Jurgen Klopp has accepted blame if Liverpool’s lack of transfer activity costs them at the end of the season.
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| Liverpool Manager Jurgen klopp reaction during a lost against Hull at KCOM Stadium on February 4th 2017 |
The German coach has spoken frequently of his refusal to panic buy, preferring to bring players to the club who will remain on Merseyside in the long-term.
And despite interest in a number of high-profile targets, including Julian Draxler, Christian Pulisic and Julian Brandt, no new faces arrived at Anfield in January.
Concerns the squad is not strong enough to challenge for the Premier League were exacerbated by an embarrassing 2-0 defeat to Hull on Saturday, which throws into doubt designs of even Champions League qualification.
Manchester City’s late win over Swansea has pushed the Reds out of the top four for the first time since mid-September, while Manchester United now sit just one point behind.
But despite accepting his quiet month in the transfer market would open him up to criticism, Klopp maintains the result does not change his thinking.
“What’s very important, never blame anybody else for your own mistakes,” Klopp said. “That’s not the case.
“I cannot change my answer only because we played bad football today. I cannot say ‘yes it would be fantastic if the club gave me the opportunity’, we had from the club side the opportunity to do something but we didn’t find the right players.
“That’s because the players were not available.”
A move for Draxler failed to materialise after Paris Saint-Germain took him to the French capital, while Pulisic has recently signed a new contract with Borussia Dortmund.
Interest in Brandt remains but Bayer Leverkusen were unwilling to see one of their prized assets leave midway through the Bundesliga season.
“We tried different things, it’s not a money issue or whatever different reason,” Klopp admitted. “I take everything. If you say now ‘not enough players, not good enough players’ I have to take it.
“We have to show the reaction but it will not change my answers because of things like this after a game which I’m not happy about.”
Klopp is in the midst of his most difficult run since taking charge of the club in October 2015, with just one win in 10 games this calendar year – that coming in an FA Cup replay at League Two side Plymouth.
The Reds have also gone five games without a league win, a sequence which Klopp hasn’t experienced since his final campaign at Dortmund.
But the 49-year-old is refusing to feel sorry for himself, maintaining his focus remains on finding a solution to his side’s issues.
“You can’t believe how many questions I ask myself, even when you win 5-0, 6-0,” he added. “That’s not important.
“I don’t think I’m perfect, that doesn’t change things like this. I’ve said it a few times before but I feel 100% responsible for defeats, much more than I feel for wins, and my whole life has been like this.
“It doesn’t mean for me I’m not suffering, I don’t do self-pity, I’m not like this. I know when I get up tomorrow I am solution-orientated, there are solutions 100% but I cannot do it here.
“I respect all your questions, you have been really polite and nice and you could have been more aggressive but even that I would have accepted, but now we have to change it. That’s a football thing.
“Even when it feels in this moment really bad, it’s not the biggest problem in the world.
“Many teams already made mistakes and changed it but for this, you have to do the right things, and I’m quite confident we can do the right things.”