Liverpool’s Jurgen Klopp has weighed in behind his Premier League rival Mauricio Pochettino on the issue of the prioritising of Champions League qualification over success in domestic cups.
The Spurs boss said that he “would be sacked a few years ago” if he’d finished out of the Champions League places while winning domestic cups.
“I don’t know if Daniel [Levy] would have too much patience with me,” he added.
That suggestion provoked a mixed reaction from English football fans who, perhaps, hold a more romanticised idea of the place of domestic cup competitions in the modern game than their counterparts elsewhere.
He has the backing, of least, of his counterpart up on Merseyside.
“You want to win them as well, of course, but on the other hand side they don’t guarantee you the money for the next year, so that’s why top four is so important,” Klopp said during his pre-Leicester City press conference.
“You should ask the owners more about that, what they think, and they would probably say it’s really important.
“I know for the supporters it’s different because they want to have silverware or whatever but on the other hand side if you win silver one year and the next year you’re eighth in the table nobody likes that as well and nobody talks about the silverware from last year.
“That’s the situation so I understand 100% what Poch said, but in a club like Liverpool we always have to go for everything.
“The best thing we’ve done that everybody can see is that we are around the decisive things [times in cup competitions] - that’s positive. But, at the end, it’s really, really important that you’re in the Champions League next year.”
Klopp can satisfy both the hunger for silver and continental competition of those involved with the club if his side keep their title charge on the track at Anfield tonight. A win over the Foxes would put them seven points clear of their nearest pursuers Manchester City.