Jurgen Klopp: "We are responsible for the situation we are in and nobody will watch next season's Champions League and lie in front of the television and cry if we are not involved"; Liverpool are seven points off the top four
Saturday 8 May 2021 20:53, UK
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp insists they will not react to failing to secure Champions League football like "kids not getting candy".
With fourth-placed Chelsea high on confidence after adding a Champions League final to next weekend's FA Cup final, the chances of catching them look remote as they hold a seven-point advantage, having played one match more.
Klopp admits the task is a difficult, although not impossible, one but the prospect of Europa League football next season would not see the 2019 European champions sulking.
"We are not kids in a candy shop who are not getting the candies," he said.
"We are responsible for the situation we are in and nobody will watch next season's Champions League and lie in front of the television and cry if we are not involved.
"If somebody would struggle with that, hopefully I would realise and I could solve that situation early. I am pretty sure I would recognise it early.
"We still have a chance for the Champions League and we have to be concentrated on that.
"Some people obviously think we don't have a chance any more so we should already write the season off."
Klopp is optimistic that next season, when his raft of key, injured players return to fitness, will see his soon-to-be-ex-Premier League champions bounce back.
He also hopes to see a lift in performances from players like Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Thiago Alcantara and Naby Keita who have disappointed in the current campaign.
"The summer is important for all of us and you can say exactly the same about each player," added Klopp.
"When you don't start games, you have to use each training session and each minute on the pitch to convince.
"I don't have to be convinced to be honest but it's about showing up in these kinds of situations.
"Ox had really good moments, trains really good at the moment, and his situation is not easy, not only for him but all the boys in that situation.
"Thiago became, in a really difficult season, a very important player for us.
"I don't think we saw it already but we are 100 per cent convinced we will get the best out of him because he is a world class player.
"For Naby, it's not easy, for Shaq (Xherdan Shaqiri), it's not easy and for some other players, it is not easy, I know that, but a lot of things happened during the season and what we tried to get and keep was balance and rhythm.
"With always having a different defence, a few things in midfield needed to be different to other times when we were much more settled and stable, and that is the reason why some players don't have enough minutes.
"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."
