Soccer

‘I really think we are ready’: Klopp backs Liverpool to make top four surge

Manager says late surge in 2020-21 can serve as inspiration

Juergen Klopp: 'Now we have to make sure that we squeeze everything out of this season that we can get.' Daniel Hambury/EPA
Juergen Klopp: 'Now we have to make sure that we squeeze everything out of this season that we can get.' Daniel Hambury/EPA
Andy Hunter
Tue Feb 28 2023 - 22:30

Jürgen Klopp believes Liverpool are the one club capable of producing the late-season flourish needed to break into the top four.

Liverpool trail fourth-placed Tottenham by nine points in the race for Champions League qualification but have two games in hand, the first at home against Wolves on Wednesday.

Since losing 3-0 at Molineux in February, Klopp’s team have taken seven points from three Premier League matches. The Liverpool manager insists recent history, notably the 10-game unbeaten run that secured Champions League football in 2020-21, should convince his players they can end a trying campaign on a similar high.

“It helps because it was us,” said Klopp of the 2020-21 season, when eight wins and two draws lifted injury-hit Liverpool to a third-placed finish. “We don’t have to tell the players a story of another club or team.

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“We have a lot of stories to tell where it went well in the last few years with long winning streaks and going unbeaten at home and so on. But you can’t constantly rely on the fact we did it before so we can do it again. We have to make sure.”

Klopp, who could have Ibrahima Konaté and Darwin Núñez back from injury, added: “It’s 45 points [available]. It would be a really good moment [to produce a winning run] and you can imagine that’s exactly what we want to do. Yes, we have to force it but we have to play, enjoy what we are doing – that’s really important.

“I really think we are ready. If there is a club that can do it I really think it is us. Honestly. Because all the things we achieved these last years we achieved together, neither without the team nor without the crowd. Nothing.

“We have a future together: the immediate future from tomorrow but there is a bigger picture as well. We will strike back in general but now we have to make sure that we squeeze everything out of this season that we can get.”

Liverpool have announced a pre-tax profit of £7.5m for the 12 months in which Klopp’s team played every game possible and came close to winning the quadruple. Financial results for the year ending May 31st 2022 show revenue increased by £107m to £594m.

That includes match day revenue rising by £83m to £86m, albeit that figure is skewed because it covers the first full season after the pandemic.

However, administrative expenses – including employee and matchday overhead costs – increased by £69m to £545m while the club’s wage bill rose from £314m to £366m.

“The cost of running a football club does continue to rise,” said the managing director, Andy Hughes.

“But we maintain our position of growing this club with significant investment, with new and existing players signing contracts and the construction of the new Anfield Road Stand which we look forward to coming on stream in the summer.”

- Guardian