Liverpool were seriously worried that Jurgen Klopp might have been considering leaving the club last season.
The 2022/23 campaign was comfortably the most challenging of Klopp’s eight at Anfield. Everything that could go wrong did, with the Reds ending up outside the Champions League spots in fifth-place.
It felt from the outset that Liverpool hadn’t done enough in the transfer market. And according to a report in The Independent today, that feeling actually permeated through the club.
There was said to be a sense of ‘disgruntlement’ 12 months ago. Those inside Liverpool were even claimed to be predicting that things could go ‘badly wrong’ on the eve of the season.
Part of that feeling reportedly stemmed from the demeanour of Klopp himself. The manager is said to have been ‘more irritable’ than ever before. As a result, ‘increased mutterings’ apparently came from within the club that he may walk away.
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Thankfully, that never happened. At some point during the difficulties of the season, Klopp’s attitude noticeably shifted. Now, there’s is said to be a ‘completely different’ feeling around the club.
Those involved are claimed to be finding things much more enjoyable as the Reds prepare to go again .
Liverpool move past Jurgen worry’s
It’s hard to explain why, but even without being around the club, you could feel that frustration last summer.
Whether it was complacency or fatigue, something didn’t feel right. That filtered through into the very first Premier League performance of the season and Liverpool never quite recovered.
The sight of James Milner and Virgil van Dijk arguing at Old Trafford on Matchday 3 for example. It felt wrong at the time and has seemed no less strange ever since.
But you could feel a difference in Klopp as the season wore on. Having seemed a little irksome throughout the early parts of the campaign, he clearly brightened up some time in the New Year.
It was almost as if he’d realised that the change really needs to come from he himself. Press conferences became much more relaxed and jovial as Jurgen decided to accept Liverpool’s fate and embrace the challenge ahead.
That is now the landscape as the Reds get ready for a new campaign. It’s good news for Liverpool, they wouldn’t manage it through the vast changes happening in the squad without Jurgen fully on-board.
If things go the same way as last season, it’ll be interesting to see whether Klopp does come under any pressure. For the moment though, he’s fully recharged and not going anywhere.