HALF FULL!
Klopp says his trophy hunger remains same after upsets
JURGEN KLOPP has dismissed suggestions that his attitude to the FA Cup has changed this season as Liverpool prepare for their first quarter-final in the competition under him.
In six previous attempts with the German in charge, the Reds had only ever made it as far as the fifth round, suffering four fourth-round exits.
However, ahead of battling Nottingham Forest for a Wembley semi-final berth today, Klopp crediteda stronger squad and kinder draws as responsible for this ear’s change f fortunes.
He aid: Usually people uestion my tactical bility nd tuff like his but never my ttitude. y attitude idn’t ange, not at ll
“If you look my erman history, mo the finals I lost – t’ still a big mber ere th up nal.
bviously hen you have he players available then it’s okay nd ou can do t, if not, you have change where people say s he doing that?’
“But we come to th point where, with all my knowledge, I ask he layers for an awful lot until a specific oint nd then take them out.
“It’s now, even if they want to, they should not be in the situation here they ave to deliver again. That’s why we ad changes.
“We said it before that we were not always unlucky but we had ot he st draw as well. It’s not hat we hought,
‘Let’s g to helsea way or United away or Chelsea at ome’ n a situation where we didn’t have players. So no, the attitude didn’t change, I always wanted to go to Wembley... it just didn’t happen.”
The likes of Divock Origi, Takumi Minamino and Kostas Tsimikas played a key role in Liverpool’s journey to League Cup glory earlier this season and have taken on a similar role in the FA Cup thus far.
But Klopp believes it is the contribution of such fringe players in the Premier League and Champions League that has allowed him to name relatively strong sides in the domestic cups.
He said: “It’s not changes for the FA
Cup but changes in tween. For th l e a g ue games you can make hanges and then or the FA up the players ar e available. You need a specific number of senior players available that you can bring in the young ones but if you have to play only with young ones then it’s really tricky.
“We had to do that from time to time but it is then really difficult. The mix makes a difference actually.” Meanwhile, Klopp is hoping Scotland bo ss Stev e Cl arke takes a common-sense approach to his use of Andy Robertson during th e u p comi n g international break. The Tartan Army’s planned World Cup qualifying play-off against Ukraine next week has be en po stpo ne id Ru ssia’s on go ing in va si on of its neighbour. However, that game has now been replaced by a friendly against Poland, wh o were sc he du le d to face the
Russians in the play-offs prior to their exclusion by FIFA.
The fixture at Hampden Park is set to raise funds for UNICEF’s humanitarian response n Ukraine.
But, ith little now on the line for the Scots during this international break, Klopp is een for his left-back to be used sparingly. With iverpool’s right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold now facing a spell on the sidelines with injury, Klopp said he is aware Robertson is “desperate to deliver” in the absence of his English full-back team-mate.