If I had wanted an easy life, I’d have gone to Bayern!
It’s hard to win cups in England, says Klopp
TWO weeks of the season to go, three trophies on the line. So much can be gained but so much can be lost, and you may expect the high stakes are having an impact on Jurgen Klopp. Not a bit of it.
‘I had two afternoon naps yesterday — two!’ Liverpool’s manager proudly declares, as we talk at the club’s training ground. ‘It worked well. I feel really good. I cannot do it every day. I can do it usually never, actually. Come on... I don’t run, I don’t fight. It’s all good.’
Klopp is mulling over questions about whether it is possible to enjoy things when so much is on the line. Clearly, he is. The man sitting in front of us now is far removed from the human Catherine Wheel you see on the touchline. He is calm and considered and also realistic.
‘It’s tough, but it’s fine, honestly,’ he says. ‘It has never been done before (the quadruple), so it’s like the first step on whichever island. We’re the first team to give it a try — and that’s what we do. Go to all the finals and trying, chasing City, it’s a tough task but that was always clear.
‘If you had said (in August) you will be in all finals and, two matchdays before the end, we are three points behind City, I’d have said, “Nah… can’t see that happening”. Not all in the same season. But the boys did it and that’s really special. But now the decisive part is coming. Now we go for it.’
Still the point remains about this campaign ending with the Carabao Cup as the sole tangible reward for how well they have played.
Chelsea, for all the issues they have endured, know how to cause Liverpool problems today, while anything could happen against Real Madrid in the Champions League final.
The realist in Klopp also knows that overhauling a three-point and sevengoal deficit on
Manchester City in two games is unlikely. Is there not, then, something incongruous about a team with Liverpool’s qualities potentially not having the baubles to match their talents.
He greets the hypothesis with another smile and one of those big laughs. There is nothing easy about what Liverpool are trying to accomplish but if Klopp had wanted a simple life, he would have stayed in Germany and taken charge of its biggest club.
Bayern Munich have made attempts to recruit Klopp down the years, before he was manager at Anfield and — he reveals for the first time — since 2016 (when Pep Guardiola left Bayern). Bayern have won 15 major honours in that period but would it have brought the same amount of fun? ‘Which club should I go to, to have a different situation?’ Klopp asks. ‘Tell me! The only thing I could do is ask Pep if he is sick of all that winning and I take over at City. Is that the idea? That wouldn’t work, I don’t want to do it.’ He delivers that last line with a smile, as everyone knows the situation would not be possible, but the next point is serious. ‘I could have gone to Bayern a few times,’ he says. ‘I could have won more titles in my life. Pretty sure, I would say — a good chance at least. I didn’t do it. I had a contract here and I never did it. That’s fine. The world is not full of winners, the world is full of triers, hopefully.
‘And I try and sometimes I win with some other people together. I’m happy with that. I’m not always positive but give me a second and I will find a reason for optimism. This club went through very tough periods and always hit back.
‘If people can’t appreciate the time we are in — or the team they have — I’d really feel for them as it’s fantastic what the boys do. If you saw the Aston Villa game, the situation we are in, you could write books about the resilience of these boys. One-nil down, everything looks like: “Ah! This time!”
‘But no. We are three points (from City) and seven goals. We’ll try. We cannot do more and I can enjoy that. If people can’t, I cannot change that. People might say: “Yeah it’s the Carabao Cup!” and stuff like this. It meant everything to everybody in the stadium. That’s how we felt after we had won it.’
Life has been considerably different for Chelsea since the team went head-tohead in the Carabao Cup final in February, with the club’s ownership about to change hands and results fluctuating. Klopp’s admiration for how Thomas Tuchel has handled the situation, however, is total.
‘They are third, almost qualified for the Champions League, qualified for two finals — that’s a successful season,’ said Klopp. ‘When there were difficulties, I thought — especially Thomas because he was the voice in these moments very often — they dealt really well with it.’
Klopp’s view on success will jar with some who see silverware as the be all and end all — for instance, would Roman Abramovich have tolerated a campaign for Tuchel without any domestic success? — but Klopp is not losing sleep about those who take such a stand.
‘If we are all only happy when we are winning, then what life would that be?’ he asks. ‘When I say: “Enjoy the journey” I mean it.
‘If we stop now, it’s not great then (it means) we didn’t win the FA Cup or the Champions League and came second in the Premier League. Well, forget that. Just say: “Wow! That was a ride!”
‘If you ask me, I have to say Chelsea are a really good team.’
They are, but it will not stop Klopp plotting their downfall.