Category: US

CNN
 — 

Tyre Nichols. Monterey Park. Half Moon Bay.

Three new entries in America’s roster of tragedy burst from obscurity to their haunting moment in the media spotlight and exemplified societal undercurrents of violence, injustice and grief.

A week that began with the nation reeling from more mass shootings ended with the release of a video capturing the beating of yet another Black man pulled over for a police traffic stop who ended up dead.

Nichols, a 29-year-old from Memphis, became the latest victim suddenly introduced to millions of Americans after his death. A grand jury Thursday returned murder indictments against five since-fired police officers involved in his arrest. With tensions rising in Tennessee and further afield, the city of Memphis released body camera and surveillance video of the arrest on Friday evening. The footage drew stunned reaction from law enforcement experts and outrage from officials, including President Joe Biden.

In California, meanwhile, grieving families are processing the horror that suddenly pitches a town or city into the public eye and epitomizes an epidemic of lone gunmen unleashing massacres in everyday places where people trusted they were safe.

At a dance studio on Saturday night in Monterey Park, 11 people between the ages of 57 and 76 were killed celebrating Lunar New Year. Unbelievably, on Monday, it happened again. Seven innocent people died in a mass shooting that unfolded at a mushroom farm and near a trucking facility. The community’s sense of peace was “destroyed by senseless death,” California Assemblymember Marc Berman said.

Aside from the brutal, sudden arrival of needless death, this week’s shootings and the aftermath of the loss of another young man are not linked. But there is a sense that the rituals of anger and mourning after such horrors are familiar. A fresh batch of relatives is thrust into the gauntlet of interviews and news conferences as well as the political melees often stirred by tragic incidents. They are like new characters reciting the same lines of anger and disbelief in an endless cycle of loss.

The trauma afflicting California and Memphis this week also touches on areas in which a polarized political system has failed, repeatedly, to make progress to stop such tragedies from happening. The rituals after mass shootings – of politicians expressing condolences, liberals demanding gun reform and conservatives deflecting blame from lax firearms laws – lead almost always to not much being done.

A similarly politicized debate over police reform delivers futility after almost every incident of apparent brutality. After a spate of deaths of young Black men at police hands, a bipartisan attempt to address officer conduct foundered in 2021 and has little chance of a revival in now-divided Washington. Caricatured arguments over whether Democrats want to “defund” the police – many do not – and the amped-up politics around guns effectively paralyze any hope of change.

The tragedy of Tyre Nichols is deepened by its familiarity. He was taken to the hospital after his arrest on January 7 and died three days later from injuries sustained when he was taken into custody. After his family and attorneys met with police and viewed videos of his arrest, momentum steadily built for accountability as the story generated local and then national headlines. It all led up to Thursday’s indictments.

The face of Nichols is now smiling out from a photo on every television station or news website. His name has joined those of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Daunte Wright and countless others who in death rose to prominence and became examples of America’s struggles against police brutality. Others like Ahmaud Arbery and Trayvon Martin, more broadly, have become casualties of societal and individual racism.

It’s important that these names are remembered – given both the individuals they were and the unresolved national pain they represent. Prominent civil rights and wrongful death attorneys Ben Crump and Antonio Romanucci made this point in a statement issued on behalf of the Nichols family on Thursday.

“This young man lost his life in a particularly disgusting manner that points to the desperate need for change and reform to ensure this violence stops occurring during low-threat procedures, like in this case, a traffic stop,” they wrote.

“This tragedy meets the absolute definition of a needless and unnecessary death. Tyre’s loved ones’ lives were forever changed when he was beaten to death, and we will keep saying his name until justice is served.”

Yet it’s haunting that millions of Americans who never met Nichols only now know him in death. It’s a dehumanizing trend that victims become metaphors for a social blight or political failures and their lifetimes are fitted into established narratives when they can no longer write their own stories. That’s why an anecdote about Nichols – like how he loved to rush out in the evenings to take snapshots of sunsets – is so important to restoring a piece of his humanity.

The release of the video on Friday, which had officials from Biden on downwards warning against a violent reaction, offered new insight into Nichols’ death. As will the prosecution of the five former officers. A trial will also likely feature context about a challenging public order and crime situation in Memphis, intensive police tactics and how conditions set off a chain of events where a routine traffic stop could end so awfully.

