Jurgen Klopp Liverpool
Jurgen Klopp has rejected pessimism around participation in the Europa League next season, saying Liverpool will be going “all in” to win it. It will be the Reds’ first season in the Europa League since they were beaten finalists in 2016 and while qualification to the prestigious and lucrative Champions League represents a significant and undoubted blow, Klopp is in no mood to play down the tournament’s importance next season as the Reds look to bounce back from a difficult year.
Jurgen Klopp said: “Is it a booby prize? Not for me. I understand where you are coming from, listen football is like that, on the level we usually perform it is about Champions League because of the money, because of the opponents and all this. And it is not that I have followed in the last four years group stage games of the Europa League a lot because when you are in the Champions League you have a lot of other things to do but I love European competitions. And for me that’s no difference. I know when you play there’s no difference. There will be difficult opponents, different countries probably and in the end a massive prize to win, a massive prize to win. It is not that I say now we will do that but we will definitely try it. I am 100% sure people now may think: ‘Ah, it’s just the Europa League’ but I am 100% sure that come the first whistle, whoever is the opponent, Thursday night, Anfield will be rocking. And that is all I need. That is all I need. And if somebody wants to go through the whole year and think: ‘Yes but it’s not Champions League’ then I cannot help that person. Sorry. I don’t know how you can help them. Life is like this, you try everything until it is decided and then you accept it and go from there. If you are constantly worrying about what you could have done differently – all these ifs – they are not important anymore and they are not helpful and if they are not helpful then knock them out. I am really looking forward to the next season, that is all I need. People may think maybe here or there we won’t put 100% attention in. Nope. We will be all in. We understand that we have to improve and if we improve from the point we are now, that will be OK or better and that is exactly what we have to do and from there we want to go we want to make steps. If you change coaches, then you always have these new starts, everything is shaken through and then we go from there again. But we do that ourselves and that is fine and now it’s a different competition, but who cares? Let’s go from that. I am really super excited about that. I cannot say any differently. This year I want nothing more than to go on holiday because this year was long, there were moments in the season when I thought it was five seasons, that’s true as well, but that is long ago. But we found our way back to use our skills again in the right way, now it is interrupted by a summer break and by a few international games and stuff like this, and then we come together again and that must be a full throttle start and then whatever that leads to. It is not that in the first game we have to win the league, that is not possible. We just show we are back and that is what I want to show.”
