Klopp: Attitude will never be a problem for Mo

Jurgen Klopp has delivered a staunch defence of Mo Salah as the Egyptian goes through one of the toughest spells of his Liverpool career.

So often the talisman for the Reds and scorer of brilliant individual goals, the form dip of Salah has somewhat echoed that of the team in general.

Salah has scored just one goal since the turn of the New Year and just seven in the Premier League for the whole campaign, matching his output in the Champions League group stage.

Admittedly the general lack of consistency and drop off in form of the team cannot be laid solely at the feet of Salah, as he can only do so much to turn the tide and is affected by a somewhat dysfunctional midfield.

But it has been noted that Salah just does not have same kind of spark and energy about his overall play and that has led to speculation that he is in the ‘comfort zone’ after signing his big contract.

However Klopp dismissed that notion out of hand as Talksport reported:

“There are moments of course when Mo would have scored last year – in the Brighton game it was 100 per cent goal usually and now not. You think that has something to do with a new contract or whatever, it’s just not right,

“Attitude and these kinds of things will never be Mo’s problem.

“You can question character, knowledge, ability, you have the right do everything, but you cannot score the amount of goals Mo scored if you are not an outstanding, world-class football player.

“Now he’s not scoring but I think there are people out there who think, ‘Why did they give Klopp a new contract?’ That’s how it is in our world, it’s completely fine. If we don’t deliver in moments there is criticism, it’s no problem.”

Klopp also had a bit to say regarding the spending spree of Chelsea which started last summer and continued unabated throughout January.

In all, Chelsea spent a staggering £325 million during Jan which means that they outspent the five top leagues in Europe put together.

The rules regarding Financial Fair Play become farcical when you see something like what occurred in West London take place and Klopp was somewhat jovial when asked whether the system has been exploited. 

“ I can’t answer that without a lawyer because I can’t understand the question!”

Klopp didn’t want to delve too deep into the specifics but did lay it at the feet of the media contingent to do some homework on the matter to find the answer.

“I can say nothing about it because I don’t know how the rules exactly are to be 100 percent honest, and how you can go left and right. I don’t know.

“But, probably they didn’t (break the rules)…maybe they found a way how it is completely legal, and then congratulations. Maybe other teams would have found it as well, but then you need the money on top of it, and they had both. So congratulations and now they have a great squad, and now they have to use it

“How can you ask a football manager about that? If my expertise would be financial issues all over the world I would be the person to answer.

“But I really think that is much more your job. If you are not happy with it then figure it out, take your time and ask the right people and put the answers together, and make something of it.”