Jurgen Klopp discusses how Liverpool rediscovered top form
By Tom Gott
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has stressed that he was never scared of his side's form last season as he always knew they would be back among Europe's finest once their injury crisis was over.
The Reds suffered greatly with injuries last season, losing key men like Virgil van Dijk, Joel Matip, Fabinho and Jordan Henderson for significant periods of time, with their form taking a predictable nosedive and seeing them run perilously close to missing out on Champions League football.
That form had some questioning whether Liverpool were even good enough to be seen as title contenders anymore, but as this season has proven, they absolutely are. Klopp's men are unbeaten in all competitions so far and have bagged ten goals in their last two games.
It's been an emphatic response from Liverpool, but according to Klopp, it's one which should not have surprised anyone.
"I didn’t doubt it, I didn’t really even have to think about it," he said (via The Mirror) when asked if he believed Liverpool would rediscover top form.
“You all forgot how massive a difference it is when you lose pretty much your whole defence in October. Everyone still expects you to win all the games, you are Liverpool. When we solve that problem, it was clear we will be better again and that is the situation again. It doesn’t mean we will win but it gives us a chance.
“In life it is really important to stay calm when everybody is really excited and that is what we try to do, to make the right decisions in these moments.
“Are we better than 18 months ago? It's not too important; you have to be as good as you can be in the moment. The world is like this: you win 5-0 against United and everything is perfect but it was not.
“So far it clicked a lot so we had some pretty impressive scorelines, but we don't expect it to happen all the time. We have no problem winning a game 1-0. Absolutely not.”
Liverpool head into Saturday's meeting with Brighton second in the Premier League table, one point behind leaders Chelsea, who will face Newcastle at the same time.