We are 500 days into the Jurgen Klopp reign at Anfield and the Liverpool boss insists that the club have a bright future ahead of them despite enduring a wretched start to 2017.
Last month was torturous for the Reds as they won just one of the nine games they played, fell further behind in the Premier League title race and were knocked out of both the FA Cup and the EFL Cup. That was followed with a league defeat to Hull early this month.
However, Klopp is determined for Liverpool to use that miserable run of form as a learning experience.
“January was nothing we needed, but we had it. It was kind of an experience, kind of a reminder. Everything is good until the moment when it’s not that good anymore – [then] it’s not only not good anymore, it’s as bad as it ever was!” said the Liverpool manager.
“I can understand that people feel like this, but it’s not real, it’s not true. The truth is that we always have a chance. I’ve said a few times, I’m not the best manager in the world but I’m really good at staying on track.
“Most of the time in my life I had to fight for other things that are not that valuable – staying in the league, try to survive somehow, as a player especially.
“Life was good but not because life was good, but because I gave life the chance to be good, even when the pressure was high. That’s what we could do.
“So, let’s use the experiences we made this year, let’s learn from it and yes, let’s be stronger after all these things. The future is still bright.
“This is a long-term project but that doesn’t mean we are not ambitious in this season. We are very, very [ambitious] to have the biggest success we can get, but we’ll only know at the end of the season what it is.”