Jurgen Klopp sends message to Liverpool critics over form decline
By Tom Gott
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has claimed that his side's struggles cannot be fairly judged while they continue to struggle with injuries.
The Reds have lost their last two Premier League games to Nottingham Forest and Leeds United, leaving them ninth in the table and closer to the relegation zone than the top four - albeit with the game in hand needed to rectify that.
Ahead of Liverpool's Champions League clash with Napoli on Tuesday, Klopp conceded that people are right to ask questions of his team but insisted that they cannot be fairly judged until later in the campaign.
“We are obviously all out there and do the job in public and I think the judgement for this will be later in the season or maybe at the end of the season where we say, ‘obviously now that is it for this group of players or whatever. For this manager if you want'," he said.
“Even if it is unfair, it is fine, it is normal, that’s our life, you are absolutely right to ask these questions but we have to answer that later on. We are all out there to be judged. It is completely fine: manager, players - that is how life is in professional football.”
A common criticism of Klopp's team has been the average age of the squad. Nine of the players are over 30, including key players like Thiago, Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and captain Jordan Henderson.
Accepting the team's issues are deep-rooted, Klopp added: “Now we can say it - it was never a quick fix and now it looks not a quick fix.
"That is proven, but we will not stop fighting. We expect more from ourselves, the boys expect more, I expect more from them, but we have to make sure we get there with steps. It is a rough moment, no doubt about that, and no one is flying here like life is great but there is only one chance to face it : go for it and that is what we will do.”