Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp is under pressure, with last season’s Premier League runners-up losing their third direct league match on Saturday
Former Liverpool star Jamie Carragher has said Reds fans still want Jurgen Klopp on the bench at the start of next season, despite the Reds’ recent problems.
The Merseyside club remain mid-table following a humiliating defeat to Wolves on Saturday. Two goals in the first 15 minutes put Julen Lopetegui’s side into the lead, while a second-half strike from Ruben Neves secured Wolves their biggest win of the season.
It was the third time Liverpool have lost away from home in the league, having yet to win a league game in 2023. However, Carragher did not call on the manager to leave. “There are many questions to be asked and many answers to be found, but at the start of next season I don’t think there is anyone Liverpool supporters want in this dugout other than Jurgen Klopp.” , said Sky Sports. The only victory of 2023 came in an earlier game against Wolves in the FA Cup third round replay, but Brighton knocked out Klopp’s side in the next round of the competition.
Carragher also suggested Liverpool’s transfer policy. Klopp was able to add attacking reinforcements, with Darwin Nunez and Cody Gakpo arriving at great expense, but the only central midfielder to join was Arthur, on loan from Juvemtus.
Jamie Carragher discussed the subject with Graeme Souness and Micah Richards
There was money for a midfielder, they were trying to buy the boy who went to Real Madrid for £60-70m [Aurelien Tchouameni],” the former England defender said. “They failed to sign him and Jürgen Klopp and his staff or the recruiting team decided we didn’t need to buy a midfielder.
“It’s up to them. They’re at the start of this season and from day one at Fulham they haven’t been able to handle the intensity of a Premier League game and have been run over in every game they’ve played.”
Klopp himself accepted there was no excuse after his side’s slow start at Molineux. “You can criticize us, you can judge us, you can say what you want and you are probably right. I have nothing to argue because these 12 minutes [at the beginning] are not allowed,” he said. “Coming here, with all the things we’ve done in the last few days and all season so far, then you come here and this is the result, it’s really hard to accept I have to say. So I don’t think we’ve played more games like this with goals early… but maybe we haven’t won any games, so it’s very likely that if you lose games you get the first one.”
Liverpool are now 11 points off the top four, with fourth-placed Newcastle one point on Saturday and 10 behind Tottenham Hotspur in fifth. The next two games are against Everton and Newcastle, followed by a return to the Champions League against Real Madrid on 21 February.