Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp must draw on all of his experience, resolve and character to buoy his Anfield aces ahead of the enticing encounter with Chelsea in the Premier League tomorrow night (Tuesday).
For the Kop chief has overseen a disastrous period in the Reds campaign in which they have lost three games on the spin at their Merseyside home.
And all three defeats can be described as “unlikely” at best. The poor run started when they lost 3-2 in the league to relegation candidates Swansea City. Then Klopp’s side had no answer to Claude POuel’s resolute Southampton team who recorded a 1-0 win to give them a 2-0 overall score over two legs of the semi-final and passage to the EFL Cup against Manchester United next month at Wembley.
With their season crumbling around them, Liverpool then took on Wolves at the weekend in the fourth round of the FA Cup — and with it a very real chance of fielding a strong team and that would have given them a strong chance of progressing and kept alive the hope of bringing home some silsverware this season.
But Klopp tinkered with his starting line-up and the men from Molineux, in fine fettle of late under the stewardship of boss Paul Lambert, left Anfield proud 2-1 winners to go into the hat for the fifth round draw tonight (Monday).
And it doesn’t get any easier for Liverpool with Antonio Conte’s table-topping Blues the visitors next up.
Klopp said:
“This is a very good squad even when everybody is thinking ‘oh my God’. I am still quite a good manager even though we just lost the last three games. It doesn’t change but all the mood round changes. I cannot be new every day, I cannot be I don’t know what every day.
“We need to stay on track, all of us, especially in moments like this. So what’s the basis for striking back? It’s faith. Everyone’s asking me is faith not a little bit too much? But it’s the base.”