Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp does not believe players are getting more powerful and instead expressed concerns about the direct communication between a club's boardroom and the squad.
Klopp's Liverpool travel to Leicester City on Monday night in the Premier League champions' first game since the sacking of Claudio Ranieri.
There had been reports of players being unhappy with Ranieri and having met with the side's owners in the build-up to his departure, something which has been denied by Leicester duo Jamie Vardy and Kasper Schmeichel.
"Players are not more powerful, we were much more powerful as players in the past," Klopp said. "It depends always on the board and if there is a direct way to the board.
"If the owners sit with the players and ask 'How are you?' and they will say 'Not too good' then it is 'Why?' 'Because of the manager.'
"I have never had this situation where there is a direct line to the owner or whatever. As long as the players talk together there is no problem. If they start talking about you? For this you need an ear on the other side.
"It is not about how powerful. The players need to be powerful but not in sacking managers. They never did it. It's not like the Leicester players did it or something. Someone asked and they gave an answer."
Klopp, who came under pressure after his side failed to win a Premier League game in January, continued: "I don't know if it's weakness [when a board contacts players] but it's the situation. I never had it but I know it has happened.
"To maintain the relationship, it's not like we come together every day and hug each other. We enjoy the work. I know what they want, they know what I want, so it is very good information.
"We've had some nice moments already and hard moments already and in the hard moments nothing came between us, not in the whole of January.
"Absolutely nothing. I did not say: 'How can I win if they don't deliver?' because I didn't think it. And they didn't say they could win if only I said the right things, because they didn't think it.
"Nobody expects perfection. I don't expect it from them and they don't from me. It is pretty simple and being good together is not too difficult. It is all full of respect. As long as they work really hard I am a really nice person. Not always in training, but I always respect.
"I will then decide who will start. If they start not working -- and that does not mean running it means concentrating on what you need to play football, listening -- then I am not a nice guy actually, but none of the players expect me to let them do what they want. They know someone has to make the rules and it is long ago I made them, and now we have to respect them."
Leicester host fifth-placed Liverpool with the Foxes in the relegation places. A win for Leicester would see them rise to 15th, while Liverpool can leapfrog Arsenal and Manchester City with a victory.
Klopp's Liverpool travel to Leicester City on Monday night in the Premier League champions' first game since the sacking of Claudio Ranieri.
There had been reports of players being unhappy with Ranieri and having met with the side's owners in the build-up to his departure, something which has been denied by Leicester duo Jamie Vardy and Kasper Schmeichel.
"Players are not more powerful, we were much more powerful as players in the past," Klopp said. "It depends always on the board and if there is a direct way to the board.
"If the owners sit with the players and ask 'How are you?' and they will say 'Not too good' then it is 'Why?' 'Because of the manager.'
"I have never had this situation where there is a direct line to the owner or whatever. As long as the players talk together there is no problem. If they start talking about you? For this you need an ear on the other side.
"It is not about how powerful. The players need to be powerful but not in sacking managers. They never did it. It's not like the Leicester players did it or something. Someone asked and they gave an answer."
Klopp, who came under pressure after his side failed to win a Premier League game in January, continued: "I don't know if it's weakness [when a board contacts players] but it's the situation. I never had it but I know it has happened.
"To maintain the relationship, it's not like we come together every day and hug each other. We enjoy the work. I know what they want, they know what I want, so it is very good information.
"We've had some nice moments already and hard moments already and in the hard moments nothing came between us, not in the whole of January.
"Absolutely nothing. I did not say: 'How can I win if they don't deliver?' because I didn't think it. And they didn't say they could win if only I said the right things, because they didn't think it.
"Nobody expects perfection. I don't expect it from them and they don't from me. It is pretty simple and being good together is not too difficult. It is all full of respect. As long as they work really hard I am a really nice person. Not always in training, but I always respect.
"I will then decide who will start. If they start not working -- and that does not mean running it means concentrating on what you need to play football, listening -- then I am not a nice guy actually, but none of the players expect me to let them do what they want. They know someone has to make the rules and it is long ago I made them, and now we have to respect them."
Leicester host fifth-placed Liverpool with the Foxes in the relegation places. A win for Leicester would see them rise to 15th, while Liverpool can leapfrog Arsenal and Manchester City with a victory.
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