Liverpool - News

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Liverpool's season could still be classed as "outstanding" at the end of 2023-24, believes manager Jurgen Klopp, despite the Reds' recent defeat in the Europa League quarter-finals against Atalanta.

The Reds boss accepted his side have not been potent enough of late but backs them to get back to winning ways.

"I don't have a lot of qualities but I am always honest," he said. "If I don't feel great, they [my players] will realise it really quickly. That means after a game, people ask me [all sorts]. Give me time to think about it.

"I feel great. Where we are is fantastic. Is it the last game or the last week [that defines his team] or is it the chance in front of us?

"We can turn things around and still have an outstanding season. It is a good season but how you look at it will be the end.

"I don't tell them things that I don't believe in. I am convinced we can win every game we have left, but we only have [focus on winning] the next one, of course."

Asked about the Premier League title race, Klopp responded: "That is not in our hands. It is not about that.

"Can Man City win every game they have left? That has happened quite frequently but they have a lot of games and difficult opponents as well. We don't think about them.

"It's just can we get back to winning games again? We had a lot of chances and missed but it's better than not having chances at all. I am absolutely convinced [we can get back to winning ways."

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Liverpool defender Trent Alexander-Arnold says the Reds will leave no stone unturned in their quest for Premier League glory this season.

Atalanta had won 3-0 at Anfield the week before so progressed with a 3-1 aggregate victory.

"After the game we spoke quite positively about the rest of the season," he said.

"We've got a month left and we need to give it everything. That's what we are going to do, we are going to throw everything at it and try to do all that we can.

"We know it's not in our hands any more but we need to be as good as possible and just be in the best position we can to capitalise if teams do slip up."

The defender was happy to be back starting in Bergamo, and is keen to help the Reds achieve further success in what is manager Jurgen Klopp's last campaign in charge, starting with Sunday's trip to Fulham.

"It was special for me to be back out there and help the team win the game," he added.

"We have got a very difficult week ahead of us - three away games we need to win. That's our aim now."

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Barcelona are interested in signing Liverpool's 27-year-old Colombia forward Luis Diaz this summer.

Wolves are considering Arsenal's 25-year-old England goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale, Liverpool's 25-year-old Republic of Ireland goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher, and Sunderland's 23-year-old English goalkeeper Anthony Patterson as replacements if Portugal goalkeeper Jose Sa, 31, leaves the club this summer.

Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United are among clubs interested in signing Real Madrid's 28-year-old France defender Ferland Mendy.

Manchester City face competition from Arsenal and Liverpool to sign Wolves' 22-year-old Algeria left-back Rayan Ait-Nouri.

Arne Slot leads way as potential Klopp replacement - is he the right man ?

Report by Mandeep Sanghera, BBC Sport journalist.
Feyenoord's Arne Slot is a leading candidate to take over as Liverpool manager from Jurgen Klopp.
Klopp announced in January he would leave Anfield at the end of the season and the Reds have been conducting extensive research around a number of candidates.
The 45-year-old, who led Feyenoord to the 2022-23 Eredivisie title, has emerged as a candidate who fits Liverpool's criteria.
Feyenoord have won the Dutch Cup this season and are second in the Eredivisie.
The decision to appoint Slot has not been made but he has become a strong candidate to succeed Klopp.
He ruled himself out of contention for the Tottenham Hotspur job last summer before Ange Postecoglu took over and is believed to be interesting Barcelona and Bayern Munich.
Slot became Feyenoord head coach in December 2020 after leaving AZ Alkmaar, where he started his managerial career.
The former midfielder spent his entire playing career in the Netherlands, making more than 100 appearances for both FC Zwolle and NAC Breda.
Xabi Alonso was linked with the Anfield job but the former Reds midfielder announced in March he would stay on at Bayer Leverkusen, who have since become German champions.
Sporting Lisbon boss Ruben Amorim was another name heavily linked but he is believed to have fallen out of the running.

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Jurgen Klopp praise for 'world-class' Trent Alexander-Arnold..

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Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp believes it will be good for Trent Alexander-Arnold to have a new manager and said the right-back will be a player "people talk about in 40 years".

Klopp, who will leave the Reds at the end of the season, gave Alexander-Arnold his first-team debut in October 2016 shortly after the Anfield club's academy product turned 18.

The 25-year-old has gone on to make more than 300 appearances for the Reds and won the Champions League, Premier League, FA Cup, League Cup, Club World Cup and Super Cup.

Alexander-Arnold, who was made vice-captain by Klopp last summer, has also developed into a player who regularly moves into midfield for Liverpool because of his creative ability.

"He has been a fantastic player from the first day," said Klopp prior to Liverpool's Merseyside derby against Everton on Wednesday. "An outstanding talent and he has turned into a world-class football player.

"It is rare as a manager that you are part of a journey for such a long time. Trent has never had a different manager so it will be good for him to get new influences in the future. But he can be happy with the steps he has made."

Alexander-Arnold scored with a terrific free-kick - another string to his bow - in Liverpool's 3-1 win at Fulham on Sunday as Klopp's team kept their Premier League title hopes very much alive.

"I have nothing bad to say about Trent and his development," Klopp said. "He is one of these stories that not a lot of clubs can write, but he is someone people will talk about in 20, 30 and 40 years."

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FT: Everton 2-0 Liverpool

Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk, speaking to Sky Sports: "Listen, very disappointed in so many ways. Everyone has to look in the mirror and look at their own performance and think if they gave everything.

"Do they really want to win the league? If you play like this overall in the game and not win any challenges and give the referee an opportunity to give a free-kick away then we have no chance to win the title.

"It is a tough one and obviously we have to do better against a side near the relegation it is time to focus.

