It may seem difficult to believe right now, but Liverpool FC were once top of the table this Premier League season. Even after Chelsea began their out-of-this-world extremely hot streak, the Reds maintained status as a bonafide league title contender.
Then the festive period hit, with its unreal fixture congestion, coming down on especially hard on Liverpool. Then came January, when the side led by Jurgen Klopp had an egregiously overloaded schedule. LFC continued their slide and haven’t since recovered.
They have since crashed out of both domestic cup tournaments and currently sit in fifth place, four points off second. They never were in Europe this season, so Jurgen Klopp and company can now focus solely on getting a top four finish.
“It’s getting more serious now. We all play for our future, myself included. We get judged every day, especially on match days,” Klopp told Sky Sports after his Reds were drubbed 3-1 by Leicester City, a side that just sacked their manager and find themselves in a race to avoid to relegation. Klopp described his side’s form in that match as worthy of a friendly.
Liverpool have won just one of their seven PL games so far in 2017. Now obviously Jurgen Klopp himself is not going anywhere. That portion of his quote is only mere lip service. He just arrived in October of 2015 and has a six year deal. So while that portion of his statement is meaningless, the other part is not. There are indeed several players on Liverpool playing for their future at Anfield down the stretch here.
One player certainly in limbo is forward Daniel Sturridge, and we covered that in detail over at this link.
There are questions abound in several position groups including goalkeeper, striker, defense and midfielder. Pretty much everywhere essentially. Who will pair with Jordan Henderson in midfield? Is Simon Mignolet on the transfer block? Or is Loris Karius on the way out? You have a couple spots in the back line up for grabs. Answers are needed in attack to give Sadio Mane some support- who will fill that role?
Jurgen Klopp might be set up to make big changes this summer, and for Liverpool observers it could be a transfer window that sees quite a bit comings and goings.
Even in this rough stretch, at Jurgen Klopp and company have maintained their dominance over Tottenham Hotspur, so they have that going, which is nice.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times and NBC Chicago.com, contributes to Chicago Tribune.com, Bold, WGN CLTV and KOZN.
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