Souness says Klopp is making Shankly's mistake as he hints at players' boredom at Liverpool
Graeme Souness says Jurgen Klopp could make the same mistake as Bill Shankly at Liverpool because his side are 'lacking energy' this season.
Liverpool have won every major honor offered in the seven years under Klopp, but the Reds have started this season slowly, winning just two of their first seven Premier League games.
And Souness thinks Klopp may be guilty of a mistake Shankly vowed never to make again after losing the FA Cup final to Watford in 1970.
"I was 31 when I played my best football at Liverpool, then it was my very last year at the club," Souness told talkSPORT.
"They didn't push the boat out to stop me going to Sampdoria because there was a thought back then, at that age maybe you're just past your best and over the hill .
"I think it goes back to when Bill Shankly's side lost to Watford in the early 1970s in the FA Cup and he said, 'Never again will I allow that to happen'.
>“What he meant by that was his team, I think it was the first team he had put together, but they had been together too long and he allowed them to grow old together.
"He said, 'It'll never happen again.
Souness then seemed to suggest that perhaps the Liverpool players lacked energy because Klopp was using "the same" methods.
"You start by saying they have fabulous players there, they really do," he added.
"It seems like a lot of them didn't make it, maybe because he uses the same terminology when he talks to them, the training will be the same, they'll stay in the same hotels, do everything that has brought them success in recent years.
"They just seem to lack the energy they need to play the brand of football they want to play, which is in your face, the midfielder bullies the other midfielder and they are constantly on the front of the stage.
"It's missing and it's something they need to get back.
"You come back to the Napoli game and they were so far from it, and they've never improved since, really.
"The players are at one of the great football clubs in the world, they are lucky to be there and they have performed very well in their recent history, but they are very short at the moment.
"They have to look at themselves first and ask themselves what the difference is between this year and the previous five or six years.
"When they were at their best, they had Jordan Henderson, Georginio Wijnaldum and James Milner, not three terribly technically gifted players in midfield, but they just outplayed the opposition.
"To be successful, these players had to be present all the time and if you miss half a yard, you end up falling back. So maybe it's something lost, maybe it's is a real Liverpool midfield fact that they don't have that anymore.
"Thiago is a wonderful little footballer but he can't do that, it's not his game. His game is smart, cute passing. Overall their midfield doesn't do that anymore."
>READ MORE: Arsenal and Everton rally for winners as Lage, Gerrard and Alexander-Arnold stumble
Graeme Souness says Jurgen Klopp could make the same mistake as Bill Shankly at Liverpool because his side are 'lacking energy' this season.
Liverpool have won every major honor offered in the seven years under Klopp, but the Reds have started this season slowly, winning just two of their first seven Premier League games.
And Souness thinks Klopp may be guilty of a mistake Shankly vowed never to make again after losing the FA Cup final to Watford in 1970.
"I was 31 when I played my best football at Liverpool, then it was my very last year at the club," Souness told talkSPORT.
"They didn't push the boat out to stop me going to Sampdoria because there was a thought back then, at that age maybe you're just past your best and over the hill .
"I think it goes back to when Bill Shankly's side lost to Watford in the early 1970s in the FA Cup and he said, 'Never again will I allow that to happen'.
>“What he meant by that was his team, I think it was the first team he had put together, but they had been together too long and he allowed them to grow old together.
"He said, 'It'll never happen again.
Souness then seemed to suggest that perhaps the Liverpool players lacked energy because Klopp was using "the same" methods.
"You start by saying they have fabulous players there, they really do," he added.
"It seems like a lot of them didn't make it, maybe because he uses the same terminology when he talks to them, the training will be the same, they'll stay in the same hotels, do everything that has brought them success in recent years.
"They just seem to lack the energy they need to play the brand of football they want to play, which is in your face, the midfielder bullies the other midfielder and they are constantly on the front of the stage.
"It's missing and it's something they need to get back.
"You come back to the Napoli game and they were so far from it, and they've never improved since, really.
"The players are at one of the great football clubs in the world, they are lucky to be there and they have performed very well in their recent history, but they are very short at the moment.
"They have to look at themselves first and ask themselves what the difference is between this year and the previous five or six years.
"When they were at their best, they had Jordan Henderson, Georginio Wijnaldum and James Milner, not three terribly technically gifted players in midfield, but they just outplayed the opposition.
"To be successful, these players had to be present all the time and if you miss half a yard, you end up falling back. So maybe it's something lost, maybe it's is a real Liverpool midfield fact that they don't have that anymore.
"Thiago is a wonderful little footballer but he can't do that, it's not his game. His game is smart, cute passing. Overall their midfield doesn't do that anymore."
>READ MORE: Arsenal and Everton rally for winners as Lage, Gerrard and Alexander-Arnold stumble
What's Your Reaction?
