Also I'm really not buying it was Klopp leaving, that argument just falls to shit with the fact he announced in January and we've been winning fine and picking up trophies since then.
Something happened at the end of March, either that or we have just hit a wall of low energy, form and can't get out, which happens, sometimes it doesn't have to be some kind of specific reason or excuse.
Counter argument: The players - and indeed the backroom staff have finally come to the realisation that this is all ending. Just look at the effect that Jurgen leaving has had on us, but then take into consideration that the club is a closed community and ALL the staff going at once is actually happening. All the realtionships that have grown in the past years. All about to go.
My take? It's absolutely down to the pressure of them wanting to deliver because of that which has made them totally freeze. These guys are only human and no-one - and I mean no-one - is immune from the mental stress of pressure such as this. All the squad are class footballers. More importantly, they're a team made up of unique individuals who obviously thrive in the Liverpool Football Club environment. They've lost their captain (Hendo) and senior players such as Millie, Bobby and Sadio and had to adjust. Then they learn that their World is changing completely. They wanted to win so much that they ended up succumbing to the trying too hard problem. And it shows.
I'm under pressure constantly in my job to perform. Everybody is, so I'm not unique in that, but the higher up you go in the visibility chain of careers brings a level of scrutiny that even I can't comprehend, although I know a few current International rugby players very well that also talk of the pressure they are under on a daily basis. And that is in a sport that is high on the media attention, but nowhere near the levels of football and even moreso at a club like ours. Pressure can do a lot of nasty things to you (I'm struggling with health issues right now - rashes, sleeplessness, anxiety) and that's just me under pressure to provide for my family. It makes you do stupid things and also makes you try even harder which ultimately backfires.
What I'm saying is that it's not as cut and dried and "so-and-so being shite" or "he missed this" and "he was too slow" - mentally what they are facing is fucking huge. End of an era. End of some careers here. In a place that they love and have given everything for. And yet it's all going to change. Like I said in a previous post, it's time to do so, but the mental tally of that happening to this bunch of players cannot even begin to be estimated by any of us. Take Jurgen alone. Just look at him. He's spent. That man who has given us so much over the years has nothing left to give. Reminds me of Kenny at the end. Absolutely gut wrenching to see.
What I said and will continue to say however is that this season has still seen us win something and challenge the cheats of the league when we had no right to. And couple that with the unparalelled success over the past five years we've had, that means we absolutely must not throw any of these players or indeed Jurgen under the bus, but celebrate what they've done and be thankful for it.
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