Unpacking Jurgen Klopp's Loyalty: Impact on Liverpool's Progress

Jurgen Klopp, who is widely renowned for being one of the top managers in the world, could in fact be hindering Liverpool’s development due to his poor decision-making and blind loyalty.

The season Liverpool endured last season came largely due to the German manager's inability to recognise weaknesses, and instead, turn a blind eye and pretend that his club was completely stocked up in midfield. Prior to the 2022/23 season in a press conference, the manager was asked about midfield incomings to which he responded “look at everything we have, tell me what exactly is missing from that?”.

I’m sure he looks back and thinks maybe he should have brought in more bodies which perhaps would have saved him from this chaotic midfield rebuild he has had to have this summer. However, despite knowing that he was wrong, his mentality of thinking his team is ready to return to the top despite overwhelming weaknesses remains the same so it is easy to see why some Liverpool fans are perhaps becoming increasingly impatient with the German.

Just over a week ago, Liverpool agreed a British record fee for the transfer of Moises Caicedo. This deal ultimately fell through, but instead of spending that £110m on bringing in someone who fits the Caicedo profile, Klopp is seemingly happy (according to James Pearce) with bringing a 30-year-old relegation candidate to fill in the defensive midfield void. While, for the price, Endo is a terrific signing he is not the player that Liverpool fans want, with fans desperate for a young world beater to launch the club back up to the top of the English game. Granted there are not many world-beating young defensive midfielders on the market, but there are a few which can be bought for less than the £110 million they set aside for Caicedo, with Crystal Palace’s Doucoure being one name heavily linked with a move to Anfield.

In a similar way of misjudgement, you can also look at how certain players are awarded contracts for perhaps not actually doing anything to earn it. Look back to a few months ago when Liverpool gave a new deal to Adrian, instead of letting the player go for free and freeing up a homegrown spot in the squad list. Similar themes of loyalty can also be seen with Jordan Henderson’s deal which he was awarded a few years back, seeing the player earn £200k per week well into his 30s. The deal offered to the Geordie was originally withheld by sporting director Micheal Edwards as well as Pep Lijnders with both thinking the player could do with replacing, but Jurgen Klopp insisted on the deal going through with Henderson being seen as a key player.

While Jurgen Klopp is an incredible manager he does have his faults, and most seem to be caused by blind loyalty and sentiment which he has towards certain players. Liverpool fans won't be calling for his head just yet, but if the season starts off poorly as a consequence of his poor decision making then it likely won't be long before they start asking the hierarchy questions about his future.