Jurgen Klopp says Liverpool are aiming for title glory this season, but cannot be weighed down by the failures of previous generations.
Liverpool have not won a title since 1989, but are currently second in the Premier League table – six points behind leaders Chelsea – ahead of the Christmas fixtures.
Manager Klopp insists the club is equipped to challenge for top spot until the end of the season, but says players and supporters should focus on the present and not think about the last 26 seasons.
“We are not the last 25 years. We are now. We are this generation,” he said in an exclusive Christmas interview with Sky Sports‘ Jamie Redknapp.
“As much as we love all the guys from the past which created this club, we cannot make their job. We have to do our job.
“Let’s do it and let’s try it. We are good enough and the club is big enough. We have the owners we need because they don’t want to sell players. Nobody should leave here because of money. We are not the best-paying club in the world, but we can pay enough to stay.
“This moment at Liverpool is fantastic and we have to use it. We are in the present really good and the future is bright, so go for it.
“That doesn’t mean that we can’t lose games. What really makes the joy a little bit smaller is when we lose a game people say ‘that’s like the season 2004-05 when we lost to I-don’t-know where’.
“It’s not, it’s never the same. We do not have it in our DNA that we lose a decisive game.
We are young enough, we are good enough, we are strong enough and we have an outstanding, skilled team. The only problem is there are a few teams around that have not a worse team, too.
“It’s still football. The more you wish doesn’t make it more likely, but it’s still possible and we will stay in the race, for sure.”
Liverpool have already beaten title rivals Chelsea and Arsenal this season, but have suffered disappointing defeats against Burnley and Bournemouth.
And Klopp insists they will need an element of luck if they are to go on and lift the Premier League trophy in May.
“We have played a really good season until now, but becoming a champion means you need to play a really good season plus having luck in the right situations. No injuries and a little bit of luck in this game and that game.
“Whenever you look back it always looks like Manchester United or whoever did everything right in each game, but they won a lot of games in the last minute and you think it’s quality, but it’s coincidence most of the time. Very often it’s individual quality in a moment or it’s coincidence. You need to have the luck.
But you need to be prepared for these moments. You need to make the percentage of coincidence and luck as small as possible. All the rest need to be planned and what we can plan, we do. But then you can still lose a game like we did at Bournemouth.
“A lot of people, especially around Liverpool because they have waited so long for it, will say ‘that’s the game where we lost the championship’. No, it’s not like this.”
Klopp also admitted that Chelsea have been the best team in the Premier League so far, but maintains there will be plenty of twists in the title race.
“When they go on like this they are the deserved champions, nobody could have a doubt about this,” he added.
“I am pretty sure that until now Chelsea are maybe the team that have had the most luck with injuries. We lost Phil (Coutinho) and Daniel (Sturridge) and Danny Ings in difficult moments when you really could use them.
“If it’s Hazard and Costa at Chelsea, is it the same afterwards? It’s a long season and they all have to play us again and not only us, they have to play Arsenal again and all of the others.
“Of course they are the team to beat because they are very experienced, maybe the most experienced team in the top flight at the moment.”
See more from Jamie Redknapp’s interview with Jurgen Klopp on Sky Sports News HQ on Christmas Day and don’t miss Liverpool v Stoke live on Sky Sports 1 from 5pm on Tuesday December 27.
[SOURCE:-Sky Sports]
