Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has declared himself ‘100 per cent responsible for this rubbish’ but is confident the club will be able to weather the tough season ‘greatly’.
After agonizingly missing out on a quad last season, the Reds have had a difficult 2022-23 campaign in which they have already been knocked out of every cup competition and ahead of Sunday’s Anfield clash against Arsenal they ranked eighth in the Premier League.
The Reds won the EFL Cup and FA Cup in 2021–22 and also reached the Champions League final and finished just one point behind Premier League winners Manchester City.
With 10 matches left this season, Liverpool’s total of 43 points is less than half of what they scored in 2021-22, and Klopp believes this is unacceptable.
“I feel sorry for our people that they don’t have the season they wanted. But in the long run they will forget about it,” Klopp told Sky Sports.
“I don’t care what we did last year or the year before. I’m 100% responsible for this garbage and it’s really not cool.”
The German coach recently acknowledged that his generally unblemished reputation at the club was likely the reason his work was not questioned and shared his appreciation for the support he and his team continue to receive from the fans.
“I know that everyone can instantly express their emotions, and there will be a lot of negative comments about us – I understand that,” he said. “But the people in the stadium are incredible.
“You see in other clubs not only layoffs, but also teams against owners, fans against owners, fans against the team – I have seen it all.
“But if anyone can do a great job of handling that kind of situation, I really think it’s us as a club.”
5 – Liverpool have lost five of their 10 Premier League matches in 2023, already more losses than in all of 2022 (35 D24 D7 L4). Recession. pic.twitter.com/NFtFOnBZtU
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) April 1, 2023
Liverpool played every possible game last season (63) and the resulting fatigue was cited as one of the reasons for their slump in form, while Chelsea (61 games) and City (56 games) also faced with a regression of points scored.
“What you have seen this year is that a lot of the teams that played last year at a very high level are not quite there,” Klopp added. “Even City. Of course they play sensational football, but they don’t have the same number of points as last year (64 compared to 69 at the same stage in 2021/22).
“Intensity grabs you at some point, and maybe it got us hooked this year. But that’s no excuse for the next 10 games.
“That may be the reason why we are not at the highest level. We haven’t found a way to achieve consistent performance.”
13 points behind Newcastle United and Manchester United in third and fourth respectively, Liverpool will need a significant turnaround to qualify for the Champions League, even if they have a game in hand.
Klopp credits ‘self-doubt’ and injuries to play a role, but his team’s potential is still visible after beating Bournemouth 9-0 at the start of the season and thrashing rivals United 7-0 . last home game.
However, their shortcomings resurfaced just six days later when they lost 1–0 to Bournemouth.
“World-class players are performing at a strange level,” he said. “It all started with injuries and an early return of the players, and this season we have not calmed down.
“We have to get through this and I have no problem with that. When I look back 10 or 15 years from now, this season probably won’t be full of highlights, but hopefully we can learn a lot and use it next year.
“But we have to fight it, and it’s hard. If it was easy, they wouldn’t pay me so much money for it.
“We had a super-weird season. We had the two highest wins in our history, but a week later we can’t do it.”