Both Manchester clubs seem to be worried about Liverpool winning the Premier League this season to judge by the number of times Pep Guardiola and José Mourinho mention that the Anfield club are at an advantage through having no commitments in Europe.
The same applies to Chelsea, as it happens, though Antonio Conte’s club are not trying to close a 26-year gap. While Chelsea have a new manager, they last won the title as recently as two seasons ago. Ditto Manchester City, three seasons, and Manchester United, four. Jürgen Klopp is still a relative newcomer to management in England but he is all too aware that Liverpool have no recent history of league success because he is reminded all the time.
His side have only to top the table or outscore everyone else, both feats they have managed in some style this season, to have the city alive with title talk. Yet where Liverpool’s rivals all have some degree of course and distance experience, only two of Klopp’s starting line-up against Sunderland last week – James Milner and Dejan Lovren – were born when the title last resided at Anfield.
Yet the German is characteristically unconcerned by any suggestion that history might prove a burden. “I am only here 15 months or something. I cannot carry the whole history of Liverpool FC on my shoulders and neither can the players,” Klopp says before Sunday’s game at Bournemouth. “This is a completely new team to me and that’s the way everyone else should look at it.
“We are starting our history now because this is our first full season. History does not always work in your favour anyway. Leicester were champions last season but it is not helping them much this time. If you are still around with a chance of the title with 10 games to play, maybe you have to deal with some pressure but you should still fancy yourselves to win more than lose. My feeling at this stage is that we can win everything. We have nothing to lose in each game, so we might as well go for it.”
Liverpool’s goal tally speaks for itself in that regard, though in addition to losing Philippe Coutinho to injury until the new year they must prepare for a period without Sadio Mané due to his involvement in the Africa Cup of Nations.
“It’s our job to show we can still play football with the players that remain,” Klopp says. “I am not going to pretend we won’t miss Phil. Any team in the league would. But he has not been deciding games alone.
“It is important not to use injuries or absences as excuses. The team should still be able to function. When we won the title at Dortmund we had Shinji Kagawa and Mario Götze injured for half a year. You have to find a way to carry on. There are different ways to win games, different line-ups you can use.”
One thing Klopp is unlikely to be doing is diving into the transfer market in January – not unless his injury problems become much, much worse. “We have already had Coutinho, Firmino, Lallana and Sturridge all out at the same time and we coped,” he says. “We still won games.
“I don’t need 20 options. I just need the right options. If I brought in more players of the same quality they would not get enough games, so it is better to select a young player if you are able. We have some young boys that look good; there are lots of things we can change. For me it is difficult to be part of this transfer market craziness. If I was to say now that we might buy, there is nothing else that will be talked about in this country until the 31st of January. I like to do my job behind closed doors, working with the players I have and, when we have something to say, we will do it.”
Some managers live for the transfer window while Klopp always gives the impression he could take it or leave it. “Transfer speculation only disturbs,” he says. “When you talk about players we need it is always a criticism of the players we have. And I like the players we have.
“I knew there were some good players here when I came but I didn’t know about their character and attitude. This is a group that likes to work. If we cannot be successful, it will not be because of the boys. We have the right players at this moment in the right place.
“The only problem we have is that a few other teams have some very good players too but I am confident we can challenge. We can feel the fans are in a good mood. When you are top of the table or second or third it is normal that people start dreaming. Nobody wants to stop this and I am the same. It is absolutely allowed.”
