In an exclusive interview with Sky Sports, Jurgen Klopp reveals the analysis that has gone into Liverpool's finishing.
Sunday 2 May 2021 17:52, UK
Jurgen Klopp is speaking on the 10th anniversary of his first Bundesliga title win with Borussia Dortmund. A crowd of over 80,000 was packed into the Westfalenstadion, the atmosphere electric as news filtered through that Bayer Leverkusen were losing to Cologne, a result that would confirm their triumph.
"The moment I realised we would be champion was when the stadium announcer was shouting, 'Turn me on! Turn me on!' He was already on but he did not know that. Then he said, '1-0 Cologne!' The whole stadium exploded, completely. That was a great moment.
"For nearly everybody in the team it was the first title so it was really special and absolutely unexpected," Klopp tells Sky Sports. "A wonderful day, a great memory and a big relief."
Many more special days have followed. Another Bundesliga title. The Premier League with Liverpool. Champions League finals won and lost. Klopp insists that he is a far better manager now. He needs to be. His team is facing a challenging situation right now.
Sixth in the Premier League with five games to go, Liverpool play Manchester United on Sunday at Old Trafford - a stadium where Klopp has not won at the best of times - knowing victory is needed to prevent one of the worst, leaving a top-four finish surely beyond them.
Robbed of that vocal Anfield support, the fortress has fallen. Injuries undermined their title hopes. A crisis of confidence since then has put Champions League qualification in jeopardy. Is it bad luck, bad form or something more permanent? The analysis has been thorough.
"We had a really detailed look at all the situations that we created over the last seven or eight games just to get an overview," Klopp reveals. "It is not unlucky. There are moments where we are unlucky. But if you are unlucky so often there must be something else.
"Sometimes it sounds a little boring but we know we have to improve. The one thing we have to keep working on is the finishing. We have to finish the situations off. We have created 36 chances in the last three games and scored twice. That is obviously not enough.
"The performance around that, creating the 36 chances, shows you that something was right in the game. We had really good spells but the important moment is the last moment. We cannot expect it to change overnight but we will not stop working on it.
"It is not exactly the football of last year, maybe, but it is all fuelled by that one moment. Either you score or you don't score. We have to keep working. We don't have to change inside out, 360 degrees or whatever. We only have to improve and to make it click."
The draw with Newcastle showcased problems that have stalked their season. The early goal should have been the catalyst for more but chances were wasted and frayed nerves saw momentum shift late on. The team that found ways to win is now contriving not to.
"We have conceded pretty much in the last minute in the last two games," says Klopp of those draws against Newcastle and Leeds. "It was not that I could see it coming but I saw that we did not control the game well enough in those moments in the way that we did.
"We have not lost that ability, we just need to make sure that we fight more in the difficult moments. That does not mean fouls. That means fighting the circumstances. Stay positive."
Game management was an issue in those closing stages but the problem would never have presented itself had Liverpool killed the game long before. It all comes back to finishing.
One explanation that Klopp is keen to rule out is the suggestion that his players are not passing to each other in the key moments. "We did have a look to see if we are too selfish," he says. "We are not. They are not more selfish now or less selfish. That is not the case.
"It is always like this when you miss chances. You look whether he could have passed. There are one or two situations where that could have happened but it is not as easy as telling the boys not to be selfish. One thing is clear, the selfish thing we can put off the table."
Instead, when Klopp watched the game back, it only confirmed what he already knew. Liverpool had chances. Lots of them. But Diogo Jota endured an off-day. Sadio Mane dallied when one-on-one with the goalkeeper. Roberto Firmino looked far from his best.
No team relies on their forwards quite like Liverpool. That was always the way. In that department, they are still outscoring Manchester City and the other teams ahead of them in the table. But they need more. The system does not function without the forwards on form.
The problem is that their belief has been sapped.
"We can see the boys are not confident enough in the moment. They don't use their first touch. They want to make sure the ball is in the right position and then it is too late, the defender jumps in. There are a lot of things. After not scoring for a while, you do not use some situations for finishing. That is normal because we are not flying.
"A good example was Mo Salah two years ago against Chelsea. Long ball, right side. Mo dribbles inside and fires the ball from round about 25 yards into the far corner. It was a great goal. It was not even a chance because there were seven or eight players in between.
"When you are full of confidence you just want to come inside and give it a try. We do not do this often enough and when we do shoot from distance, we don't hit the target."
Tactically, Klopp has tried to put four forwards on the pitch rather than three. Technically, there are things that can be worked on. "Is your body in the right position to finish?"
Mainly, though, it is psychological.
"It is about talking to them, helping them to find solutions. You can do that in training. All that is fine but then the game starts and the first ball does not go in, the second ball does not go in and the third ball does not go in. It is like a wound that is bleeding again.
"That is what you can see on the pitch.
"But a missed chance is information. You have to use it. The things we did to get in the position were right, so do it again but just adapt a little bit. Keep going. Stay positive."
That is the mantra that Klopp will stick to for the remaining five games. He is already looking beyond. "We will use this analysis to be better again next season," he says. But before that there is Manchester United and the chance to salvage something.
"It is not like we are going to give up this season," adds Klopp.
"We still have European football to play for. Whether that is Champions League or Europa League, depends too much on others. But we don't want to be the reason because of our results in the last five games. We will try absolutely everything to win as many as possible."
And he is not going to give up on his players either.
"If you are in a bad moment, people expect that you need to shout at them and give them proper hairdryers. There might be moments where that makes sense but in my experience it does not help very often. Most of the time, the people just need the right information.
"And they need belief. For sure, I will not stop believing in this team and certainly not now. This is a tough year. We have to get through this. We keep going."
