RULE OR NOTHING

Klopp: We’ll get no respect unless we win Prem

JURGEN KLOPP has claimed his superstars WON’T get the respect they deserve if they do not win the title.

The Kop boss believes the modern world’s obsession with winning means his Liverpool team will not be considered greats if they are pipped for a second time by Manchester City in the title race.

But Klopp insists he can sleep easy knowing his players will have had an “outstanding” season – even if their Quadruple bid crumbles.

Just days after destroying arch rivals Manchester United, Liverpool face another critical 90 minutes in the Merseyside derby today against Everton at Anfield.

And the German boss admits the crazy demands of football mean his stars are on to a loser if they can’t wrestle the title back from City.

“If we don’t win it I don’t think they’ll get the respect no, probably not – not the respect they would deserve because the world is obsessed with first place,” says Klopp.

“It’s fine because they get enough respect here. It’s really funny, most of the time we talk about winning everything and now we talk about wining nothing, so let’s just try to get something out of the season and then we will see.

“But I know so far this is an outstanding season – and it will be an outstanding season if we win nothing else other than the Carabao Cup.

Outstanding

“And it will be an outstanding season if we got to the Champions League final but, no, we will not get the same respect for it as if we had won it but that is the nature of the thing.”

Klopp masterminded Liverpool’s first League crown in 30 years in 2020 – a season after City devastated the German boss by finishing just one point ahead of them to claim the title.

That setback was nothing new for the Anfield chief who has suffered plenty of heartache at the hands of Pep Guardiola.

But he has confessed he does not hate the Spaniard or his teams – despite them costing him glory and silverware in England AND Germany.

“If Man City had not been there we probably would have won one more title at least,” says Klopp.

“If Pep had not been the manager at Bayern Munich I probably would have won one or maybe two more with Dortmund, in a cup final, stuff like this. No, it is not at all frustrating. I have always respected in my life if someone was better than me.

“That’s easy because so many people were better than me when I was at school! I never hated the guy who was best in the class.

“I think in life it makes absolute sense that you learn to accept your own strengths and weaknesses. It is absolutely fine.

Celebrate

“I feel a little bit for our people – it would nice if they could celebrate more often, but that’s it. For me, a second place when I look back on my career, I will not think ‘Ah, we were only second!’ I’m not that person.

“I enjoy the journey a lot. And if you do that, you have more good days than bad days.

“Because there might be one day when we don’t win, I don’t know, that is not a good day but all the others leading to that day were really good.

“And if you don’t appreciate them, then I think you make a mistake because that makes your life less enjoyable.”