Jurgen Klopp’s worst Liverpool XI features Naby Keita.
Jurgen Klopp has used some interesting players during his time as Liverpool manager. Obviously, rather a lot of the dross came at the beginning of his tenure.
After picking his best Liverpool XI (have a read after this, will you?), we have compiled a team full of the worst players to play for him at Anfield.
GK: Loris Karius Adrian was horrendous for Liverpool and cost them in the Champions League against Atletico Madrid, but no matter how bad he was, we couldn’t not pick Karius, who cost the Reds against the other Madrid team in a much more important European fixture.
We might be blinded by that performance against Gareth Bale and Real Madrid, as well as the incredible signing of Alisson, but Karius was the first name that came to mind when the brainstorming for this team started.
RB: Jon Flanagan Flanagan only played nine times for Klopp but that was enough for us. After a decent start to life as a youngster at Anfield, the Liverpool-born full-back left his boyhood club for Rangers in 2018 and his career proceeded to fall off a cliff.
The 31-year-old retired in 2022.
CB: Ozan Kabak The first of three shocking loan deals in this team, Turkish defender Kabak was signed by Klopp in February 2021 to try and help combat a defensive crisis. He played 13 times as Liverpool somehow finished fourth in the Premier League.
Kabak missed the last five games of the season through injury and it will shock you to learn that the Reds won all five, conceding three goals.
CB: Steven Caulker Caulker’s loan move to Liverpool was both utterly pointless and very amusing.
Signed for six months in January 2016, Caulker would quickly be recognised as Klopp’s go-to guy when chasing a goal. He never scored in four appearances but epitomised Liverpool’s banter era during Klopp’s early days at the club.
LB: Alberto Moreno Being in the Villarreal squad that beat Manchester United in the 2021 Europa League final was the best thing Moreno did for Liverpool.
He couldn’t defend for toffee and was replaced in Klopp’s starting XI a few months after he signed Andy Robertson from Hull.
CM: Naby Keita Klopp chased Keita for quite some time before signing him from RB Leipzig for around £53m in 2018. The fact he is the only big-money signing in this XI speaks volumes about the job the German boss has done at Anfield.
Despite the silly number of injuries he picked up during his time in the Premier League, Keita – who wore Steven Gerrard’s famous No. 8 shirt – made 129 Liverpool appearances, scoring 11 goals and providing seven assists.
He was a massive disappointment and a rare miss from Klopp in the transfer market. Leaving for Werder Bremen on a free transfer made it all a little bit worse.
CM: Arthur There was a reluctance to include players who barely kicked a ball for Klopp but Arthur’s time at Anfield was so miserable it was impossible to ignore. There also weren’t a lot of midfielders to choose from, believe it or not.
We have some sympathy for Arthur given the fact he did his knee early on in his Anfield stint. He ended up playing once after costing a few million to borrow for the season.
CM: Joe Allen Signed by Brendan Rodgers, the Welsh Xavi is absolutely not a Jurgen Klopp midfielder and was sold to Stoke after half a season under the German.
RW: Jordan Ibe He was only young during his stint under Klopp but he regularly failed to impress. What was impressive was Liverpool managing to get £15m when they sold Ibe to Bournemouth in 2016.
ST: Dominic Solanke The Darwin Nunez temptation was as real as the sky is blue. We bottled thought better of it. Instead, we have picked a striker who is currently performing better in the Premier League.
Like Ibe, we have some sympathy for Solanke given his age during his Liverpool career, but one goal in 27 appearances makes for bleak reading. Sorry, Dom.
LW: Fabio Carvalho Klopp has done a brilliant job with nearly every forward he has used during his Anfield career, even making Divock Origi the most clutch player in world football, but Carvalho is one player we can say failed to impress him.
Carvalho joined Liverpool with big expectations but struggled for game time last season, then couldn’t get a game on loan at RB Leipzig, and is now back in the Championship with Hull until the end of the season.
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2024-01-28 09:04:31
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