(Football news) Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has said that success in the past is the reason he remains manager at the club as performances this season have been unsatisfactory. The comments were made in the aftermath of Graham Potter and Brendan Rodgers’ sacking from Chelsea and Leicester City respectively, which means a total of 12 Premier League managers have been sacked in the 2022/23 season so far. Liverpool are set to face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge tomorrow (12:30 am) and will then face a tough fixture against Arsenal at Anfield.
The Reds lost 4-1 against Manchester City on Saturday at the Etihad Stadium which was their eighth away league defeat this season but Klopp appears to be safe in his job despite his team sitting eighth in the league. The German has attributed his job security due to his past success at the club, a fact he does not enjoy. Speaking in the press release, Klopp said “I’m aware of the fact I’m sitting here because of the past, not because of what we did this season. If this was my first season, that would be slightly different. We have smart owners who know about the situation, but that doesn’t mean anything else.”
When asked if he was afraid to lose his job, Jurgen Klopp said “No, but I don’t think that Graham was afraid. But there’s no need for being afraid. I’m not here as a talisman or for murals on the house walls. I’m here to deliver, I know that 100 percent, there is nothing else in my mind. But I know I am here because of what happened in the last few years.
“I hate the fact that I have to rely on that, if it’s right or not, we will have to see in the future. I’m fully in it, no doubt about it. But we have to sort it out, we cannot continue playing like we do from time to time, that’s not allowed, really. I’m really disappointed that we do these kinds of things, but it happened. Now we have to find a way out and that’s what we’re constantly working on.”
Jurgen Klopp also paid tribute to Potter, Rodgers, Conte and Nagelsmann by saying “The elephant in the room from your point of view is maybe why I am still sitting here! Last man standing. Both clubs are not in a spot where they expect to be. I don’t know them well, I respect them a lot, I like them both. They’re good people, fantastic managers. But still, things can go the wrong way and the decision makers in the club have to change.
“We all accept that part of the business. It’s a strange week – Conte, Nagelsmann and now these two. The season gets into the decisive part and people are afraid of maybe not reaching targets. For all four, their football managing future is still bright. It’s not a disaster, but a situation which they probably don’t like.”
“We cannot work really on the pitch,” he explained. “Games like this [defeat to Man City] have an impact, but the desire to show a reaction is there as well. The boys are still good people and they want to show a reaction, 100 percent. But the short turnaround is the problem. At this moment, I have no clue who I can line up with.
“I got this info after the press conference because we want to wait with this decision as long as possible to give the boys enough time to recover. There will be changes, definitely, there has to be and that’s what we have to use. Forty-eight hours and then you travel and wait in a London hotel for the kick-off. It’s all here [in the mind], that’s what we are working on.
“I am sure Chelsea players will want to show a reaction, it always is – we saw Bayern against Dortmund, there was a reaction for whatever reason. But apart from that, there is maybe rotation, [N’golo] Kante is back, other players too, so the line-up could change and system wise, I don’t know. They changed their system during the season, but we expect them to be pretty similar to the last games.”
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