Jürgen Klopp says Liverpool’s self-belief and development will be taken to a different level thanks to Champions League qualification.
The Liverpool manager has often lamented a lack of confidence in his players, claiming one bad result or performance is enough for doubts about their potential to emerge at Anfield. However, having qualified for the Champions League with victory over Hoffenheim in the play-offs on Wednesday – “the hardest way to get there”, according to Klopp – the former Borussia Dortmund coach believes a place among the European elite should banish any reservations about his squad’s quality.
“It will help our belief 100%,” said Klopp, who will confront Spartak Moscow, Sevilla and the Slovenian champions Maribor in the group stage. “Since I came here in October 2015 we created in this building an atmosphere that is extremely special. We feel the power of this club, of the people, the skills of the people, all that stuff, but we can improve it outside of the building too.
For this we need moments of qualifying for finals, and the will to win these finals, but we need to show up all the time and be part of the Champions League. If that is not a sign then I don’t understand what a sign is. It was the hardest way to get there but we did it and to be honest that feels even better.
“It is very important, for the whole club it was like a thank you. That is the thing we want to reach, and we are happy with this because it is very important for us. For all of us it builds the confidence. Yes, you gain experience from winning or losing games like this, but you want to have the kind of experience we have got now and that’s really good for the boys. I think we really deserved it.”
Qualifying for the Champions League group stage for the second time in eight seasons will also hasten the development of Liverpool’s players, according to their manager. Klopp, who expects the defender Trent Alexander-Arnold and midfielder Emre Can to recover from minor knocks in time to face Arsenal on Sunday, explained: “I think since we were together a lot of the players have improved. That’s because of the group, because of the things we did and the way we treat each other. We played Hoffenheim and people in Germany are now saying that they were naive against us. I don’t think that. Let me say that we were outstandingly good.
“You always have to make the next step and that’s what we did with the players here. Of course, you have two bad games and everybody thinks we are not that good. Around the Chelsea game last year, people were saying: ‘Jordan Henderson is the [number] six? No way can he play as the six.’ Now he is the six for England. It is always too quick. We don’t think like this. I really trust these players and I really like developing with them.”
Liverpool’s front three of Sadio Mané, Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah were outstanding against Hoffenheim on Wednesday and their form bodes well for Klopp before Arsenal’s visit to Anfield. But the German insisted there was more to come from the trio, who he expects to thrive on the Champions League group stage.
Klopp added: “Sadio has made a big step, but first of all because it was possible for him to do it. He is being more clear in all the situations – passing in the right moment, dribbling in the right moments, always being a goal threat.
“You can see Mo is on the way there. He is not that used to how we play, not using the body that much. A different player to Sadio, same speed but different player. He played a completely different position last season, he was a second striker at Roma, but he can play as a winger. He has already defended 500% more than he did last season and he is another player who needs to adapt.
“Roberto Firmino – who was in any doubt about him? If anyone ever doubted him they lost my respect 18 months ago. He is an unbelievable player. Everybody spoke about his passing game against Hoffenheim but the challenges he made defensively, chasing them from behind, all over the pitch – they couldn’t get rid of him.
“That is the character you need to make the next step with the team. It is already good but all the teams are already very good, so who wins? It is the team who wants it the most. And this game, for sure, we wanted it more.”
