Liverpool may still have a chance of finishing in the top four, but both Jurgen Klopp and Jamie Carragher know that it's all about next season at this stage.
The Reds cruised to victory away from home on Monday with a 6-1 demolition of relegation-threatened Leeds, boosting their hopes of qualifying for the Champions League, as they're now seven points adrift of fourth-placed Newcastle. Before the game, however, club legend Carragher labelled Liverpool's away form in the Premier League - then only three wins from 15 games - "awful."
"I think for a while now it's felt like, for me, Liverpool have almost got to send a message of where they could be next season in terms of getting some results and moving up the table," Carragher told Sky Sports. "You find it difficult to think that they will get the points needed [to finish in the top four] between now and the end of the season."
Klopp echoed Carragher's forward-thinking sentiment in the build-up to the game, saying: "We play a very average season, we have to do business in the market - we will do it! Spending in football combined with football knowledge will lead to improvement, that's very likely. So it's not rocket science we are talking about. So we have the year we have, but we will be ready to fight again, for whatever. We will see that - you will see that."
We saw that much earlier than next season when the Reds went to Elland Road on Monday, putting six past Leeds after an all-round dominant display. Klopp was delighted with his team's performance, as goals from Mohamed Salah, Diogo Jota, Cody Gakpo and Darwin Nunez did the damage.
"I think it's the best game we've played this season from all different perspectives and aspects of the game," the Liverpool manager affirmed to Sky Sports post-match. "I think we forced a lot of errors but it was a really good game, sensational goals and counter-pressing - it was the best game for long time. Really happy with that game."
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Asked about the Reds' hopes of a top-four finish, Klopp added: "Where we end up I don't know but it will go on after the season so we need all the games to understand. The games are super important If we can't get anything this season, then we have to build on good performances from this last part of the season.
"I have no clue if we can get close, but I don't think it's too important. I would like to see us with the same desire, the same passion, the same understanding that we showed tonight."
