Former Liverpool striker Stan Collymore has compared Jurgen Klopp’s side to the Newcastle United team of the 1990s, and feels as was the case with the Magpies, their exciting brand of football won’t win the Reds the league.
Liverpool started the season in rousing fashion with a thrilling attacking display against Arsenal at the Emirates, but it was clear in their 4-3 win that their defence needs work.
Newly promoted Burnley brutally exposed the fragile Liverpool defence on Saturday, and with only 19 per cent possession, Sean Dyche’s side scored a famous 2-0 victory over the Reds at Turf Moor.
Collymore is a fan of Klopp’s high pressing Liverpool side, but admits that it might not always work in the Premier League against all the teams, and feel the current Reds resemble the Newcastle side of the mid-1990s.
The Magpies under Kevin Keegan were an exciting forward thinking team, but had a fragile defence, which stopped them from ever winning the league title despite playing good football.
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And Collymore feels Klopp needs to do a lot more than just be manager whose Liverpool team show fleeting moments of brilliance, but fail to challenge the top teams in the Premier League.
He wrote in his column for Boyle Sport: “I want Liverpool to do well, and I get very excited when Gegenpressing works, but let’s be honest, in the Bundesliga or La Liga it’s in a league where you can roll over teams by just working hard.
“This is the Premier League, every team does that as a given.
“Some progress at LFC, but they remind me of Newcastle 1995/96. Great going forward, all over the place going back.
“As I and the Geordies know all too well, that won’t win you leagues, and in Klopp they have invested in a man to deliver that, not just a smiling ‘everything will be ok tomorrow’ manager.”
Liverpool will take on Burton Albion in an EFL Cup second round game tomorrow, before travelling to Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday.
