Klopp is the new Shankly SAYS FORMER LIVERPOOL DEFENDER JASON McATEER
and we are at the right place. So far it has worked out and hopefully it will last a lot longer. That would be cool.
“We are very happy about the situation. We are very positive about the future. It is all good. Now, we have to finish this season the best way possible. Dig in. Push ourselves. All that stuff.
“We have improved a lot but people judge it only on winning titles. We know that but we can change the future.”
Klopp is working flat out to bring past glory days back to Anfield – and is handling the pressure as wobbly legs time kicks in.
He said: “I have pressure but it’s what I put on myself. I’m not a genius. I can only try everything I know. If there is one person in the world who is made for losing finals and can get up the next morning, and not think the world is against him, it may be me.
“Try everything you can and then accept the result. That’s what I learned and that’s what we do. We’ll keep trying until somebody whistles the season off for us.”
Meanwhile, Klopp will be without Jordan Henderson today as he continues to recover from an ankle injury picked up in the Champions League victory over Bayern in midweek.
The midfielder is likely to be replaced in the England squad by James Ward-Prowse as boss Gareth Southgate revealed his admiration for the Reds man.
Southgate applauds Henderson as one of his main men in the Three Lions midfield despite the challenge of rising stars like Declan Rice.
Henderson’s future in the England camp is never in doubt with 48 caps already in the locker.
Southgate said: “He is a really selfless individual and that’s why he’s been an outstanding captain for his club. To go into Steven Gerrard’s shoes, you couldn’t have a more difficult situation.
“But he has got great leadership qualities. His drive. Hunger to win. Determination. If you can’t win then not to lose. He has constantly high standards and is demanding of himself.
“He is, though, prepared to challenge others and raise the level of others as well.” JASON McATEER sees shades of Shankly in Jurgen Klopp and believes Liverpool’s boss is the man to end The Reds’ title famine.
Although Manchester City have leapt above Liverpool in the title race in recent weeks, McAteer believes Klopp can guide them home – because he is a latter-day version of Anfield legend Bill Shankly.
You can see why McAteer, 47 (below) has made the comparison.
Scot Shankly took Liverpool from the Second Division doldrums to become a dominant force, winning three league titles, two FA
Cups and the
UEFA Cup
– becoming a messianic figure who connected with fans.
Klopp has guided them to two European finals, they have reached this year’s Champions League Quarter-Final, are right in the hunt for a first title in 29 years and know a win at Fulham today will keep them on City’s coat-tails.
McAteer, who made 139 Liverpool appearances between 1995 and 1999, said: “When you come to Liverpool FC as a new manager, it must be a difficult job in the sense we demand success, largely on the back of the club’s history.
“It’s easy to say to fans, ‘My beliefs are the same as Shankly’s and Paisley’s, I am going to manage this club like they did’.
“But you quickly get found out.
“He hasn’t tried to copy Shankly. He is what he is. His connection with the fans is natural. He is the same person as he was at Borussia Dortmund – but because he’s at Anfield, you can draw that Shankly comparison because both men managed the same club.
“I’m close to some of the players and they have told me how much they love playing for Jurgen. When you speak to Jurgen, he won’t tell you he is a great coach. He’s a great manager. “And there is a difference between the two. He does it brilliantly. But I see shades of Shankly.” Certainly if he guides Liverpool to a first title since 1990 – Shankly ended a 17-year drought when he brought home the 1964 championship – he’ll be a Merseyside hero for ever.
Liverpool fan McAteer said: “It would be amazing to see it. They set out at the start of the season to try and win it. Success is what Liverpool FC is all about.
“There is a great sense that it is getting closer and closer.
“It is going to be a tough ask.”