Jurgen Klopp believes it is ‘just not fair’ to compare his current Liverpool side to those that won the Premier League and Champions League earlier in his tenure.
The Reds have made a fast start to the 2023/24 season off the back of a disappointing 2022/23 campaign and have lost only one match in all competitions thus far – a controversial 2-1 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur.
They are among the favourites to win the Carabao Cup and Europa League, while a Premier League title challenge isn’t out of the question. If results go their way, Liverpool could end the weekend top of the table.
Klopp has christened his new-look side as ‘Liverpool 2.0’, but ahead of Sunday’s trip to Luton Town, he was quick to play down comparisons to his all-conquering cohort from 2018 to 2020 when they won the Champions League and Premier League in a 12-month stretch.
“It’s new, I understand. It’s just not fair if you [compare]. We had a fantastic team two years ago who could have won the Champions League and we could have won more competitions,” Klopp said.
“We could have won the Champions League two more times, [with] the team we had. Not that we should but we could with that team. We cannot forget but then everyone wants change but at the right moment and you don’t want to change when you don’t need to and people say: ‘Hey why do we change?’
“But obviously it was time. We went from the oldest midfield in the league to nearly the youngest in the league in maybe one and a half or two years, it’s good. The players we bought in are all quality and different to the players we had before.
“Macca [Alexis Mac Allister] is a different No.6 to Fabinho. Ryan [Gravenberch], Dom [Szoboszlai] and even Wataru [Endo] are very different and that is very cool. The most important thing is that we could train so long together and we are kind of stable.
“That’s the thing nobody wants to hear or talk about but that we don’t concede and concede and concede is the most important [aspect]. That’s where you build real confidence. Then you can show up offensively and then everything is all right.
“As a team then you don’t have to score from each chance. Not only the player but the team. It’s good. I love the team, it’s really cool and good to work with, and yes the potential is there. Now we have to make sure together that we can make quality of it, consistent quality and that is the job.”
