Jürgen Klopp has criticised Watford for the amount of managerial changes they’ve made since he became manager of Liverpool.
What’s the story?
Well, it seems Klopp has grown tired of Watford’s ruthless approaching to sacking managers, as he admits it makes preparations more ‘difficult’.
In his pre-match press conference ahead of the 12:30pm kick-off, the 54-year-old said: “It’s really harsh how Watford deal with managers. You learn the name of the new colleague and he is gone already. I don’t like that. I like Claudio but you cannot be surprised with Watford.
“It makes it more difficult (to prepare). We use pictures from Sampdoria (Ranieri’s last role before Watford).”
Ever since Klopp replaced Brendan Rodgers in October 2015, Watford have had seven different managers.
There have actually been nine changes, however, as Quique Sanchez Flores held the reins across two separate stints at Vicarage Road.
Since Klopp arrived in October 2015, Watford have hired – and fired – Flores, Walter Mazzarri, Marco Silva, Javi Gracia, Nigel Pearson, Vladimir Ivić and Xisco Muñoz.
Some were deservedly given their P45, although the likes of Xisco and Gracia were actually doing a good job before their surprise exit.
Watford should look at Liverpool
It speaks volumes that Liverpool have enjoyed great success with one manager since 2015, whereas Watford have struggled to progress with seven different coaches.
It’s as if Watford have looked at Chelsea’s trigger-happy approach to dismissing managers and modelled themselves off that.
However, the Hornets must start to be more like Liverpool.
Yes, Fenway Sports Group (FSG) aren’t perfect, and they could’ve backed Klopp more in recent windows.
However, they have given the German plenty of backing since he arrived at Anfield, and also gave him plenty of time to put his stamp on things.
Now, the Reds are among Europe’s elite once again, and have lifted the Premier League and Champions League under Klopp’s guidance.
Clearly, it pays off to have a bit of faith in the man at the helm.
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