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Liverpool’s manager Jurgen Klopp is facing criticism over the club’s poor performance this season, but he believes that people are not willing to hear the reasons behind their decline. Liverpool have not won in the Premier League since December 30th, when they beat Leicester 2-1. The defeat at Wolves last week, with a score of 3-0, has left Liverpool in 10th place.

Klopp accepts the criticism that is coming his way, but he maintains that his team is significantly better than they are showing. The manager has pointed to fatigue as a factor in the team’s poor performance. When asked about the number of times Jordan Henderson has played for club and country, Klopp indicated that top players are being stretched to breaking point.

“Of course (there is fatigue), yes,” said Klopp. “People don’t want to hear these things because it sounds like excuses but there must be reasons for a few things we did this season. We don’t turn into bad people overnight. It is not that we lost a football brain or don’t know the game any more. Other players from other clubs have had similar problems — they cannot play the season they played last year. We try to manage things as much as we can, like with workload. We can’t do it (properly) now. In the past, we could because pretty much everyone available had to play.”

Despite the recent setbacks, Klopp has found some reason for optimism. Diogo Jota, who has been an influential figure for the team, has trained with the first team for the last two days and could be on the bench for the upcoming match against Everton. Roberto Firmino, Virgil van Dijk, and Arthur Melo have also made good progress in their recoveries.

An off to reinvigorate Liverpool players

To help his players cope with the pressure, Klopp gave them a two-day break earlier this week. He took the time to clear his own mind after being left emotionally drained by the display at Molineux. The manager joked with a smile, “In Germany this question would have come much earlier: “How can you give them two days off in the situation you are in?” You can train every day but it is not beneficial. We made the analysis and then gave them two days off.”