Klopp: This season has been the most difficult of my career

Jurgen Klopp has reflected on a extremely challenging season as Liverpool aim to seal a Champions League spot with victory over Crystal Palace at Anfield today.

The Reds came into this season as Premier League champions and with the way they left all their rivals in their wake, the consensus view was they would be the team to beat again.

And while there were considerable setbacks during the first half of the season namely losing central defenders Virgil Van Dijk and Joe Gomez to season ending knee injuries, there was enough quality on the pitch to keep ahead of the chasing pack.

But injuries continued to mount up and with players having to fill holes and play out of position, it meant that the manager could not get any continuity in his line-ups which is so important for a title aspirant.

A crippling run of form early in the new year not only put pay to the league title defence, but also threatened their spot in European competition altogether.

But for all the adversity, the Reds stand 90 minutes away from securing one of their key objectives, which is Champions League football.

The German has seen his share of high and lows in his 20 year managerial career but speaking ahead of the final game of the season (per the Official Site), said that this campaign has thrown a lot of obstacles that could never be foreseen.

“Was it the most difficult?  Yes. It was the most difficult year of my life, and the season was obviously in this year, because I never thought I [would] have to deal with a pandemic. 

“Not me personally, but us all. I found and find that really difficult to deal with, to be honest. 

“What did I learn? That sleep is overestimated. Am I a better manager? Better, I’m not sure, but much more experienced. I spoke this morning to Pep [Lijnders]; managers have a licence for what we are doing and you need to renew that from time to time. When you are in a job it’s quite difficult to find time to do that. I said, ‘Actually, coaches or managers who are in a job shouldn’t get asked for renewing, it should just get renewed’ because no day is like the day before. 

“It’s always new, it’s always a new problem, always something else. Experience is important but it doesn’t help always, that’s just the job. Are we better? I don’t know. Are we more experienced? Definitely. We made so many experiences we couldn’t have made in any other years. So, yes, there will be a time when I will appreciate that – but it will be in the future, it’s not in the moment.

While the majority of the squad have been through their ups,and downs for one reason or another throughout this campaign, one player who has been remarkably consistent is Mo Salah with 31 goals in all competitions and Klopp was keen to pay tribute to his excellence.

“I am happy about the fact because it’s easy to see where we would be without Mo’s goals. But it’s for all the other teams the same, without the goals their top scorers or whatever score – the guys with the biggest numbers – it would all look differently, of course.

“We know the team helps him a lot, but Mo carries a lot as well, I have to say. That’s clear. It’s his desire, it’s his professionalism, it’s his greed as well which helps us completely. And this year is one of his best years without having the best number of all he had. It’s a really top year for him, because for a striker in a team that is not flying constantly, scoring these numbers is absolutely exceptional. That’s what makes him really special.”

When it comes to new additions in the summer, Klopp is still keeping his cards very close to his chest.

“Yes, I’m very happy with my squad – very, very happy. Could this squad improve? Yes, like each squad could. Is that affordable? I don’t know. Is it necessary? I don’t know.

"Whatever happens, we will see, I don’t know in this moment, to be honest. We have to make decisions in and out, all these kind of things, it’s normal in a summer.”