Speaking on the Transfer Window Podcast, Ian McGarry has claimed that some Liverpool players are now feeling the effects of Klopp’s constant high-intensity training.
The German’s brand of football is certainly high-octane, and sources close to the club are now reportedly claiming that players are feeling the effects.
Duncan Castles was reflecting on Klopp’s final months at Borussia Dortmund, before McGarry delivered what he’s heard from inside the club.
“He was being questioned by the press and he was being very aggressive towards the press when they asked about the player’s appetite to play on the edge is the way Klopp’s teams play. They have to put a huge amount of effort in on the pitch, they have to be aggressive in their tackling, they have to train hard,” Castles said.
“It disappeared from Dortmund, some of the Dortmund players felt that they needed a change of style, eventually, some of the executives at Dortmund felt they needed a change of tactics and a change of the way in which they were being managed and the way they were playing.
“In the end, Klopp had enough of it, the relationship was broken in the end, he felt that he didn’t have the support from above, he felt that his success over seven years and the methods he used over seven years were being questioned.
“It’s interesting to see what he does here, if he can turn it around, if he can find a way of getting them back to the way they were playing. It’s not surprising to see if you push players again, again and again, top players, they win the Champions League and the Premier League and decide ‘well actually, we don’t have the motivation to do that anymore, we can’t play at the same level,’ the results aren’t coming and they drop off.”
McGarry then shared what he’s been told
“Speaking to people close to the club, Duncan, some of the players are feeling the effects of this, playing on the edge, training on the edge all of the time. It’s been relentless for them for three seasons.”
It’s not all that surprising to hear this.
Klopp’s style is absolutely non-stop, and players are bound to become fatigued by that if they’re playing week after week.
This season in particular with the condensed calendar has certainly not done Liverpool any favours, so it shouldn’t come as much of a shock to hear that players are feeling the effects of this style of play.
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