Klopp previews Fulham clash and reflects on recent poor run of results (Full Presser)

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Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp previews their Premier League clash with Fulham and reflects on a recent poor run of results Melwood, Liverpool, UK

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00:00 Jürgen, first of all, how do you go about resetting the team and the club

00:06 after the week you've had?

00:08 You've had so much experience as a manager,

00:11 what are the specific things you need to do to get over that disappointment

00:14 and try and move on?

00:16 We had just enough, unfortunately all of us had enough opportunities

00:21 to learn that over the years.

00:23 There's no season I can remember where there were no moments where I thought,

00:27 "We should have done that, we should have done that," these kind of things.

00:31 So it's part of our life constantly, you have to deal.

00:34 It's never about how many punches you get, it's always how you deal with them,

00:38 the few you allow them, and that's how we have to deal with the situation,

00:43 or we always did.

00:45 So that's not the big problem, it's just the problem is that

00:47 there are other teams we play against,

00:49 so I think we will find a way to be positive,

00:51 to see the chance in front of us and all these kinds of things,

00:57 but then you have to play an opponent who has their own targets,

01:00 maybe want to do a longer time for recovery, all these kinds of things,

01:04 different situations in general.

01:07 So that's the challenge in football, because we never play just for ourselves,

01:11 we always have an opponent.

01:12 So we have to make sure we become that opponent for each team again,

01:16 they don't want to play against,

01:17 we made it a bit too easy now for three teams in a row, and we should change that.

01:25 How do you lead that reset, though?

01:27 Because you as manager, you're leading the players,

01:30 you're leading the entire club, the fan base,

01:32 so what quality do you need to bring to it personally?

01:35 I don't have a lot of qualities obviously, but I'm always honest,

01:39 I'm completely honest, so if I don't feel great,

01:42 you will realise it pretty quickly.

01:44 I cannot really deny it, just keep it under the carpet.

01:50 So that means after a game against Chris, people ask me,

01:55 "What do we tell the team now, how do we build it?"

01:57 "Wait, wait, wait, give me time to think about it."

02:00 But here we are, a few days later, and I feel absolutely great,

02:04 I see the good in the situation, where we are is fantastic.

02:08 So is it now what should influence us more, is it the last game, the last week,

02:13 or is it the chance in front of us?

02:16 I'm fully in that, that there's a next chance for us

02:19 and we can turn things absolutely around in all departments,

02:22 and we can make it still an outstanding season,

02:25 it anyway will be a good season,

02:28 but of course how we look at it will be massively influenced by the last part of it.

02:33 So far, great, not the last game but the season, and now let's use that.

02:37 So that's it. First and foremost, the boys know that I don't tell them things

02:43 which I don't believe in.

02:45 I'm 100 per cent sure we can really win all the football games we have from now on,

02:52 but that's not too important because we only have to play the next one,

02:55 and that's the most important now.

02:57 How much belief do you have, though, that you can still get over the line?

03:00 100 per cent, there's no getting over the line.

03:03 - Winning the league? - No, that's obviously not in our hands,

03:06 it's not about that, you cannot...

03:08 I think if we would win all our games,

03:11 there's a good chance we will be champions,

03:13 if not, then it's a good chance that somebody else is there.

03:17 Maybe we only have to win five or whatever, but nobody knows.

03:22 Who would have thought that Arsenal would lose against Aston Villa?

03:26 But it was always clear, if we are a football person,

03:29 "Aston Villa? Wow, we have to go there still,

03:31 "so that's not one of my favourite away games or whatever."

03:34 But it just happens. Now we all sit here and think,

03:37 "OK, City, yeah, City will win all their games."

03:40 Yeah, that's happened quite frequently,

03:42 but they have a lot of games to play, difficult opponents as well,

03:45 so we don't think about them, it's just,

03:48 "How can we make sure that we start winning games again?"

03:51 We had a bad week, result-wise, not even performance-wise,

03:55 all of them, and good moments created an awful lot of chances,

03:58 which is absolutely ridiculous, and we didn't use one of them, more or less.

04:01 So that's not great, but the worst thing in football is not to have chances,

04:08 that's the worst thing, and then it's better you deal with chances you miss,

04:11 then you have no chances, and that's why I'm absolutely positive,

04:15 and after a day off and stuff like this, and processing things properly,

04:20 yeah, I'm more than happy with the situation we are in.

