Jurgen Klopp says Liverpool's stuttering form is 'not a catastrophe'
Jurgen Klopp insists Liverpool’s stuttering form is ‘NOT a catastrophe’ despite champions’ four game winless streak – and highlights ‘good signs’ from Manchester United draw
- Liverpool’s stalemate with Manchester United had extended their winless streak
- Jurgen Klopp is not flustered, however, and insisted the run is not a catastrophe
- The Reds coach recognises the problems his team have encountered recently
- But Klopp also says there are promising signs the champions will bounce back
Jurgen Klopp is not flustered about Liverpool’s stuttering form and has made it clear a run of four games without a win is no catastrophe.
Liverpool’s manager recognises the problems his team have encountered in recent weeks, during which they have gone 346 minutes without scoring, and knows they will face another potentially problematic challenge from Burnley on Thursday.
The fluency is missing from the champions’ play and it was argued that their performance against Manchester United was as flat as anything they have produced this season but Klopp has re-watched that 0-0 draw and believes there were promising signs within.
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp insists his team’s stuttering form this season is not a catastrophe
While he conceded there is little more margin for error if they want to retain their title, Klopp is confident his squad have the capabilities to put together a sequence that will make Liverpool a threat to all as they head into a sequence of fixtures that will define the campaign.
‘Perfection depends on the situation,’ said Klopp, whose side face Tottenham, Leicester, Manchester City and Everton in the next four weeks. ‘There is no perfect season with (one team taking) 114 points. There is just dealing with the situation and the circumstances.
‘We have to be as perfect as possible. Pretty much all the teams have a dip. Some have sorted it, others are on their way to sorting it. We cannot change it just in a minute. A day has 24 hours, we think about a lot of stuff and somebody has to be calm in this situation.
The draw with Manchester United at the weekend extended Liverpool’s winless streak to four
‘Our situation is not a catastrophe. It is not perfect but we will be as good as we can be (soon). I saw a lot of good signs in the Manchester United game but because we did not win, nobody was interested. I cannot change my view. If we had won that game, everyone would have seen them.’
There is no doubt that the loss of Virgil van Dijk continues to shape Liverpool’s season but Klopp gave an intriguing bulletin on the Netherlands international on Wednesday, during which he refused to categorically say he wouldn’t play again this season.
Van Dijk posted a video to social media on Sunday morning of him on a football pitch in Dubai, juggling a ball. He has been in the Emirates for a month with his own personal trainer, as he works to overcome the anterior cruciate ligament damage he suffered last October.
‘I don’t know what is possible and I don’t think I am the right person to judge it,’ said Klopp. ‘He looks really good and I’ve spoken to him. He is in a good mood but I don’t know when he’ll be back. I had this injury myself but for the time we are in and how long he is out, he looks really promising.’
Klopp is adamant that every team will endure a ‘dip’ and has tipped Liverpool to bounce back
Uncertainty also surrounds when Diogo Jota will return from the knee ligament damage he sustained in December.
The Portugal forward, who had made such an outstanding start to his Liverpool career, is still required to wear a knee brace when he is away from the club’s training ground.
‘Diogo is still a few weeks away,’ said Klopp. ‘He will not be ready in the next one or two weeks.’
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