Jürgen Klopp: We are still Liverpool - that's what I know, live and love
Jürgen Klopp vowed he and his players will continue to do everything possible to get Liverpool back on track.
After a challenging month in a testing Premier League season, the Reds head to Sheffield United on Sunday evening aiming to clinch three points in their objective to climb the table.
Klopp acknowledged the hurdles his side have faced so far this term, but detailed the work still going on behind the scenes to put things right.
Read on as the boss spoke to reporters during the second part of his press conference ahead of the team's trip to Bramall Lane...
On how he keeps his motivation going...
No lack of motivation. So, difficult situations always fired me up, rather than, I don't know, the other way around. It's clear to say winning game after game after game is nicer, absolutely. But this is a different time, this is a different season for us obviously for plenty of reasons, and we have to fight through this and we will do that. There's no doubt about that. Maybe the important message, even in this moment, [is]: we are still Liverpool and that's what we feel. You cannot only be Liverpool on a day when you win 20 games in a row or don't lose home games for ages. No, we are still Liverpool – and that's exactly what I know and what I live, what I love. That's what gives me the energy. I'm not here for only the big celebrations and stuff like this, I'm here for doing the work. If it's necessary, the dirty work, the hard work, no problems. It's all fine. I said plenty of times, I feel massively responsible – and I am massively responsible – for the situation we are in. A big part of it, some parts of it not – but we have no influence on that and that means I have to make good decisions, better decisions if necessary and all these kind of things. On the pitch, we have to be more clinical, that's clear as well, and we work on that.
On his approach during testing times and maintaining a positive atmosphere...
I don't know, so maybe you should ask the players or whatever. Atmosphere, maybe it's a misunderstanding, I don't know, [that] a good atmosphere means you come in every morning and you enter the door and the first thing is a massive joke and everybody is laughing like crazy – that's not like it is. An atmosphere is like a trustful atmosphere, like people trust each other, that we like each other, that we respect each other, that we do these kind of things. That we create a situation where we always find a way for ourselves to become, all of us, positive again about the next game, optimistic again about the next game. Yes, that's a massive challenge. That's exactly what we do and what we do together. How I said, we will try everything this season.
But there are so many things we can learn about people, other people, I don't read what you write but maybe about journalists. We can really learn a lot of things about what we did right even when the world thought it's wrong, and when we did wrong even when people didn't realise it. While we are doing that, we go through this period. But our football life, our career doesn't end after this season. What we go through now, we have to sort problems now, immediately. But in the long term, we can get the benefit of what we are going through in the moment, that's clear. But that's not for the moment. It's not that difficult to create an atmosphere, I don't go and put the finger on my players and blame them for the situation, I don't do that. So, we are all responsible for it, I'm mainly responsible for it but I can get up in the morning and find some good things about the day and about the things what we do and about the training sessions. I can do that and everybody can do that. That's it. Again, it's not cool but there are much worse things out there than the situation we are in as a football club.
On how big an achievement it would be to finish in the top four considering all the challenges faced this season...
Big. Absolutely, nothing else to say. You see it yourself, you see the competitors. Look, it's not about the possible performance. So, the game we played against Leicester we lost, we know, but the performance we showed that day, that was a game usually one team wins. It's only about what we can bring on the pitch still. We played against West Ham and I think they were in front of us as well on that day. But it's all about results. I don't say that's not right. No, the table doesn't lie – never. That's completely fine. It's just we know performance-wise we are not so far away but result-wise we are – and that's what we have to change. For all the different reasons that it was a difficult season so far for us, we always tried to sort it. Honestly, we try with all we have to sort it. Then while you sort one problem, another problem occurs, that's how it is. Then you try to sort that and then another. So, that's in a season when it's not going perfect obviously and that's, for sure, for us the case. Then it means now other clubs with big potential, City we don't have to talk about, but United, Leicester, Chelsea, West Ham in and around us, Tottenham have similar problems maybe like we have, Arsenal maybe as well. So, there's a distance to go for us. We don't have to think about that really, we have to think about Sheffield United. If we can do that then maybe we are a step closer or not, then Chelsea's coming and that's a proper game as well. So all these kind of things, that's what's going on. If we would do it in the end, yeah, that would be big.