04:23 Does it help you that the club have been in this position before as well,

04:26 and you've got senior players in the squad who will lead the team

04:30 who have been in this position before?

04:32 Yeah, but when we were in a position we didn't win the league in the end,

04:34 so that's how it is, we were lost by a point or stuff like this,

04:37 so what kind of experience is that?

04:39 We know how to get there, it's not about that, that is not the main difference.

04:44 It's good to know that you are good, that you can cause other teams problems,

04:51 but the thing is clear, if you want to be champion in the Premier League,

04:56 you have to be close to perfection.

04:58 And if you are not perfect, you have to deal with the setbacks

05:01 in the best possible way, or in a perfect way,

05:04 because that's what we are now doing.

05:07 We had a setback week, if you want, with three games,

05:10 we didn't like the results too much, and now we have to start turning it around.

05:15 How much does it benefit you to have Trent Alexander-Arnold

05:18 and Diogo Jota back fit at this stage?

05:21 Very much, but the thing is, we need Trent Alexander-Arnold of course,

05:26 but we need him in really good shape and in form,

05:30 and that's what he has to get up to.

05:32 It's not about him, it's not his fault, if he wouldn't be, it's just the situation.

05:35 How quick can we get him rolling? Same for Diogo.

05:39 For Robbo it is the same, for Mo, they all had injuries which they never had before,

05:44 if you want, for length.

05:46 Dom Sobosla is the same, Curtis Jones is the same.

05:49 It's good to have them, but it's not about who wears the shirt,

05:53 it's about how we can perform.

05:54 We have to find a way to help the boys in the best way,

06:01 to bring them as quick as possible into their best form or shape,

06:05 and then from there we have to go.

06:08 But of course each player, players with that quality anyway,

06:11 without them we wouldn't have a chance,

06:15 with them we have a chance, with them in a really good football moment,

06:20 chances are getting bigger and bigger.

06:22 How difficult is it to get those players to find that rhythm

06:24 when there is no sense of being able to ease them back?

06:27 You really need them backfiring.

06:29 Yeah, there's no perfect way, the boys more or less have to get through this by themselves,

06:34 so now we have the injury with Conor Bradley,

06:36 so it means one right-back solution is gone,

06:40 so that means that trend is back anyway.

06:43 So now he will probably find a way into it on the field by doing it.

06:48 Yeah, he has to, exactly. So that's how it is.

06:52 But we can talk about that for the next five days,

06:55 and I'm long, long in the business and I don't know anybody who can speed these things up.

07:02 It depends on the moment. The better the team plays,

07:05 the easier it is for the boys to step in and get up to speed.

07:08 If we are not in a great moment it's really tricky for them as well,

07:11 so they should not be the ones who turn it around.

07:15 So the boys who played much more rhythm, they have to set the level

07:20 and the other boys fit in, and then push us to the next level.

07:24 Can I ask you about the challenge of going to Fulham?

07:26 They've beaten Arsenal and topped them at home this season,

07:29 on their day they're as tough an opponent as you can get in the Premier League.

07:33 Absolutely, now they've won the last one against West Ham, so that helps probably as well.

07:37 I only had a look at it, with less possession in West Ham,

07:42 so obviously a slightly different approach to what they usually do.

07:45 I didn't see the game yet, but I will.

07:48 And that's interesting, Marco is just an exceptional coach,

07:52 I always liked him, I always liked what he did, and he's doing that again.

07:57 They had a bit of a strange season, not particularly well,

08:04 then again a few results, which is what happened now,

08:07 but won five in a row and with really high results whenever that was.

08:10 And now they are probably in a more solid period again, ending the season.

08:16 If you cannot fight for Europe then you should not be in the relegation battle,

08:20 which they fought a little bit for Europe, maybe still do,

08:23 but will not be involved in a relegation battle.

08:25 So that's a real statement, it gives them...

08:29 They can more or less be calm, be themselves,

08:32 and we have to see, always like this, on a day like this we have to show

08:37 that we wanted more than them, even when it's at their place.

08:41 And that's what we will try.

08:43 Thank you, Jürgen. Good luck.

08:45 (clinking)

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