YOU HAVEN’T WON IT YET!
Klopp says City’s trip to Burnley is no banker
THE man who had seemingly lost the crown jewels on Wednesday evening had an unmistakable glint in his eye at lunchtime yesterday.
While most of Liverpool watched events unfold at Old Trafford, hoping and praying for a favour from Manchester United, Jurgen Klopp sat at home with his wife, Ulla, and never had a moment’s angst. City did what he was sure City would do.
‘It was the result I expected,’ said Liverpool’s manager. ‘United tried whatever they could, in the first half especially. They were a bit unlucky in one or two moments, but over 95 minutes it was clear they could not stand up to City. I was not surprised. I watched it and I was completely calm.’
Liverpool are now a point behind Pep Guardiola’s squad with three games remaining and few expect City to squander any points on the run to the line, so was this Klopp simply putting on a performance?
Away from the cameras, it became quite clear it was anything but. Klopp knows Liverpool fans have turned into amateur clairvoyhave ants, looking into the future to see if the title race will fall in their team’s favour, but that, he carefully explained, is an exercise in futility.
Klopp, whose side will reclaim the lead should they beat Huddersfield at Anfield tonight, added: ‘Everything is still fine and if somebody doesn’t believe any more then I can’t change that now. If you still believe, welcome to my club. I am completely fine. I want to play these three games and I’d love to have 97 points.’
Should Liverpool win, another question will be asked of City before their trip to Burnley on Sunday. For the first time this season, Klopp offered an observation about City’s schedule and planted a seed of doubt.
‘Is Burnley a place that I would love to have now on the schedule for us?’ said Klopp. ‘No. It is not a place where you think, “Oh nice! We are going to Burnley. Easy points!” It is a tough place to go.
‘They are in a good momentum. They have got 40 points now and that is good. It is like it is, we don’t to think about it. We just have to be focused. There is so much good advice I could listen to: rest players here, don’t focus on the Champions League, do this, do that... but they are from people who are not in the situation. We just have to play the games and, so far, it was pretty good. That is what we have to do again.’
Klopp is upbeat and you can be sure the supporters will be bouncing inside Anfield before kick-off. Neither are the players priming themselves for the idea that 97 points might not be enough.
Virgil van Dijk said: ‘You’re not going to prepare yourself for being second. You’re just preparing yourself for the next game and that is Huddersfield. It could be a trap because they are relegated but we are at home and want to show what we’ve been doing all season.
‘Everyone knows how consistent we are this season, how clinical as well, how mature we have been. We are not there yet, we still have three games that we all want to win. It’s going to be tough but let’s just go for it. That’s the only way ay we see it.’
Nothing, then, has changed following City’s win. Liverpool are gunning for three straight wins but, whatever happens, Klopp is adamant this is not a one-season story, such has been the progress they have made.
‘My team is the team of the year,’ he claimed. ‘I really think what the boys did was incredible. It is just pushing ourselves to the next level, adapting to the different situations, learning from the mistakes we made last year, the mistakes we made this year. The boys were always open.
‘I am not even half ready to make an assessment of the season but the boys deserved each of the 88 points they have so far and now we have to make sure we deserve the other nine as well. It will be difficult but, and others will not agree, my team is the team of the year.’
And they are a team that will not even consider throwing in the towel.