Klopp leaps to own defence

JURGEN KLOPP insists he has the backing of everyone at Liverpool.

The German has come under scrutiny after last Sunday’s 4-1 defeat by Tottenham highlighted his team’s continued defensive problems.

“People think maybe I’m not the right one any more and stuff like this,” said Klopp, above.

“Inside, nobody thinks it. Not from the owners and not from me. I got so many messages this week saying, ‘Don’t listen to the pundits’. I had no idea what was said, but I can imagine.

“We all want to do it the right way. OK, we can try again like two years ago and get a new manager, but the problems are always the same.”

His close friend David Wagner, the Huddersfield boss, brings his side to Anfield today boasting a superior defensive record.

And he believes that Klopp’s side are suffering because of individual errors rather than tactical deficiencies. Wagner said: “I am not their manager, even if I know this team very well.

“But from my point of view these are no defensive problems that they have technical-wise as a group or as a team.

“It’s more the individual mistakes of the players have made. As a manager, individual mistakes are very difficult to work on.

“You can change the personnel, you can work on training on the first touch and the passing, but if somebody makes such a poor first touch, this is nothing that you really can correct.”