The Premier League has the most exciting play and the elite managers of the world: Solskjær, Mourinho, Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp. Fenway Sports Group is the best there is. They have always chosen well in Boston and Liverpool and they turned LFC into a breath-taking, title-winning machine. They did that in significant measure by choosing Klopp. My respect for Klopp is boundless, my admiration complete. He is a very good man in addition to being one of the best managers in the world. It is painful to see that devastation on the face of such a good, great man and football manager.
Liverpool's confidence...is completely shot.
Klopp once labelled his team "mentality monsters." They left the Leicester pitch on Saturday as tortured souls, with the Liverpool boss pausing briefly in his postmatch news conference before answering whether he was conceding defeat in the Premier League title race.
"Yes, I can't believe it but yes," he said, looking utterly crestfallen...
Leicester enhanced their own credentials for Champions League qualification with another impressive display, despite missing three of their first-choice back four... But...that was what made Liverpool's collapse all the more astounding.
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On a bitterly cold afternoon, Liverpool...froze. A hopeful ball forward from Tielemans caused panic at the back as centre-back Ozan Kabak...tried to hook the ball clear. Little did he know that goalkeeper Alisson was rushing 30 yards out of his goal to try to clear it as well. The pair collided and the loose ball fell to Vardy, who ran the ball into the empty net and scampered off to celebrate, plucking the corner flag from the turf and playing it like a guitar.
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There was a reluctance to unduly criticise Alisson after his mistakes in last weekend's 4-1 loss against Manchester City, given how consistent the Brazil international's performances had previously been. But he was unduly rash here...
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Liverpool's problems run deeper, having morphed from physical issues to mental ones. The Alisson error was an abdication of the assurance with which he -- and Liverpool -- have played for the last couple of years. Rediscovering that poise is Klopp's biggest challenge now...
