Liverpool legend John Barnes says Jurgen Klopp could have been sacked within his first two seasons at the club for some particular reasons.
In what could be a controversial claim, John Barnes says Klopp might have been sacked long ago by Liverpool if he was ‘black’ or ‘English’.
His comments come in the wake of Greg Clarke’s resignation from the FA after calling black footballers ‘ colored.’
Klopp took charge at Anfield in October 2015 and led his team to eighth and fourth in his first two Premier League seasons.
Barnes insists the German would have lost his job under ‘different circumstances’.
“You can put structures in place, but until you change your perception, nothing will change,” Barnes told PlayOJO in the wake of Greg Clarke’s resignation as FA chairman this week.
“I use Klopp as an example,” Barnes continued. “How successful was he really in the first two years in terms of being 25 points off the top? But we [Liverpool] believed that he was the right man.”
“Under different circumstances, he would have lost his job. If he was black, he would have lost his job in those first two years.”
Barnes also spoke of the discrimination against English managers.
“If he [Klopp] was English, he would have lost his job,” concluded Barnes.
It remains to be seen how Barnes came up with his claim but he might have a point overall in saying Klopp made a slow start to life in Liverpool.
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