Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp insisted his side are not cracking under the pressure of chasing the club’s first league title in 29-years, as they dropped points in a second Premier League game in succession after a 1-1 draw against West Ham.
After spurning a chance to open up a seven-point lead over Manchester City in a 1-1 draw against Leicester last Wednesday, Michail Antonio’s first half goal earned West Ham a deserved point on a night when Klopp admitted his side were not firing on all cylinders.
Liverpool’s lacklustre performance will fuel suspicions they are struggling to deal with title expectations, but Klopp was keen to play down that theory.
Is Jurgen Klopp feeling the pressure? ?
“If I’ve made a mistake in the first half, I don’t want to open the gap even more as a human being.”
Jurgen Klopp questions ‘strange’ decisions as @LFC draw: https://t.co/9JCyAXYhTD
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) February 5, 2019
“People will say we are not dealing with pressure, but it is too early to start about the title race with 13 games still left to play,” said the Liverpool boss. “I didn’t enjoy this game, but there is a long way to go.
“For all of us, if you want to win big things then you have to be ready for these tight races. That’s how it is.
“We are in a tough situation at the moment. The injuries I don’t know where they are coming from. We could have played better, but the games are difficult.
“Probably all the reports are already written without me saying anything, I didn’t see anything about pressure. We have to accept that and try to win matches and I will not talk about the title race at this stage of the season.
“It was a tough game. You saw around the set-piece, we knew about the routine but when we trained we had three other players in the team.
“Apparently our goal was offside and maybe the referee knew that in the second half because he didn’t give us too much after that. It explains the second half because I think the referee knew and you saw there were a lot of strange situations, not decisive, just rhythm breakers.
“There were so many situations where it was 50-50 or 60-40… a free kick for the other team. As a human being I know if I make a big mistake in the first half I don’t want to open the gap even more.
“We have to fight, it is not about pressure – it’s about enjoying the situation you are in. We have 62 points, have lost one game in the league season so far which is very positive, but I see in your faces already you feel a bit sorry with us. You don’t have to, we are fine. We are fine and everything is good, but of course tonight was just a tough game.
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“If you have a day like that, with the things that happened yesterday, then you get a point at West Ham, for me that’s absolutely fine. It’s a point and it’s a fair point. Now we take the point and carry on.”
The Liverpool boss went on to suggest Tottenham are not a third player in a competitive title race, as they are now just five points behind Klopp’s table toppers.
? Unstoppable! ?
?️ #OnThisDay last year, @VictorWanyama did this… ?#COYS pic.twitter.com/dqfmJ3I6yh
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) February 4, 2019
“I think since five, six, seven, eight weeks we talked about a two-horse race. Now Tottenham came from behind, they have a very difficult situation and deal with it brilliantly, I have to say,” he said.
“All credit to Poch (Mauricio Pochettino) and his team how they did it. Winning games very late with a lot of injury problems as well, that’s great. For me, they are 100 per cent in the race.”
Klopp then tried to lift the mood of disappointing surrounding his team in the post match press conference as he added: “I have seen your faces. You look a bit sorry for us. We are all fine.”
Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk insisted he was relishing the Premier League title battle with Manchester City, despite drawing a second successive game in a below par performance at West Ham.
“I am always enjoying it,” said Van Dijk, when asked whether his side were cracking in the race to win the club’s first league title in 29-years. “You have to enjoy it. We are still in the race and City are as well. We have to be at our best for the rest of he season, but we have to go again.
“It is what it is. We have to keep going. When you have a back four who don’t change it’s maybe a bit easier, but we have enough quality to fill it.
“What can we do? We take it game by game. We’re still top of the league. You need to enjoy the pressure. You can also be playing for nothing. We’re still in the race. We go again.”