Jurgen Klopp has sarcastically hit back at criticism from Dietmar Hamann after the former Liverpool midfielder questioned whether the Reds had lost their ‘spark’.
Liverpool have endured a difficult start to the season and are tenth in the Premier League, having won just two of their opening eight fixtures of the league campaign.
There has been a sharp decline from last season’s performances, in which the Reds competed for an unprecedented quadruple into the final weeks of the season. Hamann has discussed their struggles this season and admitted he was unsure where the ‘spark’ would come from to turn around the club’s form.
“What they achieved and what they did last year was second to none,” Hamann said on talkSport. “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 yesterday, Arsenal, in the second half, 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, obviously they beat Rangers a couple of days ago but they’re obviously far superior to Rangers.
“I trust that they’ll know where the spark is going to come from but whether it’s the end of an era? 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.”
Hamann’s views were put to Klopp ahead of Liverpool’s clash with Rangers on Wednesday evening and the German provided a spiky response to his compatriot’s comments.
Asked if Liverpool needed a spark, Klopp responded: “Who said that? Didi Hamann? Oh great. A fantastic source, well respected everywhere,” he said sarcastically.
Sparks flying 👀
Jürgen Klopp was unimpressed with a journalist who used a Dietmar Hamann quote to ask a question…
"Do me a favour and ask your own question"💥 #UCL pic.twitter.com/Y4LusmZd71
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) October 12, 2022
“That (being a former Liverpool player) does not give you the right to say what you want, especially when you have no idea. I actually think Didi Hamann does not deserve that you use his phrase to ask a question. Try to ask without using the word spark.”
Liverpool’s problems were further complicated following a trio of injuries at Arsenal last weekend. Luis Diaz will not return until after the break for the World Cup, while Trent Alexander-Arnold and Joel Matip are also facing two-three weeks on the sidelines.
“If you sleep on a problem, sometimes you realise life goes on,” said Klopp. “I just stood there at Arsenal and we had lost the game. I knew already that we had three big injuries.
“So how can I, in this moment, not feel downbeat? It’s not possible. But then you get information on the injuries step-by-step and it’s two or three weeks rather than my fear of eight weeks for Alexander-Arnold. The other injury, for Matip, is not too long as well and the other is out for as long as we expected.
“This is a tough situation but it is also a challenge. We always face challenges but we go for it and I am sorry to all our people that after last season we go again and it’s not the case that we are competing for everything.
“I cannot promise that we will fly tomorrow but we will fight, definitely, until someone tells us the fight is over. It hasn’t got easier since Sunday because of the injuries but the team I saw in training I liked a lot. So let’s give it a go.”
