Jurgen Klopp has his own take on ‘excuse’ suggestions. There have been recent claims that the Liverpool boss is looking for them.
“There have been plenty of excuses from the manager,” Roy Keane recently told Sky Sports. “From day one they’ve had injury problems, of course, which has affected them. But so have Manchester City.
“As I said, no more excuses.”
So that’s Keane’s take on the idea that Liverpool have excuses this season. Not another excuse from Jurgen Klopp, then. Not one more.
Well, in his own interview with Sky Sports, here’s Klopp’s own take:
“We had a situation on Friday night,” he said. “We trained all week, or the few days that we had to train, with one specific line-up and then overnight we had to change it completely.
“That is another big thing to do that is common in football but we have had it plenty of times.
“People might say that is an excuse. I could not care less, to be honest.
“We do not use it as an excuse but if you ask me the question then it is the explanation for why things changed.”
What RTK has to say
Maybe Keane will prefer ‘the explanation for why things changed’ better. We doubt it. Sounds like another excuse and you’re not allowed those.
Look, the injuries are an excuse in the truest sense of the word. Because of the injuries, we excuse Klopp of a certain level of blame this season. He’s excused from being judged as title challengers.
Because it is essentially impossible for Liverpool to compete with this City side. Not when they’re having to do so without their defenders.
Yes, City have had some issues. Have they had Ruben Dias, John Stones and Aymeric Laporte ruled out for the season, though? No? Then the injury problems aren’t really comparable.
Maybe City would win the title anyway – we’ll never know. But as for Liverpool, the injury situation is absolutely the explanation for their struggles.
And it’s the reason any right-minded Liverpool fan excuses Klopp from serious pressure this season.
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