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Klopp beware: Ranieri's fate proves results are more powerful than sentiment

On his way into the King Power Stadium on Monday night Jurgen Klopp will have passed a hearse that mourned the death of football’s soul. “R.I.P Football,” read the tribute written in funeral flowers, protesting the sacking of Leicester City manager Claudio Ranieri. It was ultimately outed as a promotional stunt by a bookmaker, but it reflected the outpouring of grief across the sport over the Italian’s dismissal.

Profound conclusions have been drawn on the back of Ranieri’s exit from Leicester last week, with the sport caught up in the wider ramifications of the decision and what it means through the prism of modern football. But now he is gone, plenty others must learn lessons from Ranieri’s demise, least of all Klopp himself.

While Ranieri and Klopp differ in their on-the-field styles, as dressing room leaders they depend on the same thing – loyalty. That quality took Ranieri all the way to the Premier League title last season, with Leicester City’s players willing to run that extra mile (or 10) for their manager. The same goes for Klopp at Liverpool. It’s his greatest strength as a figurehead; he gets players fighting for him.

Read more: Vardy at the double as Leicester hammer Liverpool

Ultimately, however, such loyalty to his players also brought about the demise of Ranieri. By his own admission, he was too slow to make changes to a team floundering in their defence of the Premier League title. By the time the Italian chopped and changed it was too late, with the rot already set in.

Klopp mustn’t make the same mistake. His Liverpool side have similarly toiled in 2017, winning just two of their 12 fixtures since the turn of the year. Monday’s defeat to Leicester kept the Reds out of the top four, with Manchester United now able to leapfrog their rivals with the game in-hand they hold. A season which once to hold so much potential for Liverpool is now crumbling.

Of course, Klopp’s job isn’t under threat. Questions are being asked of the German, but he has already succeeded in restoring an identity to the Anfield side since taking over last season. But there is a warning for Klopp to heed in Ranieri’s sacking. A line must be drawn to his loyalty. There is a point at which it becomes detrimental to the whole operation.

Given the correlation between Klopp and Ranieri, it’s unsurprising that the former has sympathy for the latter. “What can I say? Am I surprised that things like this can happen? No. It is not only football,” the Liverpool manager shrugged after news broke of Ranieri’s Leicester exit. “For me there have been a few strange decisions in 16/17: Brexit, Trump, Ranieri. Do I have to understand it all the time? Obviously not. I have no idea why Leicester did this. Everyone could see the situation in the league, the situation in the Champions League – which we are not in.”

It’s somewhat concerning for those of a red persuasion if Klopp truly can’t see why Leicester City made the call to dismiss Ranieri. Sentiment only lasts for so long, with the here and now all that matters. Klopp might still be the darling of the Liverpool support and the English media, but poor results will continue to eat away at that appeal, just as it did for Ranieri at Leicester. Klopp must act accordingly.

Options on the bench may be somewhat scarce for Liverpool, but Klopp must be willing to make changes if his first-team aren’t performing as they should be. Of course, he might not be able to do that before the summer transfer window, with Liverpool’s squad among the thinnest in the Premier League right now, but he must recognise his side’s deficiencies. Loyalty is a two-way street, but it must be a shorter street on the side of the manager.

Ranieri’s rise and fall is a case unlike any other in Premier League history. It was an astonishing anomaly of an underdog tale that will never be matched, yet in the Italian’s demise there is plenty to be picked over. Klopp in particular would be wise to look at what happened closely.