Is Jurgen Klopp A Liverpool Flop?

Jurgen Klopp is in a strange position at Liverpool.

On the one hand, he has managed to take arguably the weakest squad in the Premier League’s top six to the brink of Champions League qualification. But, on the other, he is in danger of seeing reality bite over the final four games of the season, with the end result seeing his team slip out of the top four and finish up fifth.

Fifth, after trailing in eighth last season, would be progress for Klopp and Liverpool, but it will not feel like it if that elusive Champions League place slips from the club’s grasp between now and May 21.

Crystal Palace’s 2-1 victory at Anfield on Sunday, combined with Manchester United’s 2-0 win at Burnley two hours earlier, has set alarm bells ringing on the red half of Merseyside because Liverpool’s fate is now out of their hands.

Even if they win their four remaining games, against Watford, Southampton, West Ham United and Middlesbrough, it may not be enough to secure Champions League qualification for only the second time this decade.

Liverpool are developing a habit of wobbling when they are within touching distance of success and Palace, so often their nemesis in recent seasons, have set the nerves jangling once again.

But considering the lack of depth in Klopp’s squad, and the financial might of their top six rivals, it is an achievement in itself for Liverpool to still be in the race for the top four at this stage of the season.

That, of course, will be no consolation if they miss out on the Champions League, but it is the inconvenient truth for a club that measures its success in trophies rather than league placings.

Liverpool might have five European Cups and 18 league titles on their honours list, but their illustrious history does not equate to the position in which the club currently finds itself.

Just consider Liverpool’s substitutes’ bench against Palace. It consisted of two 17-year-olds (Ben Woodburn and Rhian Brewster), an 18-year-old (Trent Alexander-Arnold) and a 19-year-old (Joe Gomez).

Beyond that quartet of teenagers, Klopp’s outfield options extended to Alberto Moreno — a left-back who has lost his place to James Milner, a midfielder — and Marko Grujic, a 21-year-old Serbian midfielder making only his sixth appearance of the season when he was introduced for the final six minutes.

When they have their strongest XI fit and available, Liverpool are a match for any team in the Premier League, as their victories against Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City this season show.

But take any of their key men away and Liverpool find themselves running simply to keep up.

They have been without Jordan Henderson, Adam Lallana and Sadio Mane for crucial games in recent weeks and, thanks to the brilliance of Philippe Coutinho and Roberto Firmino, been able to get away with it.

But against Palace, Liverpool’s luck ran out and they could yet find themselves in fifth place, depending on results, by the time they tackle the hazardous encounter with Watford at Vicarage Road next Monday.

If that proves to be the case, the heat will well and truly be on, but that is the contradiction that Klopp and his team must somehow deal with.

Quite simply, Liverpool have been punching above their weight by being in the top four for most of the season, so if they miss out, it would ultimately be a case of football economics proving that the clubs with the biggest budgets end up higher than those without the same financial clout.

Liverpool spent just short of £70 million on new signings last summer, with £34m their biggest single outlay to prise Mane from Southampton.

City spent more than £150m on new players, with United investing a similar amount and smashing the world transfer record in the process by completing an £89.3m deal for Paul Pogba.

Chelsea spent more than £120m and could yet be rewarded with a league and FA Cup double in return, while Arsenal spent less than Liverpool and find themselves languishing in sixth, facing the prospect of missing out Champions League qualification for the first time this century.

Tottenham bucked the trend by spending around £60m, but the strength of Mauricio Pochettino’s young squad enabled the club to take that approach.

Liverpool do not possess the rising stars of Spurs and certainly don’t have the money of Chelsea or the two Manchester clubs, so they are always going to be fighting an uphill battle to out-perform them.

So far this season, they have done an incredible job of being able to keep their noses ahead of United, City and Arsenal — helped in many ways by the absence of European football from their fixture list — but their weaknesses were exposed by Palace and Liverpool are beginning to look as though they are approaching the finishing line by running in quicksand.

United may have left themselves with too much to do to overhaul Liverpool, but any more slips by Klopp’s team will give Jose Mourinho’s men huge encouragement.

The only way for Liverpool to escape this perennial race to keep up, however, is by spending like their rivals.

Until they do, Klopp and his players will always have to fight an unequal contest.