Jurgen Klopp stated on Monday that he has spent days analyzing Liverpool’s “horror show” loss to Napoli, which left the defending Champions League champions with little margin for error in Europe.
Ajax will travel to Anfield on Tuesday, fresh off a 4-0 thrashing of Rangers the week prior, hoping to inflict damage on a Liverpool squad that appears to be running on fumes.
Klopp’s squad came within two matches of an unprecedented quadruple last season, but ultimately fell short against Manchester City on the penultimate day of the Premier League season and Real Madrid in the Champions League final.
In the early stages of the new season, Liverpool are suffering from a hangover from their grueling 63-match schedule.
Under Klopp’s leadership for the past seven years, their success has been founded on going the extra mile to obtain the upper hand. In each of their seven games so far this season, their opponents have traveled more ground.
They have only won two of these seven games, with one of those victories coming late in stoppage time against Newcastle.
But even Klopp was stunned by the depths to which his team sunk last week in Naples, where the Italians squandered a penalty kick and a plethora of other golden opportunities to make the scoreline even more ugly.
Klopp stated in his news conference prior to Ajax’s visit, “I’ve rewatched the game numerous times, and it was an absolute nightmare.”
“It was the worst game we’ve played since I’ve been here. We had a few poor ones, everyone remembers (a 7-2 loss to) Aston Villa and others, but even in these games, there were always flashes of us. In this specific game, nothing.”
After the destruction of the Diego Maradona Stadium, Klopp stated that Liverpool needed to recreate themselves.
They are already struggling to make the change necessitated by Sadio Mane’s move to Bayern Munich.
The Senegalese was a towering presence during Klopp’s tenure as manager, providing both the energy to push without the ball and the talent to make the difference in the final third.
Darwin Nunez has yet to justify his €80 million transfer fee, and his three-match suspension for being sent off on his home debut has not helped.
Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold have had worrisome declines in form at the back.
But it is in midfield where Liverpool have struggled the most, with the choice not to strengthen that position in the transfer market until a last-minute approach for out-of-favour Juventus player Arthur being hotly questioned.
Liverpool is apparently storing up for a deal for England international Jude Bellingham of Borussia Dortmund.
The German giants were reportedly unwilling to allow the teenager to leave during the same window when Erling Haaland left for Manchester City.
This has been a successful transfer plan for Liverpool in the past, as they waited half a season to recruit a center-back in 2017 in order to acquire Van Dijk.
With tight competition for a position in the Premier League’s top four this season and the possibility of an early elimination from the Champions League, it could easily backfire.
With so much credit in the bank, Klopp can rely on a stable employment situation.
In his piece for The Daily Telegraph, former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher stated, “Class is permanent, and so is the management.”
Some claim that Liverpool is paying the price for the past five years, but if this is the case, it is a price that every fan would gladly pay again.
Due to the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, all Premier League games were postponed over the weekend, giving Klopp and his team enough opportunity for introspection.
However, he is conscious of the need for a response to prevent a dip from escalating into a full-blown catastrophe when Ajax visits.
“They were four or five days of pure honesty,” added Klopp. “We didn’t hold anything back.”
“Not to belittle the players, but after this (Napoli) game, this will be the beginning point for resolving the issues on the field,” the coach said.
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