Jamie Carragher has written a long and very interesting piece about why Jurgen Klopp is still the most important man at Liverpool and any discussion on replacing him is ridiculous.
Liverpool are enduring a very difficult Premier League campaign, but are still in the Champions League and our performance against Rb Leipzig hints at a longer run in Europe’s prized competition.
We’ve had the worst season in terms of injuries of any side in living memory – coupled with mental fatigue of having had to win every game for the previous 30 months.
It caught up with Klopp’s Reds – mentally and physically – but there is absolutely no way anyone else could have achieved what he has at Anfield.
“Nobody else could have achieved what Klopp has since 2015, delivering trophies and connecting with the fans,” Carra wrote in his Telegraph column.
“That is why – as a Liverpool supporter – I would not want anyone else in charge of the club under this particular ownership model. I include Pep Guardiola.
“Klopp’s net spend in his time at Anfield is £110 million – far less than Manchester City, United, Spurs, Arsenal and even Everton during the same period.
“Since winning the Champions League in 2019, Liverpool have spent £94 million to City’s £300 million. These numbers are often ‘balanced’ with comments about earlier world-record fees for Virgil Van Dijk and Alisson Becker, even though the comparison does not hold given Liverpool raised funds by selling their best player in 2018, Philippe Coutinho. The equivalent would have been Guardiola having to sell Kevin De Bruyne to afford Ederson and Aymeric Laporte.”
Guardiola’s City team is a brilliant one. They play amazing football and their manager deserves credit for it. But he admits himself, he wouldn’t have been able to do it without money – and City are the most expensively assembled side in football history.
Liverpool’s net-spend under FSG is akin to a mid-table side, yet we’re still competing with clubs run by petro-states.
Klopp is going to turn this around. Trust him and support his players.