Klopp reveals reply to glaring early FSG apology for state of Liverpool team

Jurgen Klopp, John Henry FSG Liverpool June 2019

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has revealed that the club’s owners apologised for the state of the squad at the beginning of his Anfield reign.

Klopp has turned the Reds into a Champions League and Premier League-winning force since October 2015.

Several key players have helped along the way, including Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk.

However, the make-up of the squad has drastically changed since Klopp’s first game. Indeed, James Milner is among only five players in Liverpool’s overall ranks still there since the 0-0 draw with Tottenham in October 2015.

Elsewhere, the likes of Christian Benteke, Mamadou Sakho and Jordan Ibe all featured. Kolo Toure, Jon Flanagan and Joe Allen were also among the players available for selection.

“At the beginning I received a message from the US saying ‘sorry for the squad we’ve given you’,” the manager told BT Sport‘s Champions League Magazine programme of his early contact with the club’s Fenway Sports Group owners.

“But all was good I replied, it just needs time.

“There is a very strong tie to the owners, they support a lot.

Jordan Ibe, Jurgen Klopp Liverpool May 2015

“I just want to win football matches, to be honest.”

Klopp used his first summer transfer window to move on Benteke, Allan, Ibe and Martin Skrtel, among others.

In return, he brought in Georginio Wijnaldum, Sadio Mane and Joel Matip. The trio, especially the former pair, have proved cornerstones of Liverpool’s rise in recent seasons.

Meanwhile, the Liverpool boss signed Salah in the summer of 2017. Philippe Coutinho’s sale then paved the way for Virgil van Dijk and Alisson Becker to take the Merseyside club to the next level.

Liverpool’s key men still proving worth

Salah.Liverpool.TEAMtalk

Skip forward to the present day and Salah and Mane are still proving just as vital to Klopp’s team as ever.

The pair netted a goal each on Tuesday as Liverpool beat RB Leipzig in the first leg of their last 16 Champions League tie.

Klopp admitted after the match that his players had tamed a “monster”.

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