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‘I think he’s being a bit smart’: Joe Cole suggests that Jurgen Klopp is playing mind games by claiming Chelsea have the best team in the Premier League, insisting that Frank Lampard is right to temper expectations after the defeat of Everton.
- Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said Chelsea were the favorites for the title this week
- But the Blues’ title bid was felt a blow following the 1-0 loss to Everton on Saturday.
- Joe Cole claims Liverpool boss’s comments were an example of mind games
- Liverpool can get ahead of Chelsea with victory over Fulham on Sunday
Joe Cole has claimed that Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp was playing mind games when the German manager listed Chelsea as a title favorite last week.
Klopp named Frank Lampard’s Blues the best placed team to lift the Premier League trophy at a press conference, but Chelsea suffered a first loss in 17 games against Everton on Saturday night.
After the defeat at Goodison Park, Chelsea manager Lampard pulled his team out of the Premier League on the grounds that his team is too “young” and “inexperienced” for a title challenge.
Joe Cole (above) hinted at Jurgen Klopp’s mind games by naming Chelsea as the title favorite
Liverpool boss Klopp (left) named Frank Lampard (right) as a contender for the title earlier this week.
But Cole believes Klopp intentionally put a bit more pressure on Chelsea to try and influence their results, and the former Blues and West Ham midfielder claimed Lampard is right to keep his side balanced.
Cole told BT Sport: ‘I saw Jurgen Klopp name them (Chelsea’s) title contenders at his press conference last week, but I think Jurgen has been a bit smart. Chelsea will have days like this.
Chelsea are somewhere in the middle. The way the league is set up, no one is running away from it.
Klopp’s words may have affected Chelsea when Lampard’s team lost 1-0 to Everton on Saturday.
“This is a bump in the road for Chelsea and there will be a bump in the road for Liverpool, for Tottenham, but he (Lampard) still has reason to calm the mood a bit.”
Klopp’s comments came after Chelsea moved to the top of the table following a 3-1 win over Leeds United last weekend.
Both Tottenham and Liverpool got ahead of the Blues by beating Arsenal and Wolves respectively the following day, but Klopp took a chance to predict the title winners after just 11 games.
Klopp (above) claimed that Chelsea were the favorite due to the size and shape of their team.
Klopp said at his press conference: ‘If I watch matches, I see that Tottenham are obviously doing quite well, that Chelsea for me at the moment seems the favorite.
“They have the biggest squad, great players, they are playing well. Now they are full and have incredible opportunities to change. [the team] between games and from game to game. That’s.’
But Lampard’s side fell 1-0 to Carlo Ancelotti’s Everton on Saturday night thanks to a first-half penalty from Gylfi Sigurdsson. West Londoners dominated the ball in Merseyside, but failed to take down a determined Toffees team defensively.
Cole says ex-teammate Lampard is right to dampen spirits at Chelsea after loss
Cole claims Lampard is right that his Chelsea team was too weak against a defensively strong Everton team, but claims the Blues will bounce back from this setback.
He added: ‘At the beginning of the interview he alluded to knowing what this team (Everton) was capable of. When you saw the team card, you will have seen “well, that’s a great physical team.”
They found it difficult and what it says about (Edouard) Mendy is correct. He’s been flawless since he came in, he made half a mistake last week (against Leeds) and he made a mistake this week, but it’s not a problem. ”
