Jürgen Klopp has sprung to the defence of Mesut Özil after his fellow German’s defending came under fire following Arsenal’s defeat at Stoke City.
Steven Gerrard led the criticism of Özil’s performance in that game, claiming Arsenal were practically a man down when out of possession because the World Cup winner “did not want to know” about winning the ball back. Gerrard went so far as to describe Özil as a liability in away games – “He just doesn’t do enough” – though the Liverpool manager does not see it that way at all.
“I remember the 3-3 draw with Arsenal we played here in my first season,” Klopp said. “If Arsenal that day had been without Özil and [Olivier] Giroud, we would have won 3-0. They only got back in through one long ball, Mesut had five players on him but he still managed to make something happen. He is an outstandingly skilled boy. I don’t watch Arsenal often enough to have an opinion about all his games but if people are not happy with him I don’t know why.
“There is no doubt in Germany about the quality of Mesut Özil. The country is blessed with a lot of world-class or close to world-class players in his position yet he is a fixture in the German team. That should be a sign. Jogi Löw is known for sticking with the players who have brought him success but even he would not do that if others offered more.
“Mesut has always been a very important player for Germany, he won the World Cup three years ago, so I don’t know why people give him the criticism.”
Arsenal expect to have Alexis Sánchez back for Sunday’s game at Anfield and, though there are certain obvious similarities between the Chilean’s position and that adopted by Philippe Coutinho at Liverpool, neither player’s motivation is a topic Klopp particularly wants to explore. “I don’t know anything about Arsenal’s situation,” he said.
“I don’t know if Sánchez wants to leave or wanted to leave this year or whether they want to keep him or sell him. I don’t have any opinions and it probably makes sense to keep my mouth shut because I am not a normal football fan talking aloud about how things might turn out. I am not interested really. I think he will play against us. That is what I have to think about and not where he will be playing next year.”
Coutinho will not be playing, though any Arsenal scouts at Wednesday’s game against Hoffenheim could only have been impressed by the attacking options Liverpool are able to call upon in his absence. Gareth Southgate certainly was, to the extent the England manager does not hold Daniel Sturridge’s lack of games this season against him because he can see what sort of competition he is up against. Yet behind Sturridge in the pecking order for frontline places are Divock Origi, Dominic Solanke and Danny Ings, with Adam Lallana also sidelined at the moment and probably wondering where he is going to fit back in.
All this without Coutinho, too. Surely Klopp is going to face difficulties giving everyone enough games. “Everyone is happy, I guarantee it, but I know what you mean,” Klopp said. “We can’t say we do not have enough strikers, that is true. But we are still in the very early part of the season and we have a lot of games ahead of us. There are bound to be injuries. All the players will get chances.
“I cannot promise anyone they will play 10 games in a row but I will use everyone as much as possible and try to help them take the next step. When you see how Sadio Mané has been this season, you can understand how much we missed him for 15 games last season. If that was not a blow, I don’t know what is. But we still got the results to finish fourth and now we have qualified for the Champions League group stages it feels a bit more like we finished third.”
Now in his third season in England, the Liverpool manager seems to have the football pretty much worked out, but he is still occasionally baffled by some of the criticism that comes his way. He feels that attack-minded managers – himself, Arsène Wenger, Pep Guardiola – are unfairly castigated over defensive mistakes in a way that others are not. The point being that while more or less everyone suffers the odd defensive lapse, the English enjoy the sort of narrative that suggests some managers are too preoccupied with attacking football to care about the defensive aspect of the game. “I don’t like conceding either, but I don’t think we play so offensively that we give easy goals away,” he said.
Then there is the idea that Liverpool can beat the top sides but are incapable of raising their game to the same level against supposedly weaker teams. “That was true to an extent last season but a lot of the sides we dropped points against in the run-in we had already smashed in the first half of the season,” Klopp said. “You get different challenges throughout a season and you have to learn to win in different ways.”
Arsenal are not in the Champions League this season, though the challenge they present is essentially the same. “They have so many good players,” Klopp said. “You can’t just concentrate on one or another, you just have to make sure they don’t pass their way through you.”