WE PACT A PUNCH
Red stars vow to stay hungry
JURGEN KLOPP has no fear his stars will lose their hunger for success – after revealing they struck a pact to make their time at Anfield the best days of their lives.
The Kop boss takes his side to Aston Villa today with Liverpool not letting up on their intensity and desire to steamroller all comers.
And having won the Champions League two seasons ago and their first Premier League crown last time out, Liverpool’s thirst for glory is still a powerful motivation.
But Klopp is hardly surprised by his players’ desire – and traces it back to a team meeting when they vowed to live their best lives at Anfield.
He said: “We agreed a while ago that we would try to make this the best time of our lives as long as we are together – and that is what we are still doing.
“So I am not in any doubt at all about the desire and hunger of my boys.
“Because it is a little bit my job as well to keep that going and I have known myself long enough to know that I can do it differently.
“So that means we are on the safe side. If we don’t succeed, it will not be because we don’t want it with all we have.
“The other teams, they can be better at football. Life’s like that but it won’t be because of hunger or desire or greed or whatever.
“No, we are still in the right mood.” Liverpool’s stars begin a hectic month-long timetable of domestic,
European and international it fixtures fifi with many of Klopp’s squad facing ELEVEN games in the next 35 days in all competitions.
It is a gruelling schedule which will place a heavy burden on players who are more at risk of burn-out and injury than ever.
And that’s why Klopp has been forced to defend his decision to play Virgil van Dijk in the Carabao Cup defeat by Arsenal.
The Dutch defender – and striker Mo Salah – played for an hour in the game which ended in a penalty shoot-out win for the Gunners.
Klopp said: “Most of the boys want to play each game. Virgil had no problem.
“The specific situation gave us a need to have all our big guns, as it were.
“Can you imagine my image with ignoring cups if I’d have played two kids in the backline?
“Having two kids in the last line would have been too tricky.
“We wanted to win the game and could have but we didn’t. It was possible and d th that’s t’ why h we did it. it The ThTh actual t l plan l was to give them 45 minutes and that was no problem.
“It is if it gets to say 80 minutes and that is when it gets really intense but until then it is not a problem at all.
“I’m careful of over-using Virgil but that goes for all my players.
“I am happy nothing happened but the situation is that we don’t make the fixture list.
“We get the fixtures and we play them. Sometimes we have the choice of six or seven players for two positions and sometimes we don’t.
“Sometimes there are just no perfect solutions. For the Arsenal game we thought that was the best solution.”
Klopp’s main selection headache at Villa is whether to give new striker Diogo Jota – a £41million signing from Wolves – his first Premier League start with Sadio Mane isolating after returning a positive coronavirus test.
The Senagalese forward has displayed minor symptoms of the virus but feels in good health overall.