Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has jokingly questioned why he still has a job, as clubs around the Premier League jettison their managers with the season entering its home stretch.
Chelsea sacked Graham Potter on Sunday with the club sitting 11th in the English Premier League, hours after relegation-threatened Leicester City parted ways with Brendan Rodgers.
Tottenham Hotspur parted ways with Antonio Conte late last month, while 12th-placed Crystal Palace dispensed with the services of Patrick Vieira.
Klopp has been at Liverpool since 2015 but despite guiding the Reds to Premier League and Champions League titles he is under pressure, with the Anfield club a relatively lowly eighth in the standings – eight points off the top four after losing 4-1 to Manchester City on Friday.
“The elephant in the room is probably, why am I still sitting here in this crazy world? Last man standing,” Klopp said to reporters ahead of Liverpool’s Tuesday clash against Chelsea (Wednesday AEST).
“(Chelsea and Leicester) are not in the spots where they expect to be. I respect (Potter and Rodgers) a lot. Really good people and fantastic managers, both of them. But things can go wrong.
“We all accept that part of the business, but that’s it. Conte was last week, (Bayern Munich coach Julian) Nagelsmann and now these two.
“The season is in a decisive part, people are afraid of maybe not reaching their targets.”
Nagelsmann was sacked by Bayern Munich during the recent international break with his side one point behind leaders Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga.
The Premier League has had a record 12 managers sacked this season, which Klopp described as an “awful number”.
“It is how it is. Some clubs are under-achieving, definitely us too,” he said.
“There are expectations out there, rightly so, and if you don’t reach them, then you have to accept the decisions.”
On his own future, the German manager said Liverpool has “smart owners” but insisted he would not want to be in a job because of his previous success.
“I’m here to deliver. I’m not here as a talisman or for murals on the walls of houses,” he said.
“I know as well I’m still here because of what happened in the last few years. I don’t like the fact I have to rely on that.”
-Reuters
