Jurgen Klopp Backed to Replace Brendan Rodgers at Liverpool by Dietmar Hamann

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers is under heavy scrutiny at the moment, and the club's former midfielder Dietmar Hamann has backed ex-Borussia Dortmund boss Jurgen Klopp to take over at Anfield.

Rodgers has come under pressure in recent weeks, with Liverpool suffering back-to-back defeats in the Premier League against West Ham United and Manchester United. Hamann hinted that the Reds should have moved for Klopp in the summer and has encouraged him to stave off reported interest from Bayern Munich and head to Anfield, per Joe Rimmer of the Liverpool Echo:

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The pressure in Liverpool gets bigger. The fans are on the barricades. But the coach is backed by the club, and anyway the question is: Would Klopp move there during the season?

Had they asked before the season, I am 99 percent sure that he would have joined them. Many people say that he will take over Bayern on July 1, 2016, but I don't know whether he's a fit there. He'd be a great fit at Liverpool.

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Sebastian Widmann/Associated Press

After spending massive money during the summer transfer window in an attempt to rebuild his squad, it’s remarkable that Rodgers is being touted for the chop by some already. But after a bright start, there have been some abject displays from the Reds recently, no more so than the moribund showing at Old Trafford on Saturday.

As noted by Phil McNulty of BBC Sport, the lack of attacking endeavour from Liverpool was a major worry:

After losing a key player in Raheem Sterling and reshaping the first team, Rodgers could probably do with more time to negotiate what has been a difficult beginning to the season for the Reds. To integrate so many new faces will take a while, and letting Rodgers go now would leave the new man with a squad of players acquired by another coach.

Jon Super/Associated Press

Indeed, Jonathan Northcroft of the Sunday Times thinks that after backing their man so heavily in the window, the Reds owners can’t sack him now:

But this team is now in its fourth season under the tutelage of the Northern Irishman, and at the moment, the direction it’s going in is still unclear. Aside from their tremendous 2013-14 season, when Luis Suarez hauled the Reds within inches of the Premier League title, Rodgers’ tenure has been underwhelming.

The frustration with the Northern Irishman seems to be growing, and a figure as effervescent as Klopp could potentially breathe new life back into a team that has talent but is lacking any sort of conviction to their play. 

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However, as hinted here by Bundesliga pundit Jan Aage Fjortoft, the former BVB boss is likely to be wanted by plenty of high-profile clubs after the stellar job he did at the Westfalenstadion:

Klopp’s emotive management style would certainly tie in with Liverpool’s age-old principles and colourful pageantry. But after standing by Rodgers after a disastrous finish to the previous season and giving him big money to spend in the summer, it’s far too early to wield the axe just yet.

Rodgers is running out of time, though. There are plenty of excuses for a team of fresh faces not quite jelling in the early weeks of a campaign, but the rank lack of ambition that was so apparent against United is at odds with the supposed principles of a manager who is all about attacking football. Rodgers and the Reds must rediscover that ambition if he’s to save his job.