dpa – Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp dismissed suggestions that he has had enough of the job, insisting he is embracing the challenge of his first sticky patch since he took over at Anfield in 2015.
The Premier League champions have lost three straight games, falling out of the title race and putting Klopp under pressure, with some rumours over the weekend suggesting he had quit.
A banner was placed outside the club’s stadium over the weekend in support of their manager.
“I’m okay,” he told a press conference on Monday as Liverpool prepare for their Champions League last 16, first leg match against RB Leipzig in Budapest. “We had a training session before, we had an analysis meeting and both were really positive and I am preparing to flying to Hungary for the for the first time in my life. We are absolutely okay and ready to go. The banner was nice, I don’t feel that I need special support in this moment but it’s nice. I don’t need a break.”
Klopp also lost his mother last month and said it had been a tough time. “The last thing I want to do is to talk about private things. Yes we have had a tough time but we always deal with this as a family 100 per cent. And when I come here, I am 53, I’ve worked as a coach for 30 years and I can split off things. I don’t carry things around. Of course we are influenced by things, but no one has to worry about me. The beard gets more and more grey, I don’t sleep a lot, but I’m full of energy. Now we are in this situation I see it as a challenge.”
