Jurgen Klopp is not afraid of being fired as Liverpool manager. The German coach has a bad start to the season with the Reds and started the group stage of the Champions League dramatically on Wednesday evening. Liverpool already faced a 3-0 deficit at halftime on a visit to Napoli and eventually lost 4-1.
Liverpool got away well with the 3-0 halftime score. Virgil van Dijk, for example, prevented worse by saving an attempt on goal by Khvicha Kvaratskhelia from the line after half an hour, while Victor Osimhen missed a penalty earlier. “We played badly in the first half, but normally we don’t concede three goals,” Klopp said afterwards BT Sport. “With Alisson Becker on target you have to be really bad for that to happen.”
Klopp found it difficult to put his finger on the sore spot. “It seems we have to reinvent ourselves. It’s not that we have to invent a new kind of football, but we have to improve. This was our least compact performance in a very, very long time.” On Saturday, Liverpool will compete in their own home against Wolverhampton Wanderers, after which the first meeting with Ajax in the Champions League is scheduled for next Tuesday. “They probably can’t stop laughing,” Klopp refers to the upcoming opponents. “It’s the perfect time to play against Liverpool.”
Liverpool have had a dramatic start to the new season. In the Premier League, the team is in a disappointing seventh place with nine points after six matches. After the ear washing against Napoli, Klopp was asked whether he feared his dismissal, which happened to Thomas Tuchel at Chelsea on Wednesday. “Not really, but who knows? Our owners are calm and expect me to resolve the situation, not someone else. The day they change their mind, maybe they’ll tell me.”