Jürgen Klopp has claimed a lack of patience is fuelling criticism of Liverpool’s four-game run without a Premier League win, with the manager stating “the world is a crazy place”.
Klopp did admit his team have not progressed from last season when they were champions. Since beating Crystal Palace 7-0 on December 19th Liverpool have drawn three matches and lost one, scoring only once. This has meant a five-point lead has slipped, and they start Thursday’s game at home to Burnley in fourth place.
Klopp was asked whether opponents had worked out how to stop Liverpool. “Other teams knew last year what we were doing,” he said. “There are some chances where they defend well and others where our last pass needed to be made in a better way.
“I heard somewhere I have to rebuild this team. So the next headline will be: ‘Everybody knows how to deal with us play.’ That’s completely normal in these phases. That’s the situation we’re in – things change overnight. The world is a crazy place and not only because of the pandemic. Nobody has time any more.
“I know in football you never get real time – you only get time if you make steps forward and people say: ‘Yeah, okay, we can see that.’ In the moment it’s clear that after last season we didn’t make steps forward. We have to change this by playing, not talking.”
The sequence of no league goal in the past three matches is Liverpool’s longest since 2005. Klopp said: “It’s about the whole team. Goals are not flying in, so we have to work on it. We will score again. We need to stay calm, and make good decisions and the situation will change. That is it.”
Klopp was asked what is required to retain the title. “Close to perfection,” he said. “There is no perfect season – it is dealing with the situation and the amount of games. All the teams had a dip here and there.
“I understand the need to talk about it but we can’t change it in a minute. Most of the things the public thinks of we do as well but we have to be calm. It is no catastrophe [where we are]. We just need to be as good as we can be.” – Guardian
