Liverpool: Graeme Souness attributes Reds injury problems to Jurgen Klopp's style of play

Liverpool legend Graeme Souness believes Jurgen Klopp's playing style has been a major contributing factor to Liverpool's current injury crisis. The Reds managed a 1-0 win over Stoke City in the first leg of the semi-finals of the Capital One Cup, but lost two more players to injury, with Dejan Lovren and Philippe Coutinho being hauled off the pitch after picking up hamstring injuries.

The former Borussia Dortmund manager is known for his high pressing style of football, which requires a lot of stamina and fitness to be able to pull off over the stretch of a season. The German took over from Brendan Rodgers following the Reds' 1-1 draw with Everton in October, but the results have not been up to expectations, with Liverpool currently in eighth spot, six points behind Tottenham for a place in the top four.

Their main struggle has been in terms of injuries to key players, with the Merseyside club missing a massive 11 players, including the likes of Jordan Henderson and Daniel Sturridge. The recent injuries mean that they only have one fit central defender in the squad in Kolo Toure, with Mamadou Sakho missing their game against Stoke City with a knock.

The Reds have a couple of important games coming up in the league against Arsenal and Manchester United, which can decide their fate in the league table come the end of the season. However, the recent injury crisis means that they are down to their bare bones in terms of personnel; something Souness believes is down to the naivety of the manager.

"Jurgen Klopp came in after 11 games and the players, certainly the players who were playing, would have had good fitness," Souness said, as quoted by the Daily Mail.

"All the talk was 'we're going to be energetic, we're going to be high press at every opportunity'. That demands real fitness. It's a difficult balance coming in after 11 games to push the players when they're playing two, maybe three games a week, weekend, midweek, weekend. I think it's a hard thing, a big ask to do that and not suffer the problems they've suffered," he added.