Jurgen Klopp has finally spoken out about a newly developed fear of double negatives, which has caused him to stop playing his trademark false nine with immediate effect.

The bilingual German, who famously deploys Oral B spokesman Roberto Firmino in the false nine role, will now need to reconsider how he uses the Brazilian from here on out.

“It’s called Barelynophobia” explained Klopp, who insisted on checking our interview script for double negatives prior to speaking with us. “Roberto is incredibly effective in the role that shall not be named, so we’re going to have to be creative with our approach.”

The false nine was initially popularised by Pep Guardiola, who used it as a means of mocking weaker opponents by simply not playing an out-and-out striker. “We beat them 7-2 and we didn’t even have a proper forward” guffawed the Spaniard following City’s thrashing of Stoke back in October.

Klopp has adopted a similar approach, and his Liverpool side have responded with an attacking zeal that has made an example of some of the best defences in the league. But the 50-year old’s new phobia threatens to derail his club’s progress.

“I really don’t know where it came from” he told us. “One day my wife told me she couldn’t find her keys nowhere – and since-” at this point, Klopp broke out in a vicious red rash – “since then, I’ve had to deal with this terrible rash whenever I hear someone use a double negative. I’m just thankful the rash isn’t blue, otherwise I’d be done for.”