Jurgen Klopp has reaffirmed his commitment to Liverpool - despite writing off his team’s title chances.
The Kop boss assured fans he hasn’t not got the ‘seven-year itch’ after walking away from both Mainz and Borussia Dortmund after spending the same time in both jobs.
Klopp marked the seventh anniversary of his arrival on Merseyside Saturday. And after a poor start to the season which has seen Liverpool win just two of their opening seven Premier League games has admitted that the title may already be beyond his team.
But the 55-year-old insists he still has the energy to turn things around - and that it can still be a great season for the Reds. Klopp said: “From this point, does it look like we will be champions at the end of the year?
“Unfortunately not, but in all other competitions we are not out yet. Nobody knows where we will end up in the league, so we just give it a go. That's it. Difficult yes, impossible no. So let's go from here. Did I think we'd be ninth after match-day seven? No. But this is the base where we are now and we must go from here.”
Klopp signed a new four-year contract in April. He admitted he did not envisage being at Anfield so long. But he explained that the current challenge at Anfield is different from the circumstances that saw him quit Mainz and Dortmund.
Klopp said: “I had no plans for seven years here. I was just happy to survive the first press conference because my English skills were really not that good! But I have no problem with energy - and the situation here is completely different. When I was a manager at Mainz, after three years we got promoted to the Bundesliga and three years later we got relegated. We tried one more year - and the club then needed a change because players left us for the Bundesliga.
HAVE YOUR SAY! Has Klopp lost his magic touch? Let us know in the comments section
“I was full of energy. I went directly to Dortmund and all was fine. I could have stayed there. They wanted me to stay. But it was a case of players constantly getting pulled to other clubs or leaving for whatever reason - and that was really a hard job to do. Instead of developing a team we were constantly taking two steps back. It was really intense and exhausting. It was the reason why I said ‘okay, come on, we have to stop it here'.
“I had no energy problem, but took a year’s holiday because it was fancy at that time. I think Pep (Guardiola) did it and Thomas Tuchel did it. So a holiday - let's give it a try. But I couldn't do it and after four months I was here.”
Klopp added: “I am in a difficult situation at the moment. But, if you think twice about it, you would realise the situations (between Liverpool and Dortmund) are completely different. Being here for seven years is intense. No doubt about that."
Liverpool face high-flying Arsenal at the Emirates Sunday, trailing the Gunners by 10 points. Klopp knows the ramifications if his team fails to deliver again. He said: Klopp added: “If there is one club that has a chance to go through, then it's us. I know that with one point more, Chelsea sacked Thomas Tuchel. It was said ‘Tuchel gets sacked with 10 points and Klopp stays in a job with nine points'.
“You don't have to ask me why that's the case, but we still have the chance to create something really special.”
