Sports
JURGEN Klopp says he is experiencing one of his lowest spells in a 20-year managerial career after Liverpool lost for the sixth successive home game.
Fulham became the latest side to beat the Reds at Anfield after a 1-0 win.
Liverpool, who won the Premier League title by 18 points last season, had previously gone 68 games unbeaten at home in the league before the start of their damaging run.
“I don’t always have to have the best times,” said Klopp after Fulham’s win.
Klopp and Liverpool deservedly won widespread acclaim for the way they ran away with the title last season.
However, this season has been a completely different story, Liverpool’s latest defeat leaving them on 43 points from 28 games.
They have lost six of their past seven league games to leave their hopes of finishing in a Champions League place in jeopardy.
Asked whether this was one of his lowest spells as a manager, Klopp told Match of the Day: “I would wish to say no but yes it is.
“This team is an extreme team. We were extremely successful and now we have an extreme situation as well but we will fight through.”
It is not the first time a Klopp team has suffered a dramatic dip after enjoying success.
The German, 53, led Borussia Dortmund to back-to-back Bundesliga titles in 2010-11 and 2011-12.
But Dortmund ended the 2012-13 campaign 25 points behind champions Bayern Munich. Klopp departed at the end of the 2014-15 season after finishing seventh in the table.
He was appointed Liverpool boss in October 2015.
Klopp led the Reds to the Champions League final in 2018 where they lost to Real Madrid before they were crowned champions of Europe the following season after beating Tottenham in the final.
In their 2019-20 Premier League-winning season, Klopp’s team clinched the title in just 31 games and broke the English top-flight record by winning it with seven fixtures to spare.
They equalled the Premier League record for most points accumulated at home in a season – 55 – with 18 wins and one draw.
In stark contrast, Liverpool’s six league defeats at Anfield this season is their most in a single campaign since 1953-54 (also six), when the Reds finished bottom of the top flight.
Meanwhile, Liverpool are the first side to lose six in a row on home soil in the Premier League since Huddersfield Town in February 2019.
“We never had a momentum in the season,” added Klopp. “You can see it’s still in the boys. They still have it all but at the moment can’t show it.
“It would be a masterpiece o find out how we change that overnight.”
BBC Sport
– Mar. 8, 2021 @ 10:07 GMT |
Tags: Liverpool boss enduring one of his most difficult spells after another defeat
