Jürgen Klopp on Ox, Firmino, Thiago and top-four hopes

The Reds welcome Southampton to Anfield on Saturday evening as they look to take the chase for a top-four finish to the wire.

Ahead of the clash, Klopp tackled a series of questions from journalists on the form of his players, both collectively and individually, and you can read what the boss had to say in the second part of his pre-match press conference.

On Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain…

The summer is important for all of us – and for Ox is it exactly the same as you can say about each player. When you don’t start games, then you have to use each training session and each minute on the pitch in a game to convince. I don’t have to be convinced, to be honest, but it is about showing up in these situations. Ox had really good moments, he trains good in the moment, I have to say, really well and that’s really good. These situations are not easy for the boys, not only him but for Naby it is not easy, for Shaq not easy and for some other players not easy. I know that, but as I said, during the season a lot of things happened and the one thing we tried to get – and when we got it to keep it – was balance and rhythm, stability and that means you don’t change in these kind of positions too often between the games. That’s it pretty much. With always having a different defence, we need a few things in midfield to be different to other times when we were much more settled and much more stable. That’s the reason why some players don’t have enough minutes. In their understanding for sure and even in my understanding, that’s completely clear but that will hopefully change next year completely because when you have more stability in the last line then you can be more flexible formation-wise further up the pitch.

On Roberto Firmino’s form…

It’s a mix. It is for sure a result of the season, 100 per cent, but as well when the boys up front don’t score as often as we are used to then that doesn’t help in these moments. But anyway, it is not dreamland, so you have to go through these periods and it is temporary and not forever, no doubt about that. Bobby is not old or tired or something like that, or lost everything, not at all. We see everything in training and we have to make sure we bring that more often on the pitch; that’s not only for Bobby – but you asked me about Bobby – it is a general thing for us. As I said, the season was not a season where so far we got a proper flow and things were clicking game after game, we had to work incredibly hard and when you have to work incredibly hard you have to think about different things. Let me say it like this, when we lost our defensive stability because of injuries, everybody had to do differently in protection, in defending, in all these kind of things. That keeps you a yard further back or two or three or five or 10, that keeps your focus away from an offensive situation because you think if we lose the ball, we have to make sure we get it back and all these kind of things. It’s really complex, there were a lot of complex things that happened this year. That’s why it was, so far, the season we saw. There is absolutely no excuse and hopefully that is clear, but it is a description of the situation. Bobby is one example of it, but Bobby is in a good moment, he trains really well and that’s good.

On whether Thiago Alcantara requires more time to adapt to Liverpool…

No, no, that happened already. Thiago came in a really difficult season, but is a very important player for us and that’s the most important thing you can say about it. He started really well but then got a bad injury – an annoying injury as well because it took really long. Then coming back in a team where it is not clicking as a football player… he works a lot and is a really good, hard-working guy, but he comes rather from the technical side, he was used to different patterns at Munich and these kind of things. It is just not a year when a new signing just shines, especially in midfield. Diogo [Jota] then is in moments a little bit easier, even though he had a really difficult injury as well, because he finished situations off. He was not so much involved in the creating but creating is the moment when different things have to work out together and that’s why it is was difficult for Thiago, but we are completely happy with him and we will see the best. I don’t think we saw it already, that’s not a problem, but we are 100 per cent convinced we will get the best out of him because he is a world-class player.

On how Liverpool will react should they miss out on Champions League football next season…

Not a problem. We are not kids in a candy shop who are not getting the candies, but stands there. We are responsible for the situation we are in and nobody will watch next year’s Champions League lying in front of the television and cry if we are not involved. That’s the situation in football, it is completely normal but that will not be a challenge. If somebody would struggle with that hopefully I would realise that early and could sort that situation early. I am pretty sure I would recognise it early. So, again, the good things that happened in the last few years we did together and this season we did together as well. The reaction on this season we will show together as well, that’s clear. It is difficult, it is strange really, I sit here and some [of you] think we have a chance for the Champions League and for that we have to be concentrated on that. Some people obviously think we don’t have a chance anymore, so we should already write the season off. We have still five games to play and to talk about a new season and how we will react, it is a bit strange. We play Southampton tomorrow and then we play Manchester United and so on, so we have some games to play and we will be 100 per cent focused on that. We will deal with our situation, make the best of it, and then some of us have quite a long summer. We will try to use that summer – and we will use that summer – to get back full of energy and full of power and we will go again. Then we will see what happens. But really, we cannot always talk about five things in the same moment; tomorrow is Southampton and that needs our full focus absolutely, because of the way they play. All the rest we will sort, you can trust me.