Liverpool’s Jurgen Klopp talks to ESPN about legacy, staying at the top, Salah and more

Bangkok, Thailand — It was the shortest summer for Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool. Only 45 days after losing the Champions League final against Real Madrid In Paris, the team that came close to achieving an unprecedented quartet last season has returned to work with him A friendly match against rivals Manchester United in the English Premier LeagueTuesday in Bangkok.

The 4-0 loss to United at Rajamangala Stadium – Eric ten Hag’s first game in charge of Old Trafford – does not appear to provide reliable evidence of either side’s prospects for the 2022-23 season. After all, pre-season is the time to prepare for the new campaign, acclimatize to the new players, and learn to work without those left. ESPN Klopp met for an exclusive interview during the two days that Liverpool were in the Thai capitalAt the club base at the St. Regis, To discuss the problems facing the 55-year-old coach and his players.

Mohamed Salah Commit to his long-term future for the club by signing a new three-year contractWhile Darwin Nunez Liverpool’s record signing became Coming from Benfica, a pass could reach the figure of 85 million pounds. But there is also the challenge of beating last season’s champions Manchester City in the Premier League, as well as recovering from the loss to the Spanish champions in Europe.

You look relaxed and look optimistic after a short summer vacation, Klopp told ESPN he is planning for the present and the future after winning two of four potential titles last season.. The former Borussia Dortmund boss, who signed a new contract until 2026 earlier this year, also spoke about his vision for Liverpool once he leaves the club.

However, less than four weeks before the start of the new season – with the World Cup in between, from November 21 to December 18 -, Klopp stresses that the upcoming campaign will be a challenge on and off the fieldas many teams are ready to compete for titles.

Editor’s note: This interview has been edited slightly for clarity.

ESPN: What do you think of last season, in which you came close to winning four titles, and failed to win the Premier League and the Champions League?

Club: I’m very optimistic about the season and the things we’ve done of course. Having been so close, it was fine [ganar todo]But it no longer hurts.

It hurt at the time, that’s for sure, when we failed a little bit in the league and lost the Champions League final, but honestly, the next day [cuando Liverpool tuvo el desfile de bienvenida] Show us everything we need to know: Obviously people. Here’s what we do: We do it for people and it’s clear that they really appreciate what we’ve done over the year. It’s been a great season, with an incredible number of points, an incredible number of matches and all those kinds of things, so these are really positive reflections.

We knew that if we won both competitions, we still had to improve and change here and there. You can’t always do the same and expect the result to be better: you have to improve on the details, which is what we would have done if we had won. So now of course all is well and there we go, ready to try again.

ESPN: Sadio Mane left Liverpool for Bayern Munich, but they signed Darwin Nunez after signing Luis Diaz in January. Are we witnessing the development of the campus in the coming years?

Club: Necessary. Not only did we lose Sadio, but we also lost Divock Origi and Takumi Minamino from last year’s roster. Other players can leave too, but we brought in Lewis in the winter, Darwin now, and Fabio [Carvalho] Oh Calvin [Ramsay]. It’s really exciting because the players are new and excited – with big eyes – to be with us, so that changes the dynamic of the group and is really necessary.

I’m in my seventh season and it’s important that we don’t do the same thing over and over again. We have to take it to the next level, that’s why you always need something new, and that’s what we have.

ESPN: Salah has ended speculation about his future by signing a new contract, how important is the decision to stay for the team?

Club: Very important of course. He always is. If it didn’t happen we had to deal with him, but I knew from the start that Mo’s wish was to stay and the club wanted him to stay. Then it’s just negotiations.

If you do it in other parts of the business, no one will notice. You just realize that they are still together. But in football, we do it in public and that’s why people felt a little nervous, but for us it was never like that.

It was a very important signature for us. I see it this way: if we had to sign him from another club, what a great player we would add. But now we still have it here, and that’s great. You see it here and he’s happy to think about the future with us, so yeah, that’s definitely great news.

ESPN: You’ve also committed to your long-term future with Liverpool by striking a four-year deal in April, which will take you up to 11 years at Anfield.

Club: [risas] Sorry!

ESPN: But after you’ve won everything as a Liverpool coach, including the Premier League and the Champions League, are you thinking about what you want your legacy as a coach to be? What do you want or need before leaving Liverpool?

Club: No, not really. Not that I look back at my time with Mainz and think: it’s a beautiful memory that we went to the Bundesliga and won the league twice with Dortmund. It’s a nice thing, but it’s not the first thing I think of when I think of my time at Mainz or Dortmund, nor will it be when I think of my time with Liverpool either.

My goal, of course, is to win as much as possible, but when you leave, you have to leave the club in the best possible way. I think this is very important. If you hit a club completely and then leave, someone else will have to clean up all the trash you left behind. It shouldn’t be this way. The club must be in the best condition possible and must find itself with a squad ready to move on to the next chapter.

But this is in the future. At the moment, I am very happy with the conditions we have and the team we have put together.

If we look at it from the point of view of age, it is an interesting combination. We have quality in youngsters and very experienced players, we have all these seasons. But everyone is determined and eager to take the next step and win more, which is the most important thing. What I’m saying is that everything we do is based on the past, but to be prepared for the present and prepare for the future. We have to do all of this at the same time and I think we are in a very good position.

ESPN: In those four years, right up until the end of the current decade, would you expect it to be just the case of a Liverpool game against Real Madrid. Manchester City to honor? They seem far away.

Club: We are not far away. There is confusion over the points total from last season.

We played against Chelsea – I don’t really know how many points we got – but we played with them four times and we didn’t win a single game against them. It wasn’t because we played poorly that day – we were very good in those games – but during the 90 minutes of each match, before the penalty shootout. [en las finales de la Carabao Cup y la FA Cup]We didn’t win, so Chelsea is an incredibly strong team.

We have to pay attention to Tottenham and what they are doing at the moment. It didn’t get any worse this year. Arsenal are still around, Man United have reinvented themselves, and we have to be attentive to all of these issues.

It’s always the same and we’ve changed a little bit – not too much, but just a little bit. The city may change more, I don’t know, we’ll see in the next few weeks. But things are this way. Base should be good, good for us, and go from there. I’m not interested in the points we got last year, I’m interested in what we can do this season, but I’m optimistic, I’m very optimistic, although I’m not sure, so we’ll have to fight and see what the outcome is.

ESPN: What do you think about the impact of the World Cup on the season? Do you expect that to cause any kind of uncertainty?

Club: It’s strange all over the place, both domestically and internationally. In Germany, they stopped playing and resumed play at the end of January. We start over during Boxing Day. this means [la Copa del Mundo] It will make an impact in the Champions League if you are still in the race by then. I haven’t made plans for these cases yet, but it’s obviously going to be a huge challenge and we have to be as prepared as possible for the period ahead until November.

We have a large group [de jugadores] Who will participate in the World Cup, but fortunately not all of them will continue to play until the final. Many will be able to reach the semi-finals, which means the same time frame, so it will be difficult. A week later, the boys will have to play again.

It’s going to be really complicated, but that’s the way it is, and it’s going to be the same for everyone, that’s what it is.

I don’t know in Europe, but in Germany it will be a very long break and that will also be a challenge – to find the rhythm again, but at least those who are in the World Cup will have a long break. Our players – surprise – won’t get a real break, as everyone expects to play a week later if they win the World Cup.