KLOPP HAS TO DELIVER
Anfield project needs an end product now
JURGEN KLOPP knows the time for him to deliver is fast approaching.
After all the talk of his exciting project at Liverpool, the Kop boss has got to start turning words into deeds. Klopp has clearly used the hard sell to convince unsettled players to stay and it is obviously his main sales pitch to new signings. Anfield arrivals all talk of what is brewing at the club and how the manager’s enthusiasm has attracted them to Merseyside. And there are certainly signs those words are not just hot air. Liverpool were one of the most exciting teams to watch at times last season and they returned to the Champions League following a two-season absence by finishing fourth. This season they have overcome a jittery draw against Watford to win four on the bounce in the Premier League and the Champions League play-offs with 14 goals scored in those five games. Today they face Manchester City before their official return to the Champions League group stages against Seville on Wednesday in a campaign that is the big test of Klopp’s claims. “As a club, only one group of people can make this the most beautiful place in the world. That is us. That is how it is,” he said. “We cannot say, ‘Come on, have a different view on us, we are not that bad, the weather is better than in Manchester’. It is about how we show the world who and how we are. “The football we played last year was good. With the Champions League qualification it was the next step, it was nice. On Wednesday we play the first Champions League game for the last three years. “Between that we play Manchester City, one of the best football teams in the world. It is all exciting and you want to be part of it. Of course you
can tell a player it is like this but you have to feel it.
“That is mouth to mouth, players talk to each other and they want to be part of it.
“That is nice but in the end we have to deliver still. We cannot just go, ‘good player here, good player there’ and it will happen somehow. Nothing just happens.
“We could lose each game with this squad but, if we are ready, we can also win a lot of the next games. That is the best news.”
Shifting
The arrival of Alex OxladeChamberlain from Arsenal is another sign that the tide is shifting in the Reds’ favour after he snubbed a new deal at the Emirates and a move to champions Chelsea.
And Red Bull Leipzig star Naby Keita has agreed a big-money deal for next summer, even though the Anfield outfit could be out of Europe when he arrives.
“It was very clear the image has changed a little bit,” Klopp added.
“Last year it was already very good but now we can say we are in the Champions League, but it didn’t feel it was about this, it is more about the project.
“For example, Naby has no idea if we play Champions League next year because in England it is always difficult. He did not ask one second about this. He wanted to be part of the club.
“With Ox, it was quite similar. He wants to develop and with all his talent and skills, he has space to develop.”
Oxlade-Chamberlain is unlikely to start today, while Philippe Coutinho is not in the squad because Klopp believes he needs more time on the training ground after his recovery from a back injury.
Klopp met Coutinho after his return from international duty, when he played twice, and is happy his attitude is right after Barcelona’s three failed summer bids
Klopp described the Brazilian’s request to quit the club for Barcelona as a short marriage break-up that was resolved and insists his team-mates will not be bitter because Coutinho was not trying to join a rival club.
He added: “Most of them are friends for many years.
“It’s 100 per cent if a club like Barcelona is around, then nobody says, ‘Are you crazy, what do you want to go there for?’
“Everyone has this little bit of understanding and think, ‘OK, it’s Barcelona’ and it is not that he wants to go to Everton.”