Jurgen Klopp: Everything is uncertain, Real Madrid Barcelona struggle when they come to town
April 29, news from the Mirror, Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp believes that even if Real Madrid and Barcelona come to the Premier League, they will have a struggling time.
The Reds boss has been educated in the shocking nature of soccer, with his side being able to completely overpower the likes of Chelsea and Tottenham at times, only to drop the ball against the likes of Burnley and Hull City.
Jurgen Klopp, who is preparing to play Watford, remembered that these so-called smaller teams used to give him a hard time and said: "Even for the Spanish giants, winning in the Premier League is difficult. Real Madrid and Barcelona will fight for everything but it will be very hard for them. Nothing is certain in the Premier League. There is a lot of intensity here."
The Mirror says Liverpool haven't lost a single match in the top eight this season, but have had their title hopes spoiled by Swansea, Crystal Palace, Bournemouth, Leicester, Burnley and Hull City.
Klopp: Unfair? Man Utd went through what we went through last season.
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has responded to Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho, who said this week that the battle for the top four is an "unfair" one.
Liverpool are currently two points clear of Manchester United, but the Red Devils have the advantage of having played one less game. Mourinho previously said that the race for the top four isn't fair as the Reds have a fixture advantage. United currently have a UEFA Cup semi-final with Celta in addition to the league. But Klopp did not agree with this statement, he said that Liverpool also encountered the same situation last season. They made it all the way to the UEFA Cup final and they played a total of 63 matches that season.
Klopp said: 'No, it's not unfair, it's just the reality of the situation. Nobody asked us how we felt last season, and I can imagine what Mourinho actually meant when he said that, but they are in a very similar situation this season to us last season. Obviously they have a different size squad to us, a bigger team. Even with this injury problem, they can still put out a very strong squad. You think 'Mkhitaryan can't play? Rooney can't play? And then there's this guy, that guy ......'"
"Their situation is different, but of course, it's tough like that. They have 7-8 games left - 5 league games, 2 UEFA Cup semi-finals and maybe 1 UEFA Cup final. Yes, it's tough, but we were in the same situation last season."
Although Liverpool are currently in third place in the league, they could fall to fifth in the league as soon as Sunday, as their match against Watford will have to wait until next Monday to kick off. Manchester United will host Swansea on Sunday, while Manchester City will be away to Middlesbrough a little later on Sunday.
Liverpool have now lost the initiative in the race for the top four, but Klopp has urged his players not to be concerned about the results of other teams' matches, but to focus on winning their side's remaining four matches. He said, "We don't have 100 percent of the decision about the situation at hand anymore. But it makes sense to focus on our own game and get as many wins as possible, it's a very interesting and exciting situation."
"We're still in the middle of the pack of contenders at the moment and that's great. We need to do our job in the remaining four games and then we'll see where we are in the pecking order. This game (the Man City derby) doesn't change the situation too much, it's us that matters. If we take down Watford then we will stay third in the league."
Liverpool got a 6-1 win in their first meeting with Watford this season, and with that victory, they jumped to the top of the table for the first time under Jurgen Klopp. However, their lack of bench depth saw them falter in the middle of the season, and now that the dream of winning the title is far away, retaining a spot in the top four has become a more realistic goal.
Klopp said, "If we lose too many players to injury then the team will struggle to perform and that's something I've learned. When Lallana, Henderson, Sturridge and Mane were all unavailable through injury, we certainly couldn't cope with the situation. We have to devise new tactics for the season and it's a shame we lost 4 high caliber players at the same time. We'll learn from this, but it won't help us right now. I had thought we had a great squad but had too many injury problems."
Watford were defeated by Hull City in the last round of league matches, but they have won 3 consecutive matches at home without conceding a single goal. Klopp said: "Watford have changed a lot since we first met last November. We know very well how to play a team that retreats very deep and you have to accept that you won't get too many chances at Watford. We need to defend as hard as we can and then take the few chances we get."
Liverpool's two injured players, Lallana and Sturridge, both returned to the team on Friday and resumed normal training, which is undoubtedly a huge positive for the Reds, as the Merseyside team hopes to get out of the shadow of the previous round's loss in this round of the league.
Klopp said, "I'm really happy with how the week has gone so far and how the players have responded in training. At this stage of the season you can't train like crazy, 2 hours at a time or something. We can't look ahead and not look back. The important thing is to keep the tempo and then do some targeting for the next opponent. No one should question our attitude, we are confident in our training."
"Yes, of course it would be better if we could get 10 more points and fight with Chelsea for the title, but that's not what we need to think about at this moment. We have to fight hard for what we need to fight for and that is a Champions League spot. Will there be pressure? Of course there will be, the next game is very important. No one will see this game as a friendly, but we will be well prepared for it."
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