Jurgen Klopp says clubs are afraid after record 12 Premier League managers sacked

LONDON – Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp jokingly questioned why he still had a job, as clubs around the English Premier League sacked their managers as the season enters its home stretch.

Chelsea dismissed Graham Potter on Sunday with the club sitting 11th in the league, hours after Brendan Rodgers, Klopp’s predecessor at the Reds, left relegation-threatened Leicester City. Tottenham Hotspur also parted ways with Antonio Conte in late March.

Klopp has been at Liverpool since 2015 but, despite guiding them to Premier League and Champions League titles, he is under pressure with the club eighth in the standings – eight points off the top four after losing 4-1 to Manchester City on Saturday.

“What can I say about that (the sackings)? The elephant in the room is probably why am I still sitting here in this crazy world? Last man standing,” Klopp, the Premier League’s longest-serving manager, told reporters ahead of Tuesday’s game against Chelsea.

“So I think both clubs are not in the spots where they expect to be... I respect them (Potter and Rodgers) a lot. But things can go wrong.

“We all accept that part of the business, but that’s it. Conte was last week, (Julian) Nagelsmann and now these two. The season is in a decisive part, people are afraid of maybe not reaching their targets.”

Bayern Munich shockingly axed Nagelsmann during the international break despite being second in the Bundesliga, one point adrift of then leaders Borussia Dortmund. They are also still in the running in the German Cup and Champions League.

The Premier League has had a record 12 managers sacked this season, which Klopp described as an “awful number”.

“It is how it is. Some clubs are underachieving, definitely us too... There are expectations out there, rightly so, and if you don’t reach them, then you have to accept the decisions,” he said.

Potter lasted just seven months, paying the price for the Blues slipping into the bottom half of the table after a 2-0 defeat by Aston Villa on Saturday.

That was not the return the club’s new American owners were expecting after investing over £500 million (S$665.3 million) in new players in their first season in charge, on top of the £2.5 billion they paid for the club.

However, the former Brighton & Hove Albion boss was ultimately the fall guy for a scattergun approach to the transfer market that exposed the new owners’ lack of experience.

Potter won just 12 of his 31 matches in charge as Chelsea crashed out of both the League Cup and FA Cup in the early rounds to Manchester City.

Only Champions League success can salvage the season, but they face a difficult route to the final.

The Blues take on holders Real Madrid in the quarter-finals later in April, with the winners progressing to a last-four clash against City or Bayern.

Said Chelsea interim manager Bruno Saltor: “It’s a massive challenge. I’ve been coaching just four years but 24 years involved in football – a lot of experience in changing rooms, trying to help players, guide players because I’ve been in those situations before.”

On his future, Klopp said Liverpool have “smart owners” but he did not like the fact that he was still in the job because of his previous success with the club.

“I’m here to deliver, I’m not here as a talisman or for murals on houses’ walls,” he said.

“I know as well I’m still here because of what happened in the last few years, I don’t like the fact that I have to rely on that. But we have to sort it, we cannot just continue playing like we do from time to time. Not always, thank god.

“That’s not allowed, really. I’m really disappointed about us, but it happens and we have to find a way out.” REUTERS, AFP