Jurgen Klopp [Pete]

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LIVERPOOL didn’t seem overly brilliant when they played at Arsenal the other week – not least because of all the huffing and puffing they needed to break down the crocked Gunners defence.

But there’s no denying their consistency and they can comfortably say – after watching Arsenal do the national service of chasing City for two seasons – that they are “back”, and it may prove a fortunate thing that new manager Arne Slot had second thoughts about joining Spurs the summer before.

What does it all say about the quickly forgotten outgoing Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp though?

It is sacrilege to say any of the following in front of Liverpool fans who worship the German, and don’t recognise the clash between the Mr Nice Guy we saw when his team was winning and the growling, petulant and rude character who appeared when they lost.

But given Slot hasn’t really bought any new players to the club, he is showing it is possible to squeeze far more out of the Liverpool squad than Klopp seemed able to.

As trophy campaigns collapsed, Klopp’s loyal supporters insisted he had been denied the signings he wanted, and got lower quality alternatives instead.

But, again, Slot is excelling with exactly the same personnel. Maybe – and I must whisper this – Klopp livened up our national sport with funny phrases and a few jokes, without really living up to the super manager status.

Yes, we are living in the era of Manchester City’s distortion of the league through spending but one Premier League, one FA Cup and one Champions League, if we only talk about the big ones, is still a pretty small return for going on nine years.

Securing the club’s only league title since the back pass rule was brought in obviously broke a seal on something but it still happened during a Covid crisis and completed in the unreal atmosphere of empty stadiums.

If Slot does bring it home this year, maybe it won’t be such blasphemy to ask where Klopp really stands among the true greats. It’s clear now he didn’t get close to Arsene Wenger’s achievements.

• On the subject of Arsene Wenger, Manchester City’s defeat to Bournemouth has shown once more just why his Invincibles team is the greatest club side the nation has ever seen. None of the big money pretenders are able to even get to Christmas without losing a match, let alone a whole season. Is yours gold?