Klopp excited by Liverpool ´challenge´ after poor start to Premier League campaign

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp is looking forward to the “challenge” of the Premier League campaign after a poor start to the new season.

The Reds are winless with three matches played after losing at Old Trafford to arch-rivals Manchester United on Monday, putting them seven points adrift of early pacesetters Arsenal.

Liverpool’s slow start to the campaign has been a surprise and has led to apparent tempers, with James Milner and Virgil van Dijk verbally clashing on the field during the defeat earlier this week.

However, that does not worry Klopp, who pointed to his own reputation as a player before going on to detail why he likes the opportunity the loss of form has presented.

“We spoke about pretty much everything. I didn’t see the pictures but obviously everybody else did,” he said ahead of Saturday’s clash with Bournemouth.

“I was a pretty emotional player in my time and I had more often than not these sorts of conversations with my best friends on the pitch.

“There’s nothing to clarify really – it’s a situation when you are discussing things on the pitch. Especially nowadays with all the cameras, it looks much more serious than it is. So that’s no problem at all.

Time to train pic.twitter.com/AdYSMjxQlN

— Liverpool FC (@LFC) August 25, 2022

“The situation is not the situation we wanted to have but actually I like it as well – it’s a challenge. It’s not the start we wanted, you have to fight back. 

“I’m really happy we have the opportunity to play at home now, twice, especially on Saturday. I can’t wait to create a special atmosphere at Anfield together, the team and crowd, to make things happen.”

Klopp also warned not to take things for granted following Liverpool’s successes in recent years, adding that there are no easy games in the Premier League.

“I think this team delivered in the past four or five years at a consistently high level. There’s a little drop two or three years ago but, apart from that, so often we are on the winning side,” he added.

“Sometimes, people take things for granted. Liverpool against whoever, Liverpool will win. That’s not the case, we have to work extremely hard for it.”