Soccer

Jürgen Klopp admits past success is why he is not under pressure at Liverpool

‘There are expectations and if you don’t reach them you have to accept the decisions’

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp after his team's 4-1 defeat to Manchester City. Photograph: PA
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp after his team's 4-1 defeat to Manchester City. Photograph: PA
Andy Hunter
Mon Apr 03 2023 - 18:19

Jürgen Klopp has claimed his past glories with Liverpool are the main reason he is not under pressure for the underachievement of this season. Klopp made the admission after the sackings on Sunday of Graham Potter and Brendan Rodgers by Chelsea and Leicester respectively took the total of Premier League managers dismissed this season to 12.

The Liverpool manager believes he would have been in a similar predicament to Potter had this been his first season at Anfield and that only credit in the bank for winning the Premier League and Champions League, among other trophies, will give him time to rebuild.

Liverpool are out of the Champions League and struggling to qualify for the competition next season after three successive defeats since their 7-0 destruction of Manchester United.

When asked to reflect on the sackings of Rodgers and Potter, the Premier League’s longest-serving manager said: “The elephant in the room is probably from your point of view why I am still sitting here in this crazy world? Last man standing.

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“I cannot really explain that, to be honest. I am aware of the fact I am sitting here because of the past, not because of what we did this season. If it was my first season it would be slightly different. Yes, we have smart owners who know about the situation, but to be 100 per cent you had better ask them yourselves why that is the case.

“I am not afraid, but I don’t think that Graham was afraid. There is no need for being afraid. I am here to deliver. I am not here as a talisman or for murals on the walls of a house. I am here to deliver. I know as well I am still here for what happened in the last few years. I don’t like the fact and pretty much I have to rely on that. Is it right or not? We will see that in the future, but I am fully in, there is no doubt about it, but we have to sort it.

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“We cannot continue playing like we do from time to time. That is now allowed. I am really disappointed about us that we do these kind of things.”

Klopp believes the financial consequences of relegation or missing out on Champions League qualification have prompted so many sackings this season. Underachievement is another factor, and Klopp admits his team fall into that category. “Twelve in the Premier League this season is actually an awful number, but I think you always have these years when it happens more than others,” he said.

“Some clubs are underachieving this year and we do. When you are in a relegation battle we all know how much it means from a financial point of view, but you could say the same about being in the Champions League and not being in the Champions League. There are expectations out there, rightly so, and if you don’t reach them you have to accept the decisions.” – Guardian