MOTD2: Reaction to Brendan Rodgers and Graham Potter’s departures on same day
Jurgen Klopp has said he is still Liverpool manager “because of the past” rather than his team’s current form.
Liverpool are in danger of their worst league finish under Klopp, whose team visit Chelsea on Tuesday, but his position is yet to come under scrutiny.
“If it was my first season it would be slightly different,” said the German.
“I’m aware of the fact that I’m sitting here because of the past, not because of what we did this season.”
Klopp, 55, has helped Liverpool win club football’s major honours during seven and a half years at Anfield, making him the longest-serving manager in the Premier League.
The Reds have lost their past three games in all competitions and are eighth in the league, the position they finished in 2015-16 – the season in which Klopp took over from previous manager Rodgers.
“We have smart owners, they know about the situation,” he added.
“There is no need [for me] to be afraid, I am here to deliver, I’m not here as a talisman or for murals on house walls.
“I know I’m still here because of what happened in the last few years.
“I don’t like the fact that I pretty much have to rely on that. Is it right or not? We’ll see in the future.”
Liverpool challenged Manchester City for the Premier League title in three of the previous four seasons, winning the club’s first top-flight title in 30 years in 2019-20.
However, they are 30 points behind current leaders Arsenal after Saturday’s 4-1 defeat at City.
With 11 games left, Klopp’s side are eight points off the Champions League qualification places.
“I’m fully in, there’s no doubt about that, but we have to sort it,” he said. “We cannot continue playing like we do from time to time. That’s not allowed.
“I’m really disappointed about us, that we do these kind of things, but it happened. Now we have to find a way out and that’s what we’re constantly working on.”
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp on Premier League manager sackings
‘If you don’t reach expectations, you have to accept the decisions’
Speaking at Monday’s news conference to preview Liverpool’s game at Chelsea, Klopp joked that he was the Premier League’s “last man standing”.
“I think probably the elephant in the room, from your point of view, is why I am still sitting here, in this crazy world,” he said.
Over in Klopp’s native Germany, Bayern Munich sacked Julian Nagelsmann on 24 March to replace him with Potter’s predecessor at Chelsea, Thomas Tuchel.
Antonio Conte (Tottenham), Rodgers (Leicester) and Potter were then dismissed in the space of seven days.
“It’s a strange week,” said Klopp. “The season gets into a decisive part and people are afraid of maybe not reaching their targets.
“But I would say for all four their football managing future is still bright so it’s not a disaster. It’s a situation they probably don’t like but it’s part of the business.”
Klopp said that 12 Premier League managers being sacked this season was “an awful number, but it is how it is”.
He added: “Some clubs are underachieving this year. We are, other clubs are too.
“There are expectations out there, rightly so, and if you don’t reach them then you have to accept the decisions.”
‘Liverpool have got big problems’ – Sutton
Former Premier League striker Chris Sutton says Liverpool need a “big overhaul” of players this summer.
“Every day you pick up a paper ‘Bellingham is going to Liverpool’. They need more than [Borussia Dortmund midfielder Jude] Bellingham,” Sutton told BBC Radio 5 Live’s Monday Night Club.
“The backline don’t get a lot of protection. Allison hasn’t done a lot wrong. Virgil van Dijk is way off the pace to the player he once was. Trent Alexander-Arnold is really lacking confidence and it is filtering through to other players.
“They’ve got big problems.”
Ex-Manchester City defender Micah Richards said some of Liverpool’s problems have stemmed from the club’s recent transfer business.
Liverpool, who let star forward Sadio Mane leave for Bayern Munich at the end of last season, brought in Darwin Nunez from Benfica in June before signing Cody Gakpo in January as attacking options.”Klopp, who is so normally ahead of the game in terms of the player he brings in, has let a superstar go for a young player who is not exactly ready and is trying to make him learn on the job,” Richards said.”It’s not time to panic because they have got some great players within that squad. They just need to find the right fit for what Klopp wants to do”
