We will show respect
Klopp promises Liverpool fans will obey minute’s silence for Queen
JURGEN KLOPP has promised that Liverpool supporters will pay their respects to Her Majesty The Queen by observing a peaceful minute’s silence tonight.
Liverpool made a request to UEFA for the tribute to be held before the Champions League game against Ajax at Anfield and their manager insisted it was the right thing for the club to do in this momentous period.
There is antipathy towards the monarchy in some quarters on Merseyside and there was a furore before the FA Cup final in May when William, the new Prince of Wales, was booed by Liverpool fans.
They also booed the National Anthem, as had been the case before the Carabao
Cup final in February. But Klopp has no fears of a repeat and said: ‘I don’t think our people need any kind of advice from me for showing respect. There are plenty of examples where people showed exactly the right respect.
‘One which surprised me — and I was really proud of that moment — was last season when we played Manchester United around a very sad situation with Cristiano Ronaldo’s family. And that is what I expect. For me, it is clear that’s what we have to do. That’s it.’
Klopp added: ‘She is the only Queen of England I ever knew. I didn’t know her, but the things you can see, she was a really warm, nice, loved lady and that is all that I need to know.
‘I respect their grief a lot and that is why I will show my respect.’
RARE are the moments when Jurgen Klopp delves for a description and plumps for ‘shambles’ but, on this occasion, he had no choice.
The opening weeks of this unique season have presented Liverpool’s manager with an increasing number of conundrums and problems but, last week in Naples, it all went pop and a ruinous 4-1 defeat led to some contemplation.
Liverpool were in the Champions League final at the end of May but, as the first European home game of the season arrives, all Klopp wants to go back to is basics. It is almost as if the players have forgotten how to do the things that have brought them success.
The German wanted the chance to get the Napoli performance out of his team’s system immediately against Wolves on Saturday, but instead used the time to analyse what happened at Estadio Diego Armando Maradona. The conclusion he drew was as brutal as the damage they suffered.
‘I watched the game back plenty of times and it was a real horror show,’ said Klopp. ‘We showed the boys the situations as well. They knew, but seeing it again makes it really obvious. It was the worst game we played since I was here.
‘We had a few bad games — everyone remembers (losing 7-2 to) Aston Villa and some others where we were just not up to speed — but there were always glimpses in these games.
‘ In this particular game, nothing. We have to realise it all starts with defending.
‘We have got to give ourselves a chance to celebrate winning a challenge again. There is no good game when a team play flawlessly offensively and defensively were just a shambles. It is all based on real defending and that is what we have to do and what we have to show.’
You know Liverpool are in the groove when you see Klopp erupt in delight in his technical area, greeting tackles from hungry midfielders as if they are goals, but we are yet to see that from the German this season. His team keep shipping the first goal and there is no doubt a highenergy, intense young side such as Ajax — who are rebuilding again after a summer exodus — have it within them to cause issues. It would be interesting, certainly, if Ajax were to go ahead early.
Confidence, undoubtedly, has been impacted by fractured performances and injuries to key players — left back Andy Robertson is the latest to succumb to a problem that will keep him out until after the international break — and it has impacted the mood at the club’s Kirkby training base.
‘I have to do something, I can’t sit there and wait for how we react,’ said Klopp, when asked if he ‘had to do a lot of talking’ in the past five days. ‘Is this the situation I wanted? No. But now you are in it, you find it interesting and challenging.
‘I didn’t read a word — maybe 10 words altogether — that was said about us but most of the things were fair, probably. I watched the game back plenty of times and I would have asked a lot of questions
about the people and the manager and the players. It is absolutely OK but it cannot be our biggest problem. We have to respond. For this we have to talk, we have to show and we have to train.’
Klopp never elaborates about training ground discussions and it was significant he chose Joel Matip, who would never be described as a natural public orator, to face questions from the media ahead of Ajax’s visit.
Still, Matip gave an insight into the mood Klopp has been in and left no doubt the views he imparted were not sugar-coated. You sense Klopp’s patience has been tested at having to hold such a meeting so soon after he did likewise following the loss to Manchester United.
‘Sometimes it hurts and this is normal,’ said Matip. ‘But in a good team — which I think we are — you can speak these truths.
‘You don’t like to hear them but everybody knows we have to improve. The manager is always on his toes. He wants us to be the best we can be.’
In the moment, Klopp would settle for seeing the return of some old characteristics. In an ideal world, 10 red shirts will not give Ajax room to breathe but, if that is to happen, Liverpool need to start running and working again.
‘Eight out of 11 were below their level and the three others were not on a top level, just a normal game,’ said Klopp. ‘Everything we did since I am here and everything my teams do in football is based on really solid if not perfect defending. That’s where it all starts. That is what we work on.’