Klopp on bravery, his first week and Spurs selection
Jürgen Klopp discussed his first week at Melwood, instilling confidence in his squad and selecting a team ahead of Liverpool's trip to Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday - read on for a summary of the manager's press conference below.
On his first week...
"We had three very good training sessions - the boys are really willing to listen, to understand what we want. It's not a time to change many things, it's only [time] to turn the screws a little bit in the right way and that's what we tried to do. Most of the time [this week] I was in work with all the staff of LFC."
On selecting a team for Spurs...
"I watch football all the time so I know many things about my new players, that's not the biggest problem. But it's not so interesting what they did last week, two weeks ago, for me it's more interesting what they are able to do on their best day. That's what I'm looking for and that's how I try to make the starting line-up for Tottenham. Everything will be better if we work together for six weeks but it's not a perfect world and so we have to [adapt to] the situation. I knew it was like this so it's no problem at this moment."
On expectations...
"Now we have to train as often and as long as possible and not think about expectations from outside. I don't read what's written so I'm completely free of expectations. My pressure, I make myself - it's big enough. I don't need anybody to tell me I have to be successful, I know it."
On Spurs...
"We have to be ready to work, we have to be ready to enjoy the game. We play against a very, very good Premier League team, they've worked together for a long time. They look fine-tuned, they work well together. Maybe they have some problems, struggles with injuries or other things, but it's a good team. I think we know how they want to play, that's an important point to know, but it's more important to analyse our own situation. I think now if nothing happens in the next training sessions I know how we want to play. We have to use these two sessions today and tomorrow to understand a bit more. But at the end, it's only football!"
On his hopes for the squad...
"All these guys are able to play really good football and that's what they did in their past, that's the reason they are here. Now we have to open our chests, and run and fight and shoot and all these things, defend together, attack together, like what football looks like in your best dream. I want to see more braveness. I want to see more fun in their eyes. I want to see that they like what they do. I saw it in the week and it's good, they're really good boys. I told the players I'm here because Liverpool is a great club, but also I'm here because of them, because I have a feeling I can help these guys. If we don't dream of only success in each situation, if we are prepared for problems in the game, if we are strong enough to handle this situation, then we can stay in the game and if you can stay in the game you can win the game."
On organisation...
"Maybe we can be very well organised, as good as possible after a short time, because that's what we have to train for at this moment. It's not allowed only to think of offensive things, I know that until now we don't have enough goals. But you have to start the development on the other side, you have to feel stability and then you are free for offense and creativity, that's how football works."
On instilling confidence...
"Some things you can change like this [clicks fingers], of course. You can change mentality, readiness, that's all you can change. But to get really tuned as a team that takes time, for sure. I'm not interested in the problems we could have on Saturday, I'm really not. It's a very important game for us because of one point - after this game we know more. I've met two kinds of people in the last week, most of them say 'we'll win the league', and the other guys are like 'what have you done, why are you here?'. We want to get back trust from outside, we want confidence more and more in our own skills, our own quality. That needs sometimes more, sometimes less time. A good example is the Aston Villa game when [James] Milner made a goal after a minute and everything changed in this moment. It's important that this is not the only way to feel free in a game, scoring in the first minute, because 0-0 is an absolutely normal result. It always starts with 0-0 so it's completely OK. You'll find a way, if you are patient enough, to find the next [chance] and not think 'oh God, it's like last week' or whatever. That's the feeling I want to give the players, that they can trust themselves."
On the need for bravery...
"Football is a fantastic game, we all love it. It can be spectacular, it’s fast, it’s hard, everything. But it doesn’t work without faults – never in history. As human beings, we always think about faults, we don’t think about the good things. That’s what we have to learn again; it’s not important how many faults you make in a game, it’s important that nobody can remember after the game. If you win 4-0 and you made four big mistakes, nobody can remember. You talk about it in England, you talk about everything, but it’s not important. You can always get better. Accept that something is not the best decision in life, football works if you are prepared that when your teammate makes a fault, you can help him. That’s how it works – we have to be close together in the game, tactically. If you are always close enough, you have options to play. With options, you can help. You don’t always have to try the most risky ball. You have to learn to run and fight and do everything until the moment – and when the moment is there, take it."