Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
FOR CONTE IT’S ANFIELD OF DREAMS
a few, which is better than being none of them. So we can go for a real high position at the end of the league season.
“Is it allowed to celebrate a position like this in this strong league with the outstanding run of Chelsea so far?”
While Klopp remains outwardly bullish, there was also a distinct trace of defensiveness as he prepared for a match that could see him become the first Liverpool manager in almost a century to lose four consecutive games at Anfield.
This on top of the two cup exits.
He even went a touch Jose Mourinho by bemoaning a couple of key decisions he thought his side did not get against Manchester United and in the defeat to win from seven games for Liverpool (v Plymouth in the FA Cup) while Mane was absent at the Africa Cup of Nations Wolves. But Klopp’s overriding message was that while the pressure mounts, his optimism, his enthusiasm, his belief remains.
He said: “It’s really not nice but, from my side, I love driving to Melwood in the morning, I love working with the players even when it’s difficult because part of this game, even though nobody around Liverpool wants to hear it, is losing.
“You have to use the bad moments to prepare for the good moments – even when you have too many bad moments.
“If you lose you have to go for the next game. Nobody wins every game in their life.”
True. But, right now, just one would do for the man who, not long ago, could do no wrong. home defeat this season for both teams.. The Reds went down to Swansea in January and beat Chelsea at the Bridge in September wins in their last 16 Prem games for Chelsea since successive defeats to Liverpool and Arsenal in September April 2014: Liverpool 0 Chelsea 2 (Prem) Steven Gerrard gifted Chelsea the lead as he slipped on the halfway line, allowing Demba Ba to score as Liverpool’s title hopes began to ebb away.
May 2012: Chelsea 2 Liverpool 1 (FA Cup Final) FA Cup glory set the scene for Chelsea’s penalty shootout victory over Bayern Munich 14 days later to secure the club’s first-ever Champions League trophy. April 2009: Chelsea 4 Liverpool 4, 7-5 agg (Champions League) Chelsea led 3-1 from the quarter-final first-leg but were put under serious pressure at Stamford Bridge, Frank Lampard’s 89th-minute goal sending them through. April 2008: Chelsea 3 Liverpool 2, 4-3 agg (Champions League) A Fernando Torres equaliser forced the game into extratime before Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba scored, as the Blues stormed into the
Champions League final. ANTONIO CONTE will be making his firstever trip to Anfield with a determination to write his own chapter of history in one of football’s great cathedrals.
Chelsea have had some memorable battles with Liverpool – who can forget Luis Garcia’s ‘phantom’ goal, Steven Gerrard’s slip, or Luis Suarez’s bite? Conte is aware of the rich history and rivalry surrounding the fixture and says the current Chelsea generation is strong enough to lay down a statement of intent tonight as they march towards the title.
Former Italy boss Conte, who had a glittering career as manager and player with Juventus, said: “I didn’t play any football at Liverpool so this is my first time to go and play at Anfield.
“I know in the past there has been a very strong rivalry between Liverpool and Chelsea but the present is what is important now. “In a game like this you need strong players and I’m sure I have this type of player.” Liverpool inflicted Chelsea’s first defeat under Conte at Stamford Bridge back in September (right) and the Blues lost badly at Arsenal the following week. Conte angrily accused them of not being a team but from there they went on a remarkable 13-game winning run which has helped push them eight points clear at the top.
“In six months our work has been incredible,” Conte said. “After the second defeat something changed in our minds. We had to think of a new type of football and a new idea. We had to change something if we wanted to avoid another bad season and that is what happened.
“My players showed me this will to change and find a new solution, to turn our season around and try to fight until the end.”
Conte offered some sympathy to underpressure Liverpool boss Jurgen
Klopp, who goes into tonight’s game on the back of three straight home defeats.
Conte was left questioning himself after Chelsea’s poor run early in the season and believes it will be the same for Klopp as he tries to inspire a reaction from his Liverpool team. Conte added: “When you have a defeat you start to wonder if you are doing the right thing. That happened to me. But when you have philosophy, you have to overcome this negative period. Klopp’s team play attractive football and very well. “If you lose two or three games but you have your idea of football, you have to trust in your methods and your ideas.”