For the second time in four seasons Liverpool fell short in the league to Man City by a single point, and after the draw on the opening day Jurgen Klopp has been quick to say this is no time to “turn crazy.”
The Reds’ opener at Craven Cottage was far from the start many had anticipated, and expected, from Klopp’s side, with a draw already putting the team on the back foot.
There are still 111 points up for grabs, though, and maintaining perspective is key for Liverpool as they go head to head with Man City once more, and possibly others.
Klopp has conceded that the Fulham result was “not even close” to what he expected, but concerning himself with the tight margins in a big picture that has yet to be framed would be “crazy.”
“That’s not how it goes, it makes no sense. That’s not dealing with the situation, that’s getting desperate, getting crazy about a situation,” Klopp told Sky Sports of already agonising over the margins.
“When you lose the league because of one point and you start the league with one point and at that moment turn crazy, then you have no chance. We have to be cool, we have to be calm.
“We could have got the points against City last year when we played them, for example, and we didn’t.
“We shared points, which is okay but if you want to be ahead of them, I think it makes sense that we win at least one of the two games.”
Taking points off Man City will be vital this season as the Reds have failed to take more than three points off Pep Guardiola’s side in a single campaign since 2016/17.
Liverpool cannot expect others to do the job for them away from the head-to-head battles but those results can come with the consistent improvement that Klopp wants to see from his team.
“It’s not so important we can go wherever together with Man City, it’s more important that we can reach the same level and go from there,” Klopp said.
“Like the last years, go from there and try to improve. That’s what we are really working on.
“I saw a lot of things in the City game, especially, where this was obvious for me, which felt really good.
“I would be happy if it was a two-horse race and we just have to be concerned about Man City, but I can’t see that.
“The season is so young. We have already injury problems, I’m not sure other teams have them already but they will get them at one point.
“It’s all about how you deal with that and so we just have to win football games.
“There are a million ways to win a football game and we only have to find one, so that should be possible. That’s what we have to try.”
