Klopp compromises transfer policy
Jürgen Klopp has an interesting turn of phrase when it comes to describing Liverpool’s summer transfer policy. “In Germany, we say ‘we have to eat a lot of frogs’,” he said.
‘Bite the bullet’ is the closest English idiom to the one Klopp chose to explain why Champions League qualification will be vital to attracting top-quality players to Anfield.
At the beginning of last month, Liverpool’s manager said that he did not want players who were interested in joining the club only for Champions League football, and that his priority was signings who were keen to help push the team towards greater success.
Yet with a top-four Premier League finish now within grasp, Klopp appears to have relaxed his stance. He is, as the saying goes, ready to eat the frogs.
He said: “I really forgot a lot of the things I said in the past. What I thought was that, if a Champions League place is the only thing a player is looking for, then I can’t. I don’t want him.
“But if it’s part of something more, the player has different options. If those other options are in the Champions League and we are the only club that aren’t, well then it’s all about if he’s the right player.
“We have to take it. Bite the bullet. The better the players, the more other clubs want them. We cannot go for players saying only that Liverpool is a wonderful city. There are a few other things you have to bring in.
“We are in good talks and we’ll see what happens but it would help to qualify, that’s for sure.”
A victory over Southampton at Anfield today, followed by wins over West Ham next Sunday and Middlesbrough in a fortnight, will ensure Liverpool’s return to the Champions League.
It would appear straightforward enough, yet Liverpool have developed a reputation for struggling against the lower orders this season. Unbeaten against the top eight, and with a win over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge to their name, Klopp’s side have been defeated by Swansea, Hull, Crystal Palace, Burnley, Leicester City and Bournemouth.
Klopp suggests the reputation for failing in games when favourites is undeserved, pointing to recent wins over Stoke City, West Brom and Watford.
“Is there ever a moment when you are good enough in these games?” he said. “We have won three of them and lost one of them and still we have the image that we lost all of them.
“No team has this image like we have: That we win against the top teams but we lose against them the lesser sides.
“We have this image and yet we have 69 points and we are in the top four.
“So where did the other teams lose their points? Which way is better? OK, Chelsea and Tottenham are first but all the other teams have issues too.”