•Liverpool are ninth in the Premier League and 10 points off the top four.
• Last season they were two games away from a quadruple.
Image: FILE
Jurgen Klopp has reacted to criticism of Liverpool’s recent form, saying he has not become a bad manager overnight.
Liverpool are ninth in the Premier League and 10 points off the top four. Last season they were two games away from a quadruple.
“I didn’t become a bad manager overnight. I was never as good as people probably said and not as bad as some people might think,” he said.
Klopp signed a contract extension in April until 2026, after arriving at Liverpool in October 2015. He has won every major trophy available to Liverpool, including the Champions League in 2019 and Premier League in 2021.
“Last year was super-intense, much longer than we could have expected because who expects to get into four finals?” Klopp said.
“That it (this season) would be difficult was clear, but with lesser injuries, we could easily have four or five points more. We still don’t play a brilliant season but we would be around fighting for the Champions League and that’s a normal season.
“Imagine (last season) we win all four (trophies) and I say, ‘see you all later’. Imagine you see a different face here and he tells you all these things. No-one would listen.
“It’s tough, I’m sorry, but we will go for it with all we have to get out of it and then to do it in a way that people can’t wait to go to the stadium again. “How you behave and how you deal with the situation in these moments decides about the future as well.”
Elsewhere, Chelsea have signed 19-year-old French right-back Malo Gusto from Lyon for 35m euro (£30.7m).
Gusto has signed a deal with the Blues until summer 2030 but will complete the current season at Lyon. Lyon said the deal includes 5m euros (£4.4m) in add-ons.
"The defender will now continue his impressive progress on loan (at Lyon) before joining up with the Blues in the summer ahead of the new campaign," Chelsea said in a statement.
Gusto came through the ranks at Lyon before making his first team debut in January 2021.
He has made 15 appearances this season for the French club, who are ninth in Ligue 1.
Lyon said the club "regrets not having been able to keep one of its great hopes trained at the academy" but that they are "happy" Gusto would stay with them for the rest of the 2022-23 season.
Chelsea have signed Noni Madueke,Mykhailo Mudryk,David Datro Fofana, Andrey Santos and Benoit Badiashile on permanent deals in January and have brought in Joao Felix on loan from Atletico Madrid.
The fees for all those deals amount to about £160m and could rise depending on add-ons.