Ahead of Liverpool’s trip to Arsenal this weekend, Jurgen Klopp has spoken about the challenges his team face in order to rekindle their title-winning form of a year ago.
The Liverpool manager admitted his side lacks motivation after their Premier League defence fell apart but confirmed a chance trip to a Weight Watchers meeting has offered new tactical insights which could revolutionise the modern game.
“My Mrs told me to go along to a local Weight Watchers meeting as I’ve put a bit on in lockdown” he told a journalist.
“I wasn’t really up for it, but when I arrived there was a bit of confusion, as the kitchen accidentally served up a cheese board, some sausage rolls and a massive chocolate gâteau to all the members.
“It was bedlam!”
“It was the most highly charged, exhilarating use of energy I have ever seen – groups of women with cold-blooded murder in their eyes, moving at 1,000 miles per hour, getting on the end of food like a prime Jan Mølby and defending their winnings like a prime Razor Ruddock.
“Honestly, they attacked lunch like James Milner does a pile of ironing. It was kind of terrifying – and inspiring.”
The 53-year-old went on to explain how he saw a chance to reinvigorate his ailing side amid the flailing limbs and chocolate cake as they scrap for a top-four spot.
“I know we’ve got a bunch of self-confessed chocoholics in Mo, Sadio, Bobby, Trent and Diogo, so during the week I hid a few Cadburys Crème Eggs around our Kirkby training complex to see what reaction I’d get. I told the boys it was finders’ keepers.
“I’ve never seen them so competitive over anything – they’d got their spark back. It was better viewing than that semi-final second leg against Barcelona.”
“Naturally, Bobby Firmino had several right in front of him only to smash them into the carpark when it tried to grab them, but there’s plenty more out there. I know he’ll get one… eventually.”
And the Reds coach went on to explain how this could inform his tactical approach in the future.
“We’ve seen Tiki Taka, we’ve seen Gegenpressing, now it’s the dawn of Eggstreme Schokolade Ei Ball” (Extreme Chocolate Egg Ball).
In order to understand how seriously Klopp will be taking the on-pitch Easter egg hunt this weekend, Paddy Power News contacted the manager of his local Tesco, Mr Hossain, to ask if the Liverpool boss had made any recent purchases.
“Yes, he bought 127 Easter eggs, 46 packs of Mini Eggs, 35 Lindt bunnies and 19 tubes of Oral-B whitening toothpaste, although I think the last item is unrelated to the match,” he told us.
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