Weird fitness egg goads Liverpool and Jurgen Klopp

Raymond Verheijen has taken his opportunity to poke fun at Liverpool and Jurgen Klopp after their recent struggles.

The Reds exited the EFL Cup at the semi-final stage on Wednesday, suffering a 1-0 defeat in the second leg, and a 2-0 loss on aggregate.

They have played seven games since the start of January, losing three and drawing three, with their FA Cup third-round replay win over League Two Plymouth the only victory.

Verheijen, who has been vocal in his criticism of the German’s methods in the past, wasted no time in pointing out that many predicted the flaws in Klopp’s coaching.

‘Why are so many people surprised about Liverpool fading in second half of season?’ he asked. ‘It was predicted over and over again during pre-season.

‘Liverpool manager Klopp has run his players into the ground during pre-season. Consequently, players cannot perform during an entire season.

‘When the Liverpool dip was predicted last August the fans were laughing because Liverpool was winning. But are they still laughing now?

Liverpool is not even playing in Europe. Just imagine how squeezed the LFC players would have been if they had played CL or EL this season.

— Raymond Verheijen (@raymondverheije) January 26, 2017

‘The secret of ‘pre-season periodisation’ is to develop top fit players while maintaining rather than losing freshness. Quality over quantity.

‘Most people in football have opinions on hindsight. Liverpool crumbling in 2nd half of season was already predicted multiple times in August.

‘Overall, Klopp is one of the best managers in the world. But he clearly has some flaws in his pre-season training methods. Raise your bar!’