Unlike many recent incidents where young Black men have been disproportionately impacted in encounters with White police officers, the case in Memphis involved five Black officers.

But CNN political analyst Bakari Sellers said that the incident nevertheless underscored a criminal justice system that was failing.

“For many of us, we haven’t been critical necessarily of the race of the officer whether or not they are White, Black, Hispanic or otherwise, but it’s the system. And what you are seeing over and over, again and again, is a system that perpetuates violence against people of color,” Sellers said on CNN’s “The Situation Room.”

Each of the five police officers has been charged with second-degree murder, aggravated assault, two charges of aggravated kidnapping, two charges of official misconduct and one charge of official oppression. While each played a different role in the incident, Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy said, “The actions of all of them resulted in the death of Tyre Nichols, and they are all responsible.”

But lawyers for two of the men cautioned that the full facts of the case are yet to emerge. “No one out there that night intended for Tyre Nichols to die,” said William Massey, who is representing Emmitt Martin, one of the former officers. “Justice means following the law and the law says that no one is guilty until a jury says they’re guilty.”

Monterey Park and Half Moon Bay in California now join the roll call of cities whose notoriety is burned into America’s consciousness by mass shootings, including Columbine, Newtown, Uvalde, Parkland, San Bernardino and others too numerous to count.

Everyone who died represents a crushing individual tragedy, a family severed and future memories obliterated by an assailant armed with a gun.

Valentino Marcos Alvero, 68, hoped to retire in a year and return home to the Philippines, but in the meantime loved to “dance around the house,” his son Val Anthony Alvero said. Mymy Nhan, 65, also loved to dance and for years went to the studio in Monterey Park where she died, a family statement said.

While the mass shootings left a pall of fear and loss over the Golden State, there was one ray of light epitomized by 26-year-old Brandon Tsay, who wrestled with the Monterey Bay shooter in another dance studio in Alhambra, eventually disarming him and potentially averting even greater carnage. Biden called Tsay on Thursday to thank him for “taking such incredible action in the face of danger.”

“I don’t think you understand just how much you’ve done for so many people who are never going to even know you,” the president told a modest Tsay, according to a transcript.

“You are America, pal. You are who we are. … America’s never backed down, we’ve always stepped up, because of people like you.”

Overall, though, it was a harrowing week in which the grief never seemed to stop, best summed up in a tweet by California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom.

“Tragedy upon tragedy.”

This story has been updated with additional developments.

Editor’s Note: This article contains graphic videos and descriptions of violence.

CNN
 — 

The newly released videos of Tyre Nichols’ police beating captured the brutality that his family and authorities had already foreshadowed: He was punched and kicked while being restrained. He pleaded to go home and repeatedly yelled for his mom.

And after the beating, while Nichols lay slumped and motionless against a car, officers walking around on scene ignored the 29-year-old Black man.

The videos consist of three shorter body camera clips and one roughly 31-minute video taken from a utility pole camera, which appears to capture most of the violence that unfolded just steps from Nichols’ home in Memphis.

The videos show portions of both the initial traffic stop on the night of January 7 and a second altercation just minutes later, after Nichols fled the first location on foot. Nichols required hospitalization after the encounter and died on January 10.

“What you’re seeing is a fairly significant number of officers who are failing at arrest and control tactics and making up for it with brutality,” said CNN Chief Law Enforcement and Intelligence Analyst John Miller.

Law enforcement analysts who viewed the clips were troubled by a range of actions – and inactions – during the encounter, from the beating by a group of officers to the length of time it took for someone to render aid to a motionless Nichols.

The videos leave many questions unanswered, including the reason for the stop, which the officers do not explain in the clips. Memphis police initially said Nichols was pulled over for suspected reckless driving, but police chief Cerelyn “CJ” Davis told CNN on Friday authorities have not been able to “substantiate that” claim.

The clips also do not answer why authorities used such force on Nichols, who did not appear to fight back, and why they felt compelled to confront him twice.

But the videos do shed light on just how violent the fatal confrontation was. Here are some key revelations:

Videos from the encounters capture multiple officers threatening Nichols with violence while he appears to comply with their commands or is already on the ground.

A body camera video that captures the initial encounter between Nichols and police shows the officer getting out of his car with his gun drawn and captures an officer yelling for Nichols to “Get the fuck out of the car.”

