Chris Sutton thinks Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp is sending out the wrong message by suggesting that his players are ‘tired’ amid their current run of form, as he told BBC Radio 5 Sport.
The former striker shared that Tottenham Hotspur boss Antonio Conte said something ‘similar’ about his players and he ‘doesn’t think it’s a great message’.
Over the weekend, Liverpool’s season took another turn for the worse when they were beaten at Anfield by Jesse Marsch’s struggling Leeds United side.
That was the first time in 30 Premier League home games that the Reds had tasted defeat, which pushes them further away from the Champions League places.
For some teams, like Arsenal and Newcastle, this upcoming break for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar is coming at the wrong time, but it couldn’t come any quicker for those on Merseyside.
Either way, Sutton wasn’t in agreement with what he was hearing from Klopp regarding his players’ current status given their recent run of form.
“Some of the stuff he said over the weekend and after the game about the players are tired,” said Sutton. “I think Conte said a similar thing about Spurs players.
“It’s maybe true. But I don’t think that’s a good message to send out to the players or the supporters. They have had a bad season. I keep thinking they are going to bounce back. They don’t bounce back. Something isn’t right at Liverpool. Too many players are sub-standard.
“But I don’t think that’s a great message that Jurgen Klopp is sending out in any way, shape or form. Manchester City have to cope with European football. Spurs have to cope with European football. Arsenal, all these other clubs are coping. Liverpool aren’t and that’s the biggest issue if you are a Liverpool fan with what Klopp is saying.”
WORLD CUP BREAK NEEDED
Several Liverpool stars, from Virgil van Dijk to Fabinho, will be in action for their respective countries at the 2022 World Cup this month, and in truth, it might do the players and the club the world of good.
That break away from domestic matters, trying to find that spark again on the international stage, or for some, who aren’t going to Qatar, having that rest whilst their club teammates battle it out on the football’s biggest stage.
It could result in a possible turn of fortune post-World Cup, especially given that when everyone returns to action, then the January transfer window will only be around the corner.
There will be a lot of eyes on that because the Reds need several players to try and refresh a team that is starting to stagnate.
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