NO MIND GAMES, JUST STRAIGHT TALK
Klopp: I will trust stars to be fluent at Anfield
FOR Jurgen Klopp, now is not the time for mind games – now is the time for straight talking.
And it’s just as well, says the Liverpool manager, because he’s useless at putting pressure on opponents anyway.
“Unfortunately, I have no skills for playing mind games,” Klopp said in the run-up to the biggest game of the Premier League season so far.
His words were a response to former ref Mark Clattenburg – and by extension to visiting boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer – who both suggested that Klopp highlighted Manchester United’s tally of penalties merely to put pressure on tomorrow’s ref Paul Tierney.
But they could just have easily been about his approach to a game that could well define his team’s faltering season.
Liverpool, with top scorer Mo Salah unusually quiet, have won just five of their last 12 matches and have fallen three points behind their opponents tomorrow
Klopp detailed the reasons behind his side’s struggles only last week, admitting that constant tinkering with his injury-jinxed back-line – Kop skipper Jordan Henderson played centre-back in defeat at Southampton – had caused huge problems in all other areas.
But he says there are no excuses from his side, just a desire to stop the rot. However, it is not as simple as telling his champions to go out and prove they are the best.
“If it was that easy, I would just say exactly that: ‘Show it now,’” he said. Instead, he argued that not even a world-beating Liverpool side can expect to click all the time. “Obviously we have not done outstandingly well since mid-November. But we still have 33 points,” he said. “Yes, we are not where we want to be but we have learned a lot this season.
“It is not because of the boys’ attitude. It’s just because it didn’t work out. What we had to accept, after a long time when things were just clicking, is that sometimes it does not click.”
There can be no better game for Liverpool to rediscover their form than a clash against table-topping United.
And Klopp is adamant he has seen the right attitude in training this week. “These boys have never looked for excuses,” he said.
“We have just had to step back, work on the basics, and get strong again.
And that is what we have done.”