YOU'RE IN FOR A ROCKY RIDE
FIGHTING TALK FROM KLOPP BUT WILL PEP GET A BLOODY NOSE?
THE words came off the cuff, a soundbite to provide an explanation. Unwittingly, however, Jurgen Klopp had conjured an analogy that will run for the season.
Sitting in front of the cameras at Melwood, Liverpool’s manager was asked what the key will be to closing a gap with Manchester City that last year stood at 25 points. His answer was evocative, teeing up the idea that this campaign will turn out to be a heavyweight blockbuster.
‘We are still Rocky Balboa, not Ivan Drago,’ said Klopp, in reference to the fourth film of the epic boxing story that propelled Sylvester Stallone to superstardom.
‘We are the ones who have to do more. We have to fight more. That must be our attitude. We have to be like Rocky.’
For those who need a refresher, Rocky IV sees the all-American hero travel to the wilds of Russia, where he trains in primitive surrounds. Drago — his seemingly unbeatable opponent — has all the latest technology and state backing in his quest for domination. The comparison here was obvious.
‘Thank you, Jurgen,’ was Pep Guardiola’s sardonic response. ‘For nine years I’ve lived with it, no problem. Every season except the first one when I arrived at Barcelona, when I had people who didn’t know I was a manager, since then we have always been the favourites. But thank you, Jurgen. You are so kind.’
So the stage is set. Liverpool, coming out of the red corner, assuming the role of plucky underdogs; City, the breathtaking centurions and current champions, will emerge from the blue corner as the team everyone wants to take down. Liverpool are certainly bursting with ambition.
‘I want to achieve big things with Liverpool,’ said Alisson Becker, the Anfield club’s new £66million goalkeeper. ‘I know I have to work very hard every single day to be ready for the game and to meet people’s expectation.
‘The standards are so high. But you get bigger rewards, more acclaim.’
The thing is, though, Liverpool can hardly be described as plucky, certainly not after the huge investment they have made in their squad during 2018. Klopp has sanctioned a £250m spend to stiffen his side’s spine and give them more than a puncher’s chance.
Away from the cameras, Klopp went into greater detail. Although he laughed about Rocky — he has seen all the films ‘many, many times’ and the fourth one is his favourite — he was serious about wanting the same outcome: success.
‘I don’t want to be the underdog,’ said Klopp, whose side open the season with a home date against West Ham.
‘I want to win and Rocky won. It’s the only difference.
‘So now we have the best tools of all? It’s not true. Manchester City had a fantastic team last year and they have now brought on Riyad Mahrez. It doesn’t make them weaker.
‘Our potential is good, what we do with it we will see, and that’s only the quality we have. I only want from us that we fight, not that we are the underdog. I am not interested in being the underdog.
‘Yes, it has happened a few times but not because I wanted to be, but because it was a fact.
‘I don’t see us an underdog, I see us as a team that challenges... the ones who have to do more, who have to run more, who have to jump more. That’s all.’
Will running and jumping and fighting more be enough to halt City? History tells you that Guardiola’s teams do not stand still; they are progressive and Barcelona and Bayern Munich both reached new heights in his third year at each club. The idea that City could still improve should make others shudder.
No team have defended the Premier League since Manchester United won three in succession from 2007 to 2009 but no team have been better equipped to do so.
Guardiola knows that heavy blows are going to come raining down on him and his team many times over the next 12 months, but he is not flustered.
‘It’s a challenge (to defend the title) but that’s not the target,’ said Guardiola, whose opening assignment is at Arsenal.
‘The target is to win on Sunday then Huddersfield and Wolves.
‘I like to work with these guys. I like it. I enjoy it. It’s a happy dressing room, they’re excellent human beings. Being together is a nice process. We have trained and we have trained well. It’s a big mistake to think about last season or that we are going to win.
‘The best way is the training session, next game and then the next one. We’ll see at the end of the season. I don’t think too much about back-to-back, defending the title. The main thing is to improve.
‘Then? We will see.’