‘Go for me’: Jurgen Klopp makes impassioned defence of Liverpool backroom staff

The Liverpool manager told critics of his team to target him with the Reds facing their worst run of form in Klopp’s seven-year reign

Jurgen Klopp has launched into an impassioned defence of his backroom staff, calling them the best in the business, and telling Liverpool’s critics to have the “balls” to go for him, not them.

The German reiterated his commitment to Liverpool as he vowed to carry on and insisted he is feeling very different to how he did when he left Mainz and Borussia Dortmund after seven years apiece.

Now Liverpool are yet to win a league game in 2023 and Klopp’s assistant Pep Lijnders and head of fitness Andreas Kornmayer are among those who have been blamed for their unexpectedly bad season.

But Klopp is adamant he takes responsibility, arguing the support staff all have their jobs on merit and have received too little praise and too much blame as he said that, if any of them give him bad advice, it is his fault for taking it.

He said: “If they were not helpful or inspirational or whatever you want to call it, they would not be here. I’m 100 percent clear on that. Nobody is here because they are my friend or whatever, it was never the case and never will be the case.

“They are here because they are best in class in what they are doing. If you praise them in the good times then criticise them in the bad times. If you don’t praise them in the good times, then don’t it in the lesser good times.

“Don’t do that - have the balls and go for me, then the confrontation can happen, of course. Go for me: that is fine, if you don’t like my answers you know best, but go for me that’s fine but don’t go for other people.

“But I get an awful lot of money to face these situations and my life is fine. But they all have a career after and stuff like this and if we start talking about like this and by the way if I would listen to people who give me the wrong advice, again that is my fault. And not their fault, just to make sure.

Klopp and his assistant Pep Lijnders (Getty Images)

“If we win I feel like I was part of it but if we lose I feel 100 percent responsible, I was always like this in my life, so you can imagine how big the responsibility at the moment is and how I feel now and we will do absolutely everything to get through this and prepare the very positive future again.”

Klopp believes a tough spell could be the prelude to better times at Anfield as he argued his personal history is not repeating itself.

He added: “I would say I have had difficult spells but always at the end of my time. At Mainz we had difficult times during the whole time and Dortmund was probably at the beginning and the end. So I understand that people would think that way but I will not go and I cannot go. I have too much responsibility and I want it and I want to sort it again.

“When I left Mainz it was a career step as well, so we didn’t make it, I knew a lot of interested. When I left Dortmund, I was really exhausted in that moment. I am neither nor in this moment, I am completely here. I understand when people say, ‘Oh seven years there, seven years there,’ but that has nothing to do with it.”