Nichols is heard saying, “I didn’t do anything,” and later, as he gets on the ground, “All right, I’m on the ground.”

An officer yells at him, “Bitch, put your hands behind your back before I… I’m going to knock your ass the fuck out.”

Nichols says, “I’m just trying to go home.”

While officers yell commands, Nichols repeatedly responds that he is on the ground and is heard saying he didn’t do anything, before running away as an officer deploys his Taser.

At the second encounter, where the beating occurs, a body camera captures an officer yelling at Nichols, “I’m going to baton the fuck out of you,” while Nichols is on the ground and not fighting back. An officer is also heard asking “Do you want to be sprayed again,” while Nichols is on the ground and yelling for his mom.

The video taken from a remotely controlled camera on a neighborhood utility pole shows Memphis officers continuously hitting Nichols at least nine times, without visible provocation.

“The pole cam video is the one that really justifies the charges,” said former Philadelphia police commissioner Charles Ramsey, a CNN law enforcement analyst. “Nobody trains for that. These guys are acting so far outside of bounds that … you really can’t explain it. … One officer kicked him so hard and so much that he’s limping around.”

In the pole video, an officer is seen shoving Nichols on the pavement with what appears to be his leg or knee. Nichols is then pulled up by his shoulders and kicked in the face twice, then later is hit in the back with what appears to be a nightstick. Seconds later, he’s hit again.

Once he’s pulled to his feet, officers are seen hitting Nichols in the face multiple times while other officers are restraining his hands behind his body.

Nichols is seen falling to his knees – and less than a minute later, an officer appears to kick him.

When officers let go of Nichols, he rolls on his back and is then dragged along the pavement and propped up in a sitting position against the side of a car, where he remains largely ignored by the officers on scene.

According to one of the body camera videos released, while Nichols is slumped next to the car unattended, officers appear to say at least two officers pepper sprayed him and another tased Nichols.

“No one is doing anything to help him. It goes back to the failure to act, the failure to care and the overall obliviousness of the officers that are just standing around,” said former New York police Lt. Darrin Porcher.

Paramedics appear to show up on scene about 10 minutes into the video.

Roughly 23 minutes pass from the time Nichols appeared to be subdued after the beating before a stretcher arrives on scene.

“It’s horrific to watch,” said CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta. “There’s all sorts of different injuries he may have suffered. So many of the injuries to the head, you saw kicks to the head, you saw these blows to the head, punches to the head, that’s obviously very concerning.”

What could happen in situations like that, Gupta added, is that the brain could begin to swell and there could be internal bleeding.

“That’s why this timing is so critical because if the brain is swelling – he still seemed like he was talking at some point but he was obviously getting worse – the brain starts to swell when you’re not getting enough oxygenated blood to the brain anymore and that’s what causes the big problem and what can lead to death.”

“He’s just laying there, obviously in critical condition at this point.”

And paramedics aren’t particularly equipped to help someone with those kinds of internal injuries, said Dr. Kendall Von Crowns, chief medical examiner in Tarrant County, Texas. The focus should have been on getting Nichols to the hospital for emergency surgery or a transfusion as soon as possible.

“We’re talking minutes,” he said. “He really needs to be treated right away.”

Besides the excessive violence, what troubled Porcher was that “no officer was willing to intervene and say stop,” he told CNN on Friday night.

“There’s a point where you have to intercede and say either ‘Stop’ or physically step between the officer that’s assaulting the person and that actual individual. And that didn’t happen,” Porcher said.

According to Memphis Police Department policies, officers have a duty to intervene.

“Any member who directly observes another member engaged in dangerous or criminal conduct or abuse of a subject shall take reasonable action to intervene,” according to a policy page of the department.

Five Memphis officers, who are also Black, were fired earlier this month for violating police policies and were each charged with second-degree murder, among other charges.

Two fire department employees who were part of Nichols’ “initial patient care” were relieved of duty “while an internal investigation is being conducted,” department public information officer Qwanesha Ward told CNN’s Nadia Romero.

After the video release, Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner Jr. said he launched an internal investigation into the conduct of two deputies “who appeared on the scene following the physical confrontation.” Both deputies “have been relieved of duty” pending the investigation’s outcome, the sheriff said.

CNN
 — 

Two people were wounded in a shooting attack in Jerusalem on Saturday, emergency services say, the day after a gunman killed at least seven people near a synagogue in the city.

The two men injured in the City of David area of Jerusalem on Saturday, one aged 22 and one in his 40s, are father and son, according to police. A 13-year-old who police say shot and wounded the pair was “neutralized and injured” by “two passers-by carrying licensed weapons.”

Tensions in Israel and the Palestinian territories remain high after Friday’s shooting, which police chief Yaakov Shabtai described as “one of the worst terror attacks in the past few years.” The shooter in that attack was also later killed by police forces, according to police.

“As a result of the shooting attack, the death of 7 civilians was determined and 3 others were injured with additional degrees of injury,” police said.

Five of the shooting victims were pronounced dead at the scene, Israel’s Magen David Adom (MDA) emergency rescue service said: four men and a woman. Five people were transported to hospitals, where another man and woman were declared dead. Among the wounded is a 15-year-old boy, the MDA said.

The attack occurred around 8:15 p.m. local time on Friday, near a synagogue on Neve Yaakov Street, according to a police statement.

Shabtai said the gunman “started shooting at anyone that was in his way. He got in his car and started a killing spree with a pistol at short range.” He then fled the scene in a vehicle and was killed after a shootout with police forces, police said.

Police identified the gunman as a 21-year-old resident of East Jerusalem, saying in a statement that he appeared to have acted alone. East Jerusalem is a predominantly Palestinian area of the city, which was captured by Israel in 1967.

Referring to Saturday’s attack, a community leader said the 13-year-old suspected shooter knew a 16-year-old Palestinian who died of gunshot wounds a day earlier. Jawad Siam, director of the Silwanic non-profilt organization in East Jerusalem, told CNN the suspect’s family denied their 13-year-old son was responsible for the Saturday attack, which happened close to the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Silwan, East Jerusalem.

According to Siam, the 13-year-old suspect was a neighbor of a 16-year-old Palestinian who died of gunshot wounds in hospital overnight Friday. The 16-year-old was shot Wednesday by Israeli police.

Of the two wounded Saturday, the 22-year-old man is now in a serious but stable condition, anesthetized and ventilated in the intensive care unit, while his 47-year-old father is in a moderate and stable condition.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged people against revenge attacks on Friday night. “I call on the people not to take the law into their own hands. For that purpose we have an army, police and security forces. They act and will act according to the cabinet instructions,” he said.

Meanwhile, the European Union on Saturday urged Israel to only use lethal force as a “last resort.”

“The European Union fully recognises Israel’s legitimate security concerns, as evidenced by the latest terrorist attacks, but it has to be stressed that lethal force must only be used as a last resort when it is strictly unavoidable in order to protect life,” the EU’s top diplomat Josep Borrell said Saturday in a press release.

Borrell also stressed that the bloc is “very concerned by the heightened tensions in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory.”

“We call on both parties to do everything possible to de-escalate the situation and to restart security coordination, which is vital to prevent further acts of violence,” he concluded.

Friday’s incident came one day after the deadliest day for Palestinians in the West Bank in over a year, according to CNN records.

On Thursday, Israeli forces killed nine Palestinians and wounded several others in the West Bank city of Jenin, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, prompting the Palestinian Authority to suspend security coordination with Israel. A tenth Palestinian was killed that day in what Israel Police called a “violent disturbance” near Jerusalem.

Overnight, on Friday morning local time, Israel launched air strikes on the Gaza strip after rockets were fired towards Israel.

Israel’s controversial National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir visited the scene of the attack on Friday evening, telling people who were chanting angrily that “it cannot continue like this.”

“I can tell you, [the people chanting] you are right. The burden is on us. It cannot continue like this,” Ben Gvir, who also leads the far-right Jewish Power party, said.

Some people on the scene were chanting support for Ben Gvir, saying “You are our voice, we support you.”

CNN’s Hadas Gold and team, who were also at the scene of Friday night’s shooting, heard what sounded like celebratory gunfire and car horns honking from the nearby predominantly Palestinian neighborhood of Beit Hanina.

The White House condemned the “heinous terror attack” at a synagogue in Jerusalem on Friday and said the United States government has extended its “full support” to Israel, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement.

