Jurgen Klopp will forever be regarded as one of the most legendary Liverpool figures of all time, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t annoy some staff within the club from time to time.
After Michael Edwards left as sporting director two years ago, the manager wielded an increasing level of power within Anfield, having the final say on a few decisions which would previously have been left to others.
Speaking on The Transfer Podcast, Duncan Castles referenced how the German’s discontinuation of AI-led analysis put some noses out of joint with backroom staff who were adamant that it had been working well for the Reds.
The journalist stated: “One of the things that happened under Jurgen Klopp in his second last season, which was the season of multiple injuries, was that Klopp stopped using an AI-led analysis of player’s physical output on the field and in training which was designed to flag up whether players were likely to get injured or not.
“I understand that caused a fair amount of discontent within the backroom staff at Liverpool because they felt the system had been working well and it got overrode by Klopp.”
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For all the 56-year-old’s exceptional work at Liverpool, it can be argued that this particular decision wasn’t his best move during his managerial reign.
His squad was beset by injury problems throughout his final two seasons at the club, and maybe the removal of the AI-led analysis partly contributed to that due to the loss of data which could’ve influenced team selections.
That said, we can only guess how much of a role that decision played in the overall scheme of things, and in any case it’s only the tiniest blemish on the German’s extraordinary accomplishments at Anfield.
You can view Castles’ comments in full below (from 51:38), via The Transfer Podcast powered by FootballTransfers on YouTube: