What They Said in 2016/17: Liverpool
Jurgen Klopp’s first full season at Liverpool ended on a high as his ‘gegenpress’ style helped the Reds secure Champions League football for the first time since 2014.
Klopp’s men would experience up and downs in the campaign as they turned on the style in the big matches but stumbled against lesser teams.
As we look back at the last 12 months for the Merseyside club, we’ve picked out some of our favourite quotes from the key moments throughout the campaign.
Liverpool’s season got off to a blistering start, losing just once in their first 13 matches and scoring 32 goals in the process. That run included a thumping 6-1 victory over Watford, but Klopp remained calm.
“There is nothing to celebrate in the moment – this is our responsibility to play well when you put on the red of Liverpool. It is all good until now,” he said.
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But their good run came crashing down after they squandered a 3-1 lead at Bournemouth, losing 4-3 in the last minute thanks to a Loris Karius blunder. Yet Klopp was quick to defend his much-maligned goalkeeper.
“If they [Bournemouth] thought before the game that Loris Karius is a weakness then I don’t know which game they were looking at,” said the German. “The game before against Sunderland he saved our life in three or four situations.”
The Reds season looked like it was coming off the rails in January after a home to loss to Swansea was added to defeats against Southampton and Wolves at Anfield in the EFL and FA Cups, respectively.
After defeat to Championship side Wolves, Klopp said: “If somebody asks me if this is the lowest point of my LFC time, I can say it is not possible to be lower.
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“If we have to go through the history of Liverpool, better sides lost against worse sides. We know what we have to change, only we have to show it.”
A must-win fixture came in the shape of Tottenham at Anfield in Feburary and Klopp’s knack of conjuring the right performance in the big games was evident once again as they swept aside Mauricio Pochettino’s team.
“We had to show a reaction and it was perfect. It was an outstanding performance offensively in the first half, and defensively in the second half,” Klopp said.
Liverpool’s bid for the top four was helped by a remarkable overhead-kick from Emre Can at Vicarage Road as the Reds downed Watford 1-0.
Speaking about the strike, Klopp said: “We tried to create moments and the goal we scored obviously was a spectacular one. I would like to say I’m used to it but it’s not the truth, especially not from Emre.”
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It all came down to the final day; beat already-relegated Middlesbrough and Champions League football would be theirs. Liverpool had struggled against bottom-half sides but they did not falter this time as they cruised to a 3-0 victory to pip Arsenal to fourth spot by a single point.
With Klopp concluding: “I’m really looking forward to next season. I think we have created a wonderful base. The better you’re organised, the more you feel free to do special things in offence.”