The US State Department also condemned the “apparent terrorist attack” in Jerusalem “in the strongest terms.”

“This is absolutely horrific,” said State Department Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel. “Our thoughts, prayers and condolences go out to those killed and injured in this heinous act of violence.”

Patel said no change to the schedule of Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s upcoming trip to Egypt, Israel and the West Bank was expected.

US second gentleman Doug Emhoff joined the Biden administration in denouncing the mass shooting on Friday that killed at least seven people. “This is a terror attack. This is murder,” Emhoff said to reporters after touring the Oskar Schindler Enamel Factory in Krakow, Poland.

“This is something that is horrible. These were people who were just praying in a temple, living their everyday lives, and were murdered in cold blood and it’s not acceptable.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky added his voice to those condemning the deadly shooting near a synagogue in Jerusalem on Friday, saying that one of those killed in the attack was a Ukrainian national.

“We share (Israel’s) pain after the terrorist attacks in Jerusalem. Among the victims is a (Ukrainian) woman. Sincere condolences to the victims’ families. The crimes were cynically committed on the Intl Holocaust Remembrance Day. Terror must have no place in today’s world. Neither in (Israel) nor in (Ukraine),” Zelensky said in a tweet.

Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates called for an end to escalation in tensions.

In a statement released on Saturday, Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs warned “the situation between Palestinians and Israelis will slide into further serious escalation,” and the “Kingdom condemns all targeting of civilians, stressing the need to de-escalate, revive the peace process and end the occupation.”

Egypt’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs also warned of the “severe risks of the ongoing escalation” between Israel and Palestine, calling for “provocative measures in order to avoid falling into a vicious circle of violence that worsens the political and humanitarian situations and undermines de-escalation efforts and all chances of reviving the peace process.”

The UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation condemned and rejected “all forms of violence and terrorism aimed at undermining security and stability in contravention of human values and principles.”

Egypt and the UAE have normalized ties with Israel. Saudi Arabia has not.

France, Germany and the UK also condemned the shooting. “I am appalled by reports of the terrible attack in Neve Yaakov tonight. Attacking worshippers at a synagogue on Erev Shabat is a particularly horrific act of terrorism. The UK stands with Israel,” Neil Wigan, the British ambassador in Israel wrote on Twitter.

The French embassy in Israel tweeted that the incident was “all the more despicable as it was committed on this day of international remembrance of the Holocaust.”

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres also condemned Friday’s deadly attack, his spokesman said.

“It is particularly abhorrent that the attack occurred at a place of worship, and on the very day we commemorated International Holocaust Remembrance Day,” he said.

Guterres also expressed worry “about the current escalation of violence in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory,” urging all “to exercise utmost restraint.”

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz offered their condolences to the victims’ families following the two attacks. Scholz said Saturday that he was “deeply shocked” by the “terrible” attacks in Jerusalem in the past 24 hours.

Russia on Saturday urged all parties to show “maximum restraint” after the wave of deadly violence. “We perceive this development of events with deep concern. We call on all parties to exercise maximum restraint and prevent further escalation of tension,” the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement.

CNN
 — 

Belarusian-born Aryna Sabalenka defeated Elena Rybakina in three sets to win a thrilling women’s Australian Open final Saturday, becoming the first player competing under a neutral flag to secure a grand slam.

Amid the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, tournament organizer Tennis Australia required Russian and Belarusian players to compete as neutrals.

Outplayed in the opening set, Sabalenka came from behind to overpower the reigning Wimbledon champion 4-6 6-3 6-4 in a remarkable turnaround in Melbourne.

Breaking Rybakina’s serve in the seventh game of a tense third set proved to be the crucial breakthrough for the fifth seed, whose venomous serve and intense groundstrokes ultimately paved the way for her success.

A nervous start from Sabalenka – she made five double faults and won only four points on the second serve in the first set – made it seem as if it would be a routine second grand slam for Rybakina as she secured the first set in 34 minutes.

But Sabalenka found accuracy as well as power in the second and third sets, with Rybakina faltering at crucial stages. The Russian-born Kazakh, who is also a big hitter, saw off three championship points but sent a forehand long on the fourth. Sabalenka fell to the ground, reduced to tears on wining her maiden major.

