Player-turned-pundit Jason Cundy had a go at Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp after the Reds were cut open by Napoli in their Champions League opener. The Naples side handed Liverpool their worst defeat in an European competition since 1966, putting four past them at home. Liverpool looked toothless in attack and were shell-shocked after going down 3-0 in the first-half itself.
The defeat has coupled with their poor run in the Premier League which has them sitting seventh with just two wins from six games. Cundy has drawn comparison between Klopp’s seventh year at Borussia Dortmund to his seventh in Liverpool while claiming the Merseyside club is ‘spiralling out of control’.
Cundy feels it’s a repeat of events for Liverpool from Jurgen Klopp’s final season Dortmund
“Klopp, you look at what he’s done at Borussia Dortmund and how his career ended there, it’s happening again at Liverpool. Liverpool right now are spiralling out of control. They are not the same team. [Sadio] Mane is a miss. Van Dijk is not the same player as he was. He’s all over the place, look at his body shape when they concede the goal in the Champions League final.”
Cundy also assessed that the Reds’ towering defender Virgil van Dijk too has lost his dominant nature and has become easy to beat. However, the pundit went back to Jurgen Klopp’s final year at Borussia Dortmund to explain Liverpool’s current condition. Cundy was referring to Klopp’s then target-man Robert Lewandowski, who left Dortmund in the summer of 2014.
The striker had racked up whopping numbers under Klopp at Signal Iduna Park, recording 102 goals and 42 assists in 186 appearances. However, Lewandowski joined Bayern Munich for free after his contract expired in 2014, which resulted in the downfall of Klopp’s Dortmund. The German failed to achieve a top-four finish the following season as the club finished seventh in the Bundesliga.
Cundy feels the same is going to happen with Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool after he let go Mane. Though the Reds brought him a brand new striker for a club record fee in Darwin Nunez, the Uruguayan is taking time to settle in at Anfield. Moreover, Mohamed Salah too has lost his touch after he signed a bumper contract extension at the club this summer.
Klopp will need to reclaim his winning formula at Liverpool, after his fellow German Thomas Tuchel got the sack from Chelsea following a run of poor results. The Reds next face Wolves in the Premier League as they will be rubbing their hands to face a Liverpool team who is on the back of a 4-1 loss against Napoli.