Jurgen Klopp’s incredible reign at Liverpool continued by defeating Chelsea 1-0 in the Carabao Cup final on Sunday. The departing boss has won almost every piece of silverware available at Anfield, the only exception being the Europa League, but not everyone predicted his trophy-laden success.
It took several years for Klopp to transform Liverpool into a powerhouse and he often faced complaints over the Reds’ defensive capabilities. One of those critics was Manchester United icon Roy Keane, who criticised their backline under the German.
A pair of errors at the back in Liverpool’s 2017 Champions League draw with Sevilla saw Keane criticise the team and he suggested that there was little chance of the club competing for “big prizes” in the future.
“This sums up Liverpool in a nutshell and why they’re not going to win any big prizes,” Keane told ITV. “Just switching off from a throw-in leads to the equaliser. In such an important game, at such an important moment. Experienced players just switching off. It must drive the manager crazy as it’s just schoolboy defending.
“It’s the easiest part of football, just switching on. Liverpool did all the hard stuff well in terms of creating chances, pace, power and quality going forward, but Liverpool can’t seem to do the easy things.
“Liverpool can forget about winning the Champions League. I mean, they should have enough to get through the group, but in the knockout stages against the Real Madrids and all these boys, they’ll be laughing at Liverpool.”
But Liverpool and Klopp quickly left Keane with egg on his face by winning the premier European competition two years later. Within another 12 months, he also led the club to their first domestic title since 1990 and will go down in history as one of the Reds’ greatest-ever managers.
