Klopp