Liverpool suffered at the start of 2017 as a result of reaching the EFL Cup semi-finals and the festive schedule, Jürgen Klopp has claimed, with the manager convinced his team will benefit from lessons learned.
Klopp’s side rediscovered form when they defeated Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 at Anfield, their first league win since New Year’s Eve ending a damaging sequence of one victory – against Plymouth in an FA Cup replay – in 10 matches. Saturday’s performance came after Liverpool’s first full week without a game since before Christmas and Klopp claims the demands of 12 games in 40 days – from the win over Stoke City on 27 December to defeat at Hull City on 4 February – took a significant toll. He believes Chelsea were relatively fresh to extend their lead at the Premier League summit, having been eliminated from the EFL Cup in October.
Asked what was the biggest lesson he learned during Liverpool’s poor run, Klopp replied: “December-January. Not even Chelsea came through without no problems but they were able to play the same team all the time. They left the EFL Cup when, before it started? [It was the fourth round] I don’t remember them playing one game in that competition. ‘Get rid of this.’ I spoke to Antonio [Conte] for a long time at Anfield, maybe 25 minutes, and he mentioned it [the fixture schedule] but said they could play the same 13-14 players all the time. That is the big difference.
“In December we missed players and did not have the best schedule. From 31 December [a 1-0 win over Manchester City] to 2 January [a 2-2 draw at Sunderland] you could see the difference physically. Oh, my God – what have we done? It was not that we had all the players to change it at Sunderland. It was a few things. On a few things we had an influence and on others we did not have an influence – we conceded goals, offside against us, penalty against us.
“We could have had two, three or four points more. With two points more instead of an offside goal for Man United, and I don’t want to make a story of it, then we are in the same situation but with 51 points. Only because of one decision and the games staying the same. Hull – first half really not good, Southampton – not good enough, Chelsea – good, United – good, Swansea – silly but not bad, we played pretty good until we stopped playing. We are not used to being a top team, maybe we have to be. We are not clever like Chelsea who will be 2-0 up and just finish a game.”
Despite a problematic start to 2017, Liverpool drew 1-1 at Manchester United, having led for most of the match, and held Chelsea at home by the same scoreline before beating Mauricio Pochettino’s challengers convincingly. Klopp claims home and away defeats by Southampton in the EFL Cup semi-finals changed the complexion of Liverpool’s recent run, suggesting it would have been more beneficial to exit the competition earlier.
Klopp, who has taken his players to La Manga this week for what he described as pre-season training, added: “They are all human beings and of course they are influenced by the things they see every day. Did I learn anything new about them in the last few weeks? Yes. A lot of what I wanted to learn? No. But that is how it is. I am not one bit in doubt about the character of these players but of course we have to create mentality. We had a few moments when we didn’t deliver, didn’t perform, although not too often in the Premier League otherwise we couldn’t be where we are now.
“It felt worse because of different cup competitions. We should have been out of the EFL Cup last year, and that would have meant two less defeats this year in a moment when we needed each second for bringing a player back from injury, for recovery, for training, all that stuff. It didn’t help but that’s how it is. We cannot make a wishlist and say: ‘What do we want?’ We have to deal with all the circumstances. Now, before the Tottenham game, we created a situation. You say to the boys: ‘Where will this lead us?’
“Man United had won so it was clear we needed to win to show what we really want to do in the rest of the season. It was important and it was a really good sign. It is not that I think is normal to react this way. You have to take everything and fight but it looks a little bit stiff, not fluent. But the boys were in a good moment and they used this.”