Jurgen Klopp has been speaking about Newcastle’s recent struggles ahead of tonight’s trip to Anfield, where we face an in-form Liverpool in the first Premier League game of 2024.
The German’s comments make a lot of sense and probably sum up Eddie Howe’s battles very well, explaining how injuries and fatigue can have impacted our form to such a huge extent.
He believes Howe has not only been forced to ‘play the same line-up too often’ – leaving our fit players tired – but has also suffered because those returning from injuries ‘have no rhythm’, so are taking a while to get back to their best.
This has been evident in recent weeks. The likes of Anthony Gordon, Kieran Trippier and Miguel Almiron – three regulars who are rarely injured – have all looked in dire need of a rest and below their best, while returning stars like Sven Botman, Alexander Isak and Sean Longstaff have been off the pace since coming back from niggling injuries.
Here’s what Klopp’s had to say:
“Newcastle have a lot of injuries but they played European football now which they haven’t done fifty times in a row. So it is just recovery and then go again.
“It is an adjustment and it has been a bit of a problem. I am too long in the business. I know anything can happen.
“Newcastle did incredibly well. It is unlucky they have that number of injuries. They had good spells in the games they lost.
“They have a really good idea but Eddie Howe had to play the same line-up too often. The guys who play all the time are tired and the guys who come back have no rhythm – we had that situation plenty of times.”
