Jürgen Klopp on Tottenham clash, changing fortunes and looking forward

Having already offered an update on the Reds’ current injury situation, and explained how they’ve looked to learn from last week’s defeat at Hull City, the manager turned his attentions firmly onto the mouth-watering clash with Spurs in his pre-match press conference.

Read on for a summary of Klopp’s thoughts ahead of the visit of Mauricio Pochettino’s team…

On Liverpool’s record against the top six…

It’s rather positive than anything else, but it doesn’t help a lot. It’s not that we think now, ‘OK, thank God we’re playing Tottenham and nobody else’ or something like this. We brought ourselves into a situation where if we play really good and win – which will be really difficult, as everybody knows – then everybody will say, ‘Against the top teams, they are good.’ But if we don’t perform, it’s another not-good information for us, so we have to make sure we are really ready for this game. Then we will think about other issues; we have maybe two weeks after the Tottenham game to solve all the other problems, if there are still any, so that’s the job [we have] to do.

We know that we can do a lot of good things still, but of course at the end everything I could say here cannot make the difference – we have to show it, we have to show it on the pitch. How everybody knows against a team like Tottenham, we need everything that Liverpool are able to do and that’s really, really important. It would have been important in each situation in the table, but in this moment it is a little more important and we are aware of this. [Tottenham are a] strong opponent and until yesterday, it was not a flying situation for us. If we play like we played in the first half against Hull, no chance. If we play like we did in the second half against Hull, a better chance, but we should play better than we did in the second half, but it is a different game, everybody knows about the way Tottenham is playing. They are a strong side, a side that has grown together and they have a few injury issues – as we have. It’s an interesting challenge and will be exciting.

LFCTV GO: Klopp's pre-Tottenham press conference

On Tottenham bouncing back from one win in 10 earlier in the season to their current run of form…

Thank you very much for reminding me about this, which I had no idea about because I don’t think too much about other teams. I knew before, without the example of Tottenham, that things like this happen. We could find a lot of explanation for things that happened a month ago, five weeks ago or whatever. Last week, all that stuff, a lot of things are clear, but in the end in our situation the job we have to do is not to look for excuses, we only have to look for solutions. That’s what we are doing, of course. Not flying doesn’t mean you cannot win the next game. It’s pretty much more difficult to convince people of the fact we can win against Tottenham, but that’s the situation and it changes nothing.

We have to be really concentrated. We’ve had a good week to train, we did 100 per cent the right things, not [at] the highest intensity in this part of the season, only really tactical things and what we have to do in each situation. Unfortunately, football is not like riding a bike, you can miss it. Sometimes in football a few yards on the pitch make a big difference and can cost you confidence in the right moments. How it is in all things in life, to deserve luck the only way is to work and that’s what we will do. My job is never easy, but it’s always easy to enjoy it because it’s football and each situation is a challenge.

If you are in a wonderful position, then you have to make sure that you stay in this situation. If you are not in this situation, then you have to make sure that you solve all the problems immediately. There’s always a job to do. It’s not that I love this most [current form], but it’s part of the job and it’s very interesting and helps a lot to know more and more and more and more about everybody and all that stuff. The best thing and the best thing in football is that you always have the opportunity to win the next game. Our next game is Saturday against Tottenham – wonderful, half five, fantastic time, night time, floodlights, great atmosphere – that’s all still enjoyable and that’s what we should use.

On learning more about his players because of the current run…

Of course, about everything. 16 months in, it’s a long time but still not the world’s longest term. Of course we’ve learned. I know, especially in this moment, that nobody wants to hear this but it’s important: we are still convinced it is a long-term project and means we need each [piece] of information. A few less, a few more, but you have to take them and learn from it. Of course you learn in situations like this and the players learn, but always with my advice so I cannot step back and say, ‘Let’s see how they react’. It’s my job to bring them in the right situation – to bring them into a situation where they really are sure there is a chance, a big chance, a fantastic opportunity for us in the next game. That’s what we’ve tried to do in this whole week.

On the impact the fans can have against Spurs…

That’s another thing that’s easier – it’s easier when you win 20 games in a row and then you say the fans need to be there and all that stuff. I am not silly – I know people will then think, ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah – but first of all, you have to perform.’ But it would be really nice if we all together can create an atmosphere which is outstanding because everything else would be a waste of time. We are there again with everything we have, being in a hotel the night before, preparing everything, video meetings, making meetings and all that stuff. People have a long or not that long trip to the stadium, everything is prepared, so when we are there then we have to use the time. That’s how I see it but of course I know this is not a situation when I can force it and say ‘come on’. I hope that everybody still knows how important it is and is ready to deliver.

On whether recent results have meant for a lot of ‘problem solving’ in training…

Most of the time, I do what I have to do and not what I want to do. If I did always what I want to do, then I love watching shooting sessions but that doesn’t help a lot. It’s fantastic, but we cannot do this all the time even when people think we don’t score so ‘Please train shooting!’ We do it, but we cannot do it all the time. I love watching them in different kind of games, but that’s not usually what we do – we do what we have to do. We recognised that at one point we lost the flow, of course. In this moment, not only did we lose the flow, but then there was this and that, this player is out, this player is coming back but not rhythm, this player is coming back from another country, then this player is injured, then this player is coming back after how many days… and then you come in and another two players are ill or injured. In a good moment it is not a problem, but it is really rare that one player is out and then the other player who comes in is in a world-class situation because of not playing for a long time.

In this moment, I understand 100 per cent and respect that you have all these questions, but I am nearly 0.0 per cent interested in what was. I am much more interested in what we will be, what we can do, which result we can get, which performance we can show and where and when we can deliver. In my dreams we can 14 games – again, I know how that sounds but I cannot change my dreams. That’s what I’m working for. After these 14 games, it’s another moment when we watch back, then we look back and we use all of these experiences. We use all the things we learned about each other and then, yes, we will make decisions that will help us in the next season.