Liverpool going through rainy patch but Jurgen Klopp is sure they will see out the storm
The Reds have only won one game in January
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Your support makes all the difference.Jurgen Klopp has acknowledged that Liverpool’s confidence has taken a knock, but remains confident of bringing long-term success to Anfield, comparing the task to that of building a house.
Liverpool have suffered two damaging home defeats in the last seven days, with Swansea effectively ending their chances of catching Chelsea to win the Premier League last Saturday, before Southampton knocked them out of the EFL Cup on Wednesday.
It effectively means that Klopp’s only hope of a trophy this season lies with the FA Cup, in which his side host Championship side Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday.
He said: “How could the confidence be exactly the same after these results as after winning 10 games? That would be really strange. Of course it changes, and of course it has an influence.
“We do everything in public. If we suffer a little bit, it looks like we suffer a lot, but it’s not like this.
“It’s a little bit like building a house. You start building and you’re full of enthusiasm. And you think ‘in half a year or one year, I will live in this house’. You start in summer and the weather’s good.
“Then November comes and it’s still not finished, the weather is not so good. Do you stop building then? It makes not too much sense.
“You have to wait sometimes while the rain stops. But at the end, you will live in the house. That’s how I understand it. The weather changed a little bit but we are still building.”
Wednesday’s defeat by Southampton was played in a fierce wind at Anfield, which Klopp mentioned after the game, and which Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho subsequently mocked him for.
Mourinho, whose team reached the EFL Cup final on Thursday despite losing the second leg of their semi-final at Hull, suggested that the game at Wembley would be difficult because “normally the stadium is windy”.
Klopp responded: “I know it’s still ‘the funny German talks about the wind’ but it was an issue in this game for the football-playing side, even when I should not mention it.
“In the first half, it was the first time in my life I saw a flat ball stop on a football pitch because of the wind. But it happened. From the football playing side, it makes it not easy.
“It’s then about staying concentrated and not getting frustrated. It’s about not getting frustrated. We did well. We created the chances. With a little bit of luck, we score.”
Klopp is hopeful that defender Nathaniel Clyne can play on Saturday, having missed the Southampton match with a rib problem.
The manager, who fielded the youngest side in the club’s history for the home tie against Plymouth in round three, indicated that he intends to use a more experienced line-up for the Wolves match.
“It’s not final who we can line up tomorrow, because we had a few knocks after the game and have to wait a little bit,” he said.
“But we’ll have enough and a very good team for tomorrow. We will not make 10 changes or something. A few changes we have to make.”
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