"Eventually we were not good enough and we all have to do much better. We have to do much better in every sense it is a tough one to take.

"We are in a situation as we have bene consistent all season and players who have come in and contributed - we have to do much better."

On being outplayed by Everton: "These games are always a big fight and something that we shouldn't have lost in my opinion,

"But. we did now we have to pick ourselves up and be ready for an early kick-off Saturday."

On title race: "If you play like today we have no chance to consider ourselves in the title race."

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Get Involved - Is the title dream over for Liverpool ?

Pete: Title dream over? Given last season and the revamping of our midfield, I'd have been happy with a top-4 finish, but when you factor in the injuries we've had and the fact that we've had to come from behind in far too many games this season, we are incredibly fortunate to be where we are right now. Every team has bad games in a season. True champions win more of those than they lose though, and right now it feels like we're not winning those games. It's been an incredible ride, thank you Jürgen.

Mark: Liverpool have done amazing to be in the title race considering how many chances we have created/not scored as well as conceding so many sloppy goals all season. The two Man United games are what have cost us - confidence was lost and it’s so hard to get it back. You can't keep conceding the first goal and expect to win games. Jota being missing for large periods has really hurt us too.

Dan: Back into the top four and a domestic trophy, I think all Liverpool fans would have taken that this time last year. We’ve done well to scrap and stay in the mix this season but looks like it will be a stretch too far. It won’t cloud what has been an incredible period under Klopp’s leadership.

Darren: Liverpool lost this title the moment they had two key players leave in Firmino & Mane - two outstanding players who scored and assisted goals in abundance. These two were always going to be difficult to replace.

Tim, Arsenal fan: Fascinating end to the season isn’t it? But once again the threat comes from Man City. Six games to go and a potential 91 points if they win all their games. However, such is the unpredictability of the PL this season that it will only take a slip up from City and for Arsenal or Liverpool to win their remaining games for all the predictions to be turned on their heads. It’s really all to close to call, but win our remaining four matches and we’re still in with a shout. City will drop points somewhere along the line.

Mike: The title dream for Liverpool has been nothing more than mathematical for some time now. With the likes of United and Everton taking 7 points off them across 4 matches (and United knocking them out of the FA Cup) could winning the title be considered realistic?

Steve: Liverpool look like a team that have hit the end of the road. Too many big players haven’t stepped up this season but they aren’t questioned because of who they are. We can’t have 5 players in our starting 11 that started the Champions League final in Kiev 6 years ago. We need to keep it fresh like City or United under Ferguson who aren’t scared of getting rid of big names for the benefit of the team. Curtis Jones shouldn’t be anywhere near the starting 11 for a team challenging for the title and Salah and Van Dijk couldn’t look any less interested.

Shane: Well played Everton. Wembley was our send off for Klopp. Top four and a trophy was my realistic expectation for this transition season. We’ve exceeded that. We probably aren’t going to get the fairytale ending (though I’ll always keep the faith) but Klopp has given us so many incredible memories. He’s left the club in the best possible position: A lot of promising youth and new players to build on, a lot of trophies in the cabinet and so many unforgettable nights. I feel nothing but gratitude. I hoped we'd win the title for him more than anything else. What a guy.

Sunit: Liverpool have only won one game against teams in the top 6 (Aston Villa). You need to win the big matches as well as against teams in the lower half of the table if you expect to be in with a shout of winning the league. Two draws against City and Man Utd, draw and a loss against Arsenal and a dubious loss against Spurs.

Charlie: I understand Klopp is a good manager, but am I part of the minority when I think he's failed at Liverpool? He's been there the same time as Pep yet only won a fraction of the trophies. That squad he built should have won more and it's criminal he has only won one Premier League title in 9 years. He's a good manager.... but not a great!

James: Liverpool's biggest mistake was saying no to £250 million for Mo Salah in the summer. Putting a few penalties away has spared him a lot of criticism. Can any fans truly say he has even come close to justifying that price tag this year?

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We asked for your views on Everton's 2-0 win over Liverpool on Wednesday.

Here are some of your answers:

Karen: Season over as far as I am concerned. Their passion has fizzled out. Always making it so difficult by conceding early goals. This team achieves such a high percentage of possession but too many chances are wasted. Too many drawn fixtures and too many losses against teams in games that should be a comfortable win. We have so much quality, but little substance.

Claude: Well it is all over now. No chance Liverpool will win the league this season. Poor performance from the boys. There was no desire or focus in how to win. Poor performance in front of goal. Typical situation we have seen too often. Need an overhaul of the squad in the summer and a manager who won’t accept failure. Bring in [Ruben] Amorim.

Matthew: Liverpool looked done when they scraped a win against Sheffield United. Over achieved with this squad. Mohamed Salah and Darwin Nunez both need to go and better replacements found. Salah has been a club legend but time seems to have caught up with him. Nunez is just not good enough.

Hemanth: The fatigue of going behind in almost every game throughout the season and then playing catch up has well and truly caught up with us. The defence will need to be strengthened during the summer. Will be a sad, sad way to give a send off to Klopp.

Graeme: In 60 years of watching Liverpool, I cannot remember ever seeing them play with so little sparkle. They lost possession frequently. They seem indecisive in front of goal and Salah and Nunez seem to be really struggling up front. Something is seriously wrong in the camp. They seem disjointed and out of ideas.

Ben: The title race is now a two-horse race. Yet again Liverpool promise, yet again they fall away. Klopp said he no longer has the energy to do the job - clearly neither do the players. A big clear out in summer is needed starting with Nunez and [Cody] Gakpo. It may be the end for Salah as well. New defenders will also be needed. One win in four is not acceptable.


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