Gabby Agbonlahor has boldly claimed that his feud with Jurgen Klopp ‘rattled’ the German coach and has contributed to Liverpool’s poor form this year.
The talkSPORT pundit clashed with the Liverpool boss at the beginning of the season after Klopp jumped to the defence of Man United coach Erik ten Hag, following a lambasting from Agbonlahor.
The two have struggled to see eye-to-eye since then and, with Liverpool now 16 points behind league leaders Arsenal, Agbonlahor is convinced he played a part.
Speaking on talkSPORT, Agbonlahor reflected on their feud and said: ‘Klopp only knew my first name, not my second name! He knew what he was doing. It’s that way of saying: “Oh, I don’t know who he is. What’s his name?”
‘And ever since… 16pts behind Arsenal now. It’s not been the mentality monster season for Liverpool. I’m just saying, he’s been rattled and this season Liverpool haven’t been the same as they should be.
When asked by his co-host whether he thinks he personally ‘rattled’ the Liverpool boss, Agbonlahor said: ‘Yeah’
The conflict between the two personalities began in August when Klopp heard Agbonlahor criticise Manchester United on his Saturday evening phone-in show after their 4-0 defeat at Brentford.
Six days later, at a press conference to preview his own team’s visit to Old Trafford, Klopp let rip. ‘I listened to Gabby….,’ said the German, seemingly misplacing Agbonlahor’s surname.
‘He lost against us 6-0 in my first season and I don’t remember him being a mentality monster on the pitch.
‘What he said on that show. I almost phoned in to tell him he has forgotten that he used to be a player. It was unbelievable.’
Agbonlahor responded to Klopp’s remarks by tweeting a picture of when he scored the only goal in Villa’s 1-0 win at Anfield in September 2014.
In October, Agbonlahor mockingly labelled Klopp ‘Mr Mentality Monster’ after Liverpool’s shock 1-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest.
Agbonlahor said: ‘Mr Mentality Monster, Jurgen, five games away from home without a win this season – can he only get them up for home games at a full Anfield?
‘Can he not get his ‘mentality monster’ team up for away games? Because today was shocking from Liverpool. Every player apart from Alisson was below a five out of 10 today.’
Liverpool find themselves sixth in the Premier League table after a disappointing opening to their domestic campaign.
Defeats against Brentford, Leeds and Nottingham Forest have caused concerns for fans as they’ve failed to replicate their form from last season.
They’ll be hoping to get back to winning ways – after their recent 2-2 draw with Wolves – in their Premier League trip to Brighton on Saturday.