Former Liverpool midfielder Didi Hamann believes that Jurgen Klopp could soon be “under pressure” if the club’s slow start to the season continues.
Klopp’s side have won just two of their eight Premier League games so far and are already 14 points behind Arsenal after defeat at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday.
The 55-year-old manager has consistently challenged for domestic and European honours during his time in charge at Anfield, but Hamann fears his former side may have lost their way and look “pedestrian”.
Despite his record of success, Klopp’s fellow German believes that a prolonged bad patch could still lead to discussions about whether he is the right man to take Liverpool forward.
“At some stage, I think we will have that discussion about the manager and I’m not sure how far we are off that,” Hamann told Talksport.
“He said that he still feels that he’s the right man to do it, but I see little things like Jordan Henderson midweek seeing his number going up and reluctantly taking his armband off and coming off, shaking his head.
“This is something that we haven’t seen at Liverpool for five years. Maybe these are little signs that people have little problems with the team or even the manager.
“The dynamics at Liverpool are no different to anywhere else and if the results aren’t there then the manager will come under pressure.”
Liverpool have won more than 60% of their games under Klopp since the German was appointed manager in October 2015.
The 2021-22 campaign ended with a League Cup and FA Cup double, though Klopp’s side missed out on another league title to Manchester City and were beaten in the Champions League final.
The club’s early battles for on-field form have been compounded by injury issues, with Luis Diaz the latest first-team player facing a period on the sidelines after suffering a knee injury.
Hamann believes his former club look “tired” and cannot see where a necessary “spark” is going to come from.
“As a big team, you’re always in transition but they’ve been at the top of their capacities for the last three or four years,” the 49-year-old, who played 191 times for Liverpool in the Premier League, explained.
“What they achieved and what they did last year was second to none. I don’t think that will be achieved again, to be within seven days of winning all four trophies and I think that psychologically, it was always going to be tough this season.
“If you look at Arsenal in the second half, they were everything that Liverpool were four or five years ago. They were breath-taking going forward.
“Every time that they did go forward you felt that something was going to happen.
“This Liverpool team looks tired, they look pedestrian and they just look flat. I’m not sure where the spark is going to come from because they’ve won games in the past.
“I wouldn’t write them off, but my imagination doesn’t let me see where the spark is going to come from in the next few weeks.”
