Liverpool’s defence of their Champions League crown started with a defeat to Napoli.
Ruud Gullit has claimed that Liverpool can’t perform at 90% as he questioned and slammed Jurgen Klopp for his lack of rotation following their defeat to Napoli on Tuesday night in the Champions League.
The Dutch legend stated that the Reds manager ‘doesn’t want to change’, as the fullbacks are never rotated, Virgil van Dijk is ‘always playing’, as are the front three. Gullit believes Liverpool lacked ‘energy’ in that match and it was due to a lack of rotation.
The Reds saw the defence of their European crown start with a defeat in Naples, with Dries Mertens and Fernando Llorente scoring the goals late on in the game.
Whether it be a Premier League game or European encounter, there is a good number of players Klopp likes to stick with, from his front three to the likes of Virgil van Dijk and Andy Roberton, if they are fit.
But speaking to Bein Sports, Gullit questioned why Klopp isn’t more flexible in his squad selection because he thinks it has cost his team the points in Naples.
“Maybe it’s a wake-up, maybe they need that in the Champions League,” Gullit told BeinSports. “Can they [Liverpool] sustain that energy that they have all the time with the same kind of players?
“He [Klopp] makes his changes mostly in midfield. One or two. He doesn’t want to change so much upfront. He also doesn’t want to change his fullbacks. He doesn’t want that. And Van Dijk is always playing.
“So, where is the energy coming from? Can you do that for the whole season? They need that energy in order to perform. That’s one of their major strengths to perform. But if they don’t then all of a sudden, they look vulnerable because they can’t do it on 90%.”
At the weekend, Klopp did start Divock Origi during their win against Newcastle, but the Belgian ended up getting injured in the first half and was, in the end, replaced by Roberto Firmino, who changed the course of the game.
It would be a surprise if Klopp does rotate at the weekend again because he has a big Premier League clash against Chelsea coming up, and the table-toppers need to continue to put points on the board.
Frank Lampard’s side suffered their own Champions League defeat when they were beaten by Spanish side Valencia on the same night, with Ross Barkley missing a late spot-kick.
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