Jurgen Klopp has faced intense scrutiny over his future at Liverpool after a poor run of form.
Under-fire Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has been given the backing of the board after their latest humiliation left the Reds’ top-four hopes hanging by a thread, according to reports. The Merseyside outfit have slipped to 10th in the Premier League table following their 3-0 defeat to Wolves on Saturday at Molineux, leaving them 11 points adrift of fourth-placed Newcastle.
An own goal from Joel Matip handed Wolves the lead before Craig Dawson fired home inside 12 minutes, with Klopp later fuming about his side’s performance in the opening minutes of the game. And despite making an improvement throughout the half, chances missed by Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah cost them dearly as Ruben Neves sealed in the points in the second half.
Klopp has faced questions over his future in recent weeks after watching his side slump to three consecutive away defeats by an aggregate scoreline of 9-1. Liverpool are still without a league victory in 2023 after their latest defeat, which was described as ‘shambolic’ by club hero Jamie Carragher.
Wolves fans taunted the German with chants of “you’re getting sacked in the morning”, having seen their own manager Bruno Lage axed earlier in the season. Current boss Julen Lopetegui has since collected 10 points from 21 available to lift the Midlands club out of the bottom three.
And it has been suggested that after seven years of success under Klopp, a similar change of management might be required to reinvigorate the struggling squad.
But according to The Athletic, there is ‘no chance’ of Klopp being sacked by the Liverpool board. Instead, he is said to retain the ‘full backing’ of the club’s Fenway Sports Group ownership and his past successes, such as winning the Premier League in the 2019-20 season and Champions League in 2018-19, remain fresh in their minds when considering his future.
The 55-year-old has been at the club since October 2015 and boasts a 60 per cent win rate, making him the most successful boss in Liverpool’s history, with Kenny Dalglish achieving a similar rate to put the pair above club legends such as Bill Shankly and Ian Paisley.
In addressing their recent slump, Klopp refused to turn on his squad and insisted he has not lost confidence in his players, with the German adamant he is the right man to turn things around.
“I don’t think they are [at their] best in the moment and do I like that? No. But I still know how good they are and how good they can be,” he told reporters. “But football, and life, is not like this. We work every day and it’s not because of him, him, him.
“So, these things happen because we cannot help ourselves in these moments. How can you get in a situation… seven or eight players had nothing to do with the first goal, the other seven [or] eight players had nothing to do with the second goal – but everybody is influenced by it.
“So, these are the situations we have to go through. I don’t lose confidence in the boys or whatever, but I see where we have to improve. That’s what we are working on but again it makes this so typical to the situation.”
Liverpool have a nine-day gap to their next game against Merseyside rivals Everton, who won their first match under new boss Sean Dyche, on February 13.
That gives Klopp enough time to prepare his side on the training pitch, but another defeat at Anfield to their city rivals would certainly prove a strong test of how strong the board’s support is.
