really good over 95 minutes.
“At the end one team is celebrating like – I don’t know what – that it was really, really good.
“But we were not that good and that’s how we saw it.”
His sniping sounds remarkably similar to the build – to his departure from Dortmund.
On December 23, 2014 after the 2-1 home loss to Werder Bremen that was Dortmund’s tenth defeat of the season.
In 30 months Klopp’s side had gone from Bundesliga double winners and losing Champions League finalists to 18th in the German top flight.
Klopp said of the noise coming from the Bremen players: “They are celebrating a non-relegation party in the changing room.”
During that Dortmund downfall there were also acid attacks on the media.
Before a game at Paderborn he responded to a reporter who suggested his team’s style then known as Jagdfussball – pack hunting football – had been found out.
He said: “I am not looking for a fight so I will even answer this stupid question.
“If you say we have been ‘found out’ what does that say about the opposition coaches?
“Were they unable to see what our game was in the last few years?”
Match that bitter riposte to that before the 1-0 defeat to Burnley as his team clocked up over seven hours without a goal.
He said: “I think I heard somewhere I have to rebuild this team!
“Other teams know what we’re doing, but they knew last year and it was difficult to defend against then.”
The Anfield boss was equally dismissive when asked last week if he had a message for players who for two seasons scored for fun amidst a fantastic run that produced Champions League and Premier League triumph.
The German, barely able to disguise his contempt, answered: “You don’t want to hear my message to the players.
“It doesn’t put you (the media) in a good light!”
Klopp may have gone back-to-back in Bundesliga titles but the start of his first defence saw Dortmund fall seven points behind Bayern.
After a 1-1 draw with Hannover he claimed his critics were trying to make him look like an “idiot”.
At the press conference afterwards he refused to talk, answering “no comment” to every question.
Most worrying of all for the Anfield support who seem him as a living legend, Klopp kept getting into strops at Dortmund when in that last season his team hit the Yellow Wall.
Even during the previous campaign commentators had been asking whether his all-action methods which developed into the famous gegenpressing intensity of Anfield glory was burning out his players.
In season 2011-12 he won his second title with a then record 81 points but they came second to Bayern Munich the next year with 66 points.
Average points-per-game totals dropped and so did the number of goals.
Last season, of course, Liverpool won the title with 99 points, the season before they amassed 97 in coming second to Manchester City.
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After 19 games a year ago Klopp’s men had 55 points and were leading the table by 13.
They face current leaders Manchester United with 34 points at the same stage and six behind Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side.
He maintains that he still has total belief in his dive-bombing side and insists none of his players are fatigued or feeling the strain of his intense demands on the pitch.
Yet the way Dortmund went so quickly downhill – and how his current team are struggling to badly – suggests burn-out may be a factor.
That final season at Dortmund saw him finish seventh before he walked away from a club he loved for seven years.
He is now in his sixth year at Anfield and behaving in a very similar fashion to that of his 2015 farewell.
Klopp’s contract runs until 2024 and it may well be that come Thursday night against Tottenham his players get their title defence back on track.
Yet he also once said: “Everything has to end, apart from a sausage.”
Dortmund fans now realise they were watching the beginning of the end six years ago during that last, fateful season.
Jurgen Klopp warns Liverpool they face ‘tough race’ to even reach top four in the Premier League
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
