Klopp’s poor Liverpool start to the season continues as similarities are being drawn with his last season at BVB Dortmund.
Liverpool lost 2-1 to Manchester United on Monday night. And they have yet to record their first victory of the year. Following draws against Fulham and Crystal Palace, that outcome. The Reds don’t resemble the team they have in recent seasons at all. The Merseysiders’ shaky start is reminiscent of Jurgen Klopp’s final season as Dortmund’s manager in 2014–15. Express Sport also examines four parallels.
While at Dortmund for seven seasons, Klopp led the team to two Bundesliga championships, a German Cup victory, and a Champions League final appearance. But his final campaign at Dortmund was a complete failure. Since they only won four games prior to February and finished seventh, the team actually dabbled in relegation.
Klopp’s last season is Dortmund mirroring current Liverpool Situation
The current manager of Liverpool saw a team beset by injuries during that campaign. Players like Mats Hummels, Marco Reus, Jakub Blaszczykowski, Ilkay Gundogan, and Nuri Sahin went missing significant amounts of time. This time around in England, Klopp is dealing with another injury issue as Thiago, Naby Keita, Curtis Jones, and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain are all out.
Neven Subotic, a crucial member of Klopp’s team at Dortmund, previously acknowledged that complacency played a role in the team’s decline. According to him, you suddenly stop wanting to say “yes” to everything when you feel like you’ve won something as a player and have some experience.
Additionally, there are concerns about whether the same thing might be occurring at Anfield. Over the past three years, Liverpool has won the Champions League, Premier League, Club World Cup, FA Cup, and Carabao Cup. And perhaps some players no longer have the will to achieve.
Robert Lewandowski was sold to Bayern Munich by Klopp prior to his final campaign in Germany. In 187 games with Dortmund, the prolific attacker had 103 goals and 42 assists. Additionally, during Klopp’s final 12 months in charge, the squad suffered greatly as they failed to score in a third of their Bundesliga games.
Mane left Liverpool this summer after deciding to move to Bayern. And Luis Diaz was to take Mane’s place. Mane hit 111 goals and gave 48 assists throughout his time with the Reds and Southampton. By this, he went on proving that he was as well-suited to the English Premier League as any player. Liverpool’s team is now lacking a cutting edge in front of a goal without Mane.
Burnout may ultimately be to blame for Liverpool’s problems; this issue also seems to be present at Dortmund. And with his present group of players, Klopp might not be able to resolve that dilemma. The Manager has had enormous success throughout the years with his strong, pressing style.