She celebrated by climbing to the players’ box where her coach, Anton Dubrov, could be seen sobbing into a towel.

“I’m still shaking and super nervous,” she told the spectators in her on-court speech before the presentation.

On receiving the trophy from Billie Jean King, Sabalenka thanked the American great for her pioneering work for the women’s game, and went on to thank her team, whom she described as the “craziest on tour.”

“We’ve been through a lot of downs last year,” she said. “We worked so hard, you guys deserve this trophy, it’s more about you than about me. Thank you so much for everything you do for me. I love you.”

Minsk-born Sabalenka was competing in her first grand slam final, having previously lost three major semifinals. Serving first, she opened the match with a double fault as nerves clearly played a part on an occasion such as this. She later admitted that she tactically didn’t “play my best” in the first set.

In the second set she targeted the Rybakina forehand and broke early for a 3-1 lead. When Rybakina threatened to break back immediately, as she had done in the first set, Sabalenka held firm, overcoming another double fault to further extend her lead at 4-1 before going on to clinch the set with an ace.

After an impressive second set from Sabalenka, the match entered a tense third set decider. Initially the pair went toe-to-toe, both having the bravery to go for their shots, to maintain the power, but it was Sabalenka who eventually broke through, ending an entertaining final with 17 aces and 51 winners.

“I need a few more days to realize what happened,” Sabalenka told Eurosport.

“I’m just super happy and proud. There’s so many things in my head. I’m not on this planet right now. It’s kind of relief, I’ve been in the top 10 but I didn’t have a grand slam trophy yet and it’s been really tough to get it, every slam was super emotional.

“It’s relief, it’s a joy, I’m just proud of myself, of everyone.”

Asked how she would celebrate, Sabalenka said, laughing: “Probably eating everything that I couldn’t this week.”

Rybakina was ranked 25th in the world coming into this tournament – a position which belies her talent and success – and she began the tournament playing on the outside courts.

Her failure to break into the top 10 stemmed mainly from the fact that ranking points from last year’s Wimbledon were removed because of the tournament’s decision to ban Russians and Belarusians from playing.

Reaching the final in Melbourne – where she defeated three former grand slam winners along the way in Iga Światek, Jelena Ostapenko and Victoria Azarenka – will no doubt help her rise up the rankings.

“Hopefully we are going to have many more battles,” Rybakina told Sabalenka during the trophy presentation. “It was a good year for me and hopefully next year I am going to have the same result and (do) even better.”

CNN
 — 

Mo Salah was Liverpool’s figurehead, his goalscoring prowess the capstone of a team accustomed to winning trophies.

But, like the rest of his team, Salah is “suffering” this season because of the constant disruption to Liverpool’s attack, scoring just once in his last six appearances, manager Jurgen Klopp said in a press conference on Friday.

Injuries to key players – Salah has played just 343 minutes alongside likely fellow starters Luis Diaz and Darwin Núñez – have only heightened the loss of Sadio Mané to Bayern Munich last season, breaking up Liverpool’s cohesive offensive unit.

“It was a well-drilled machine the front three; everything was clear what we were doing,” Klopp said. “Everyone suffers, that’s clear. It is specific, offensive play that requires a lot of work and a lot of information, and not always obvious information.”

This season, Salah has scored seven goals in 19 Premier League games, unlike in 2021/22 when he contributed 23 goals and won the Golden Boot.

Lying in ninth in the Premier League having scored fewer goals, conceded more, and won fewer points than any of the previous seven seasons at this stage under Klopp’s tenure, Liverpool’s problems run deeper than just Salah’s misfiring form.

“Mo has scored hundreds of goals in recent years and when you don’t score the first thing people think about is that, but that is not our problem at the moment,” Klopp added.

“We started the season with Harvey [Elliott] in the half position, with Hendo [Jordan Henderson] it is different, and now it is Naby [Keïta]. So things are different all the time but usually you have a real basis to build on and that is what we don’t have.”

As Klopp seeks to kickstart Liverpool’s floundering season, he hopes that January signing Cody Gakpo can offer an alternative offensive option.

“Now we have Cody [Gakpo], obviously a really important asset, a connector; he can play the wing and the centre as well,” Klopp said.

Liverpool next take to the field against Brighton in the FA Cup fourth round on Sunday.