Is Jurgen Klopp Burnt Out At Liverpool FC?

I was at the Liverpool v Atalanta match last night. One thing we all agreed on was that we can’t remember a performance like that at Anfield under Jurgen Klopp. It was reminiscent of the Brendan Rodgers 2014/15 season.

Utterly abysmal and devoid of positives in every respect. The players, the support, but most of all, the manager. The selection sets the tone for the rest of the night and cannot be excused. Nor can the failure to react to their man marking by changing the shape or the instructions given to the team. Every hopeless punt up the pitch from Kelleher made my blood boil.

I think it was Klopp himself who said that moments, not trophies, are what’s really important in football. Last night felt like a moment. As did United at the weekend. As did United in the cup. Our season is unravelling rapidly and I don’t have much faith it can be turned around.

I think last night was a big moment because it feels like an outward projection of where Klopp is mentally and where his management of the side sits at this moment. A casual line up for a game he casually expected us to win. Casually not panicking as the match unravels, unable to adapt and match their intensity. I am beginning to wonder at which point ‘no panicking’ becomes indistinguishable from ‘no hunger’.

The return of high pressing and attacking intent has been very welcome this season. However, the fact remains that most of the ingredients of the 2018-2020 side are missing. We cannot keep clean sheets. We almost always concede first or when only one goal up. We don’t appear capable of scoring when on top and making periods of pressure count. We cannot shut games down or slow the tempo. All of these things are features of the essential characteristic of any great side: control.

As well as we have done to get where we are, as good as we have been this season, control is not something we have possessed at any point of the campaign. Given how we press, it may seem unfair to suggest that we have become a casual side, certainly compared to proper basket cases like United or Chelsea. However, compared to the greatest Klopp sides, I think this is fair to say.

This is not something that has come from nowhere. I think this side is the best since the title winning season, and to demean it feels unfair and ungrateful. I have no interest in throwing my toys out the pram. However, if you examine our trajectory since we won the league title, there has been a gradual yet undeniable shift in the managers style…