Jurgen has responded to further comments made by the Sunderland manager
Of all the managers you would’ve expected Jurgen Klopp to but heads with, Jose Mourinho was probably top of that list. That didn’t quite happen.
Slightly further down you might’ve considered the vast difference in styles between Klopp and Arsene Wenger to cause occasional issues perhaps.
But few probably thought that Sam Allardyce would be the first manager that Jurgen exchanged verbal jabs with in the press. In some ways, we probably should’ve expected it.
The last time Liverpool signed on one of the best managerial prospects in Europe (Rafa Benitez), Allardyce took it upon himself to take everything Benitez said or did personally, on behalf of all British managers.
Like it or not, Allardyce seems to have a new bee in his bonnet over Klopp (despite his most recent comments not being all that ‘incendiary’) and the Reds’ manager has responded to the Sunderland boss in a way we’ve now almost become accustomed too. After another host of injuries to Liverpool’s players this week, Allardyce suggested Klopp’s methods were to blame.
And speaking ahead of the FA Cup third round tie against Exeter tomorrow (via the Liverpool Echo), Klopp chose to respond: “I haven’t read what Sam said.
“But I knew about the Premier League and the fixtures, it’s not a problem. I knew about the intensity of the football here.
“I’m glad that such an experienced manager as Sam has time to think about Liverpool’s problems. I don’t have time to think about this.
“We know about our situation. We know most of the reasons. One injury at the wrong moment is a problem for the whole squad because other players have to play too much but you have to react to this.
“The problem is now people speak about the intensity of my style – I didn’t create a style, how could I? I am not a genius.”
With Jordan Ibe now seemingly added to that list of injuries, it is indeed worrying that so many players are struggling. But injuries to a number of players had been an issue prior to Klopp’s arrival. This appears to simply be a run of bad luck, coupled with a lot of games in quick succession.
And Klopp clearly feels that a club like Liverpool, having higher ambitions than the likes of Sunderland, plays a big factor. As does the fact that the Reds’ seem to have had little luck (on or off the field) since the season started.
He continued: “We play only football and a team like Liverpool and the ambitions the club have is that we have to find a way to be successful. For this you need players. You need a little bit of luck with injuries but we haven’t had too much of this.
“Two weeks ago we never knew we would have a problem with centre-halves.”
Allardyce has, in the past half hour, attempted to offer an ‘apology’ of sorts for his comments but it’s likely that the Liverpool manager has already moved on to consider which of the raft of centre backs that are available to sign for the club.
