JURGEN KLOPP has had a little smile at Chelsea’s struggles – and insists he will not make the same mistakes in Liverpool’s rebuild.
The Reds boss has endured a difficult season at Anfield.
But he admitted the woes suffered at Stamford Bridge are “good to see” in a thinly-veiled swipe at Todd Boehly.
The American billionaire, who bought Chelsea from Roman Abramovich last May, splashed out £600million on new signings and is already looking to appoint the fifth manager of his tenure after Thomas Tuchel, Graham Potter, Bruno Saltor and Frank Lampard.
Enzo Fernandez arrived for a British-record £106m while Mykhailo Mudryk, Raheem Sterling, Marc Cucurella and Wesley Fofana all came in for big money.
But it has not worked with Chelsea dumped out of both domestic cups by Manchester City, knocked out of the Champions League by Real Madrid and languishing way down in 12th in the table.
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They have lost their last five matches in a row and are winless in eight since Potter oversaw a 3-1 win at Leicester on March 11.
But Klopp could not hide his satisfaction that the new Blues owner’s attempts to buy immediate success have flopped dramatically – and instead led to a bloated squad training across two pitches and not enough seats the dressing room for everyone.
The German, who beat Chelsea in the League Cup and FA Cup finals last season, told Sky Sports: “I feel a little bit for Chelsea to be honest, because it’s not going well, I think they’re a top, top team.
“But on the other side it’s good to see that you cannot just bring top players together and think it works out.
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“You have to build a team and that’s what the guys there underestimated and gave their coaches a nearly impossible job to do.
“You cannot have two dressing rooms, you cannot train on two pitches, you have to create relationships, you have to create team spirit, and that’s the only reason why I’m a little bit happy about it.”
The Liverpool chief, 55, added: “Chelsea will be fine in the end and they will be incredibly strong next year, but I’m using them just as an example.
“At the highest level, no, we cannot do it like that. And that’s what we will not do.
“You have to bring in the right players and build a new team. This team wrote a sensational story and now we start a new one, that’s it.”
Klopp is preparing for an overhaul of his own on Merseyside.
Five players are out of contract in the summer plus Arthur Melo’s dismal loan will end, meaning four central midfielders may need replacing.
Roberto Firmino has revealed he is leaving while Thiago Alcantara and Joel Matip are heading into the final 12 months of their deals.
Liverpool’s pursuit of Jude Bellingham looks set to end in disappointment.
Conor Gallagher, Kalvin Phillips, Ryan Gravenberch, Nicolo Barella, Mason Mount and Alexis Mac Allister have all been linked with summer switches to join the six-time European champions.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
