Could Jurgen Klopp's Borussia Dortmund ally solve Liverpool's injury crisis?

Oliver Bartlett was a key figure in keeping the Bundesliga side injury-free when they won back-to-back titles, and could be the answer to Merseysiders' struggles this season

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There is an argument put forward by regular followers of Borussia Dortmund that the club’s fortunes took a turn for the worse after the departure of one man, four years ago. It was not a player, nor a manager. It was their fitness coach, Oliver Bartlett.

Bartlett, a London-born Australian, joined Borussia Dortmund alongside Jurgen Klopp on 1 July 2008, having been head-hunted by director Michael Zorc while he was working for the German national team.

He was told to improve the Dortmund players’ athleticism and strength to the point where they could carry out Klopp’s relentless high-pressing game, gegenpressing.

Within the space of three years, Dortmund went on to win the Bundesliga title. They followed that with the League and Cup double in 2012. Significantly, they stayed largely injury-free, the players embracing Klopp’s methods and overpowering opponents with a thrilling, rampant brand of football.

Then, in 2012, Bartlett left to join Austrian club Red Bull Salzburg. Very much a disciple of Klopp, Bartlett was a key figure in implementing a similar pressing game, and Salzburg quickly went on to win the league.

Pep Guardiola, on the receiving end of a 3-0 defeat with Bayern Munich in a friendly in 2013, said: “I have never played in my career against a team that has such high intensity.”

Dortmund, meanwhile, began to struggle with injuries, the list steadily mounting until it came to a head last season as they flirted with relegation, they were in the drop zone during the winter break, before eventually finishing seventh prior to Klopp’s departure.

To say Bartlett’s exit was the reason for Dortmund’s decline is a step too far, but it certainly had a big impact.

Something had changed. Injuries had been mounting for years until, in total, only three Dortmund players came through the last campaign at full fitness, and Klopp’s squad suffered 26 separate muscle injuries. High-profile stars Nuri Sahin, Mats Hummels, Marco Reus, Jakub Blaszczykowski and Ilkay Gundogan were all sidelined as Dortmund flirted with disaster.

The argument, essentially, is that Klopp’s style of high-energy football places too much demand on his players’ bodies until they inevitably break down with a series of niggling muscle injuries, and that without a world-class fitness coach – someone like Bartlett – it is a recipe for disaster.

All of which brings us to Liverpool, and an injury list that threatens to derail Klopp after a promising start at Anfield. After two more injuries in the Capital One Cup win over Stoke on Tuesday, Klopp goes into Friday night’s FA Cup tie at Exeter with no fewer than 10 key players sidelined – six of them with hamstring injuries, including the centre-backs Martin Skrtel and Dejan Lovren, playmaker Philippe Coutinho and - yet again - Daniel Sturridge.

Klopp is facing accusations – most notably from Sunderland manager Sam Allardyce and Reds legend Graeme Souness – that he is burning his players out, wearing them down.

“I don’t think Jurgen has realised how ferocious our league is,” Allardyce said. “These lads are fatiguing now with so many games in such a short period of time and are picking up muscle strains.”

Souness had previously said: "A new manager comes in and all the chat was about high press further up the field. It's hard work to do that for 90 minutes. You can do it in bursts.

"You can do it for an hour, you can do it for 70 minutes, but to do it for 90 minutes is a big demand on your legs. I just think they've fallen foul of that. It's not a coincidence, five hamstrings. To have them all at one time, I think they have to look at what they're doing in training."

It is a logical argument, although Allardyce may well be deflecting from his own team's struggles. There have been so many injuries, all of a similar nature in such a short space of time, that it is unlikely to be a case of bad luck. After Liverpool initially seemed to embrace the pressing game, dismantling Manchester City, Chelsea and Southampton, they have visibly run out of steam in recent weeks.

But then again, Klopp is not the first manager to employ a pressing game – Brendan Rodgers did so to such enthralling effect in 2013-14 – and few have suffered such a spate of injuries. The answer instead may be found in the training methods.

So where does Klopp go? He will not abandon the philosophy that brought him so much success in Germany. It is tried and tested. Instead, he may look to bring in a fitness coach, or team, this summer who he feels can condition his players to the strains of gegenpressing. Zeljko Buvac and Peter Krawietz, Klopp’s trusted assistants from Dortmund, are already in place. Could he next make a call to Bartlett? It is surely an obvious choice.

If Klopp could bring his old colleague to Anfield, it could be his most important move at Liverpool so far.