Liverpool could decide to part ways with Jurgen Klopp at the end of the season because things are beginning to get stale under the German, according to Tim Sherwood.
Klopp is the Premier League ’s longest serving manager, with seven years and 16 days having passed since he was appointed to succeed Brendan Rodgers in October 2015. There are only three managers who have been in their current positions longer in the entire Football League, with Klopp’s longevity down to his continued success on Merseyside.
The 55-year-old has won every trophy available to him with the Reds, with the 2018/19 Champions League and 2019/20 Premier League league titles the high points of a trophy-filled tenure. But Liverpool have struggled in the league so far this season, with just four wins from their opening 11 games leaving them in eighth place.
Sherwood, who managed Tottenham and Aston Villa, believes that things could be heading towards a natural end point for Klopp and Liverpool, despite him signing a new contract earlier this year which runs until 2026.
“The problem Liverpool have got is this team is used to challenging for titles,” he said on the Kelly and Wrighty Show. “It’s gone for them this season, they’re not going to win the Premier League, so where’s the motivation and drive from the players?
“The club will say they cannot be out of the Champions League, but it can be tough for players when they’ve challenged for titles and all of a sudden it’s taken away from them. I think it’s very difficult for them.
HAVE YOUR SAY! Do you agree with Tim Sherwood? Or will Liverpool stick by Jurgen Klopp through thick and thin? Comment below.
“I don’t think Jurgen Klopp is there next season. I think there’s a conversation to be had. I’m not sure Jurgen picks them up from where they are and makes them challengers again, I really don’t. History says he doesn’t do that. He’s very good and drives teams all the way. But it’s going to be a fight to get in the top-four now. If they miss out on the top four it’s a rebuild, a total rebuild.
“I don’t think they’ll sack him, but there will be a conversation where both parties agree that Jurgen has taken them as far as he can and they go for a new challenge. That’s just my hunch when I look at him and the team.”
Speaking after signing his new deal in April, Klopp certainly sounded confident that his relationship with the club could continue for a lot longer than Sherwood is predicting. "Like any healthy relationship, it always has to be a two-way street; you have to be right for each other,” he said.
“The feeling we were absolutely right for each other is what brought me here in the first place and it’s why I’ve extended previously. This one is different because of the length of time we have been together. I had to ask myself the question: Is it right for Liverpool that I stay longer? Along with my two assistant managers, Pep Lijnders and Pete Krawietz, we came to the conclusion it was a ‘Yes!’ There is a freshness about us as a club still and this energises me.”
