Jurgen Klopp highlights ‘catastrophic’ experience as Liverpool squad issued challenge

  Jurgen Klopp highlights ‘disastrous’ experience as Liverpool squad challenged

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has cited Curtis Jones as an example of improving fortunes as the importance of a strong end to the season has been underlined.

Jurgen Klopp has challenged his Liverpoolers to build momentum into the new season by continuing to build on their strong finish for the current season.

The Reds are aiming to register their fifth successive Premier League win for the first time in over a year when they host Brentford on Saturday night.

Although Klopp’s side have lost just two of their last 12 top-flight games, they are unlikely to fight their way to the Champions League places with just four places to play. The Reds have played one game more than third-placed Newcastle United and fourth-placed Manchester United, who are six and four points behind respectively.

Despite this, Liverpool could still finish with 71 points, which would surpass their tally when they finished third two seasons ago after a similar season marred by injuries and loss of form. And when asked whether a strong end to the season could improve the chances of signing new players in the summer, Klopp instead focused on the impact it could have on squad members already in the squad for next season.

“Everything is important,” said the Liverpool manager. “Like Curtis Jones — it’s not his fault it was a catastrophic season for him because he was injured. Nobody knew, didn’t know when it happened, he was like ‘I felt something, but I had worse things if a muscle was sore. or whatever.” We scanned it and it’s out for four months and then you sit and wait. “While he’s not playing people say forget about him, but now he’s playing and playing well. Every performance we have now helps us and the players. We can’t replace the whole squad and like i understand life is when you have a problem you better fix it now because if you keep going you will have the same problem.

“We have to give the guys a framework to play in because I see them every day. I know they want to play, it’s not like they’re like ‘I can’t do this anymore’. We haven’t been able to do this for a long time, but we will find a framework where the kids can shine again. They are much more likely to be the best version of themselves again, that’s what we’re always looking for and everything we do right now will help us for next season.

“These last five games, I like the reaction in the moments, they’re not complete games and I think we couldn’t have played better, but the signs I’ve seen are really promising and I’m happy with them. Four more games, a break then a good pre-season and we will be strong.”

With Liverpool playing their third home game in seven days, Klopp is likely to switch forces with Andy Robertson set to return at left-back in place of Kostas Tsimikas. Jordan Henderson is a big doubter in midfield, with Harvey Elliott and James Milner fighting to replace the captain should he make a mistake. Up front, Cody Gakpo could return on Wednesday after being substituted in the 1-0 win over Fulham, although Diogo Jota is still suffering from back and rib problems. Thiago Alcantara has been ruled out for the rest of the season along with Stefan Bajectic and Calvin Ramsay, while Roberto Firmino and Naby Keita are still unavailable.