Premier League: Did Liverpool lose title with early Klopp announcement? 

ON THAT Friday afternoon on January 26, when Jurgen Klopp rocked the foundations of the Liverpool fanbase with the news that he would retire from his role in Anfield at the conclusion of the 2023/2024 season, the only consolation for Reds was the thought that surely the players would sign-off on the tenure of a manager that gave so much, with a proper tilt at every competition available to them.

Conventional wisdom though on leadership strategies, be it military, political or sporting, is to be wary of announcing a stepdown in leadership in the middle of a campaign.

On one hand, the imminent departure of a beloved leader can inspire the troops to give it their all, in one last valiant push for victory. A misjudgement of the scenario, on the other, allows for despondency and lethargy to creep in on morale, where ambition and hope is replaced by a fatalism of: ‘why are we bothering when the boss won’t be here in a couple of months anyway’.

At the time Klopp announced his departure, the club was in rude health and in contention on four fronts for titles. Routes to the Carabao and FA Cup finals were clear, they had got through the group stages of the Europa League with barely a scratch with the enticing promise of a final in ‘Anfield West’ or the Aviva in Dublin as it is normally known, and they were pushing hard for the Premier League as Man City and Arsenal’s campaigns looked about to stutter.

Klopp's Kids

At first, the former scenario seemed to be unfolding. The exciting Klopp philosophy of full press football was in full show and the results kept rolling along. The side even managed to steer their way through what seemed the impossible situation when up to 10 first-team players were absent either through injury or international duties. Up stepped ‘Klopp’s Kids’ where the mix of academy players and fringe squad members picked up the torch and, not without some style, continued the push for silverware.

Symbolic of this vibrant new depth was Cork’s own Caoimhin Kelleher filling in on the goal-line for the injured Alisson. While not as young as many perceive him to be, Kelleher’s teen-like features and cameo starring roles in cup final shootouts, provided the face to the drafted rag-tag of young players dropped in at the deep end when the established starters fell in battle to injury.

Indeed, so impressive and effective were Kelleher and the other kids in their substitute roles, it can be argued that when the established players returned from injury that they should have had to prove their readiness a lot more, rather than simply stepping back into the starting lineup without question.

Too many fronts

There was though the question of the pressure of maintaining a campaign on multiple fronts. Liverpool may have been winning games and on the surface be going great guns, but a look at the results often showed Liverpool’s wins were often come from behind wins with the Reds holding the league record for claiming wins in the last 10 minutes. Even the one crown secured in the Carabao Cup final required a 118th minute winner from Virgil van Dijk against Chelsea.

Turning Point

In the situation of stretched wins, there is only so often that you can go back to the well. And so it played out when against arch rivals Manchester United, in the FA Cup semi-final , Liverpool gave up two leads late on against a relatively average side to exit the cup on a 121 minute winner from United’s Amad Diallo.

That defeat seemed to affect this Liverpool squad at a core level not recognised at the time. And the once invincible Liverpool have only won four of the eight games since losing that Cup semi-final to United.

Then the side gave up their two-year unbeaten Anfield record in the league to lowly Crystal Palace, had a humiliating exit to Atalanta in the Europa League and lost only their second Merseyside derby to Everton in 24 meetings on Wednesday, effectively ending their Premier League title hopes.

Blame game

The blame can be shared out across the team. The Mohamed Salah, so often the talisman in attack, now looks like he has already departed the club mentally, while infuriately, Darwin Nunez still requires way too many chances to get a single goal to be truly effective. 

In defence, captain Van Dijk has been marked absent when critical tackles needed to be made and it seems he will never be as effective as the player he was prior to his horrific injury against Everton keeper Jordan Pickford in 2021. The defence, once the envy of the league, have now only had one clean sheet, other than the dead rubber away to Atalanta, since Liverpool’s 1-0 win over Forest back on March 2.

And has Alisson’s return been any better than Kelleher’s performances? Not if you look at his calamitous attempt to stop Everton’s opener on Wednesday.

But maybe the real blame was the strategy to announce Klopp’s departure so early in the season and the resulting pressure that doing right by him has ultimately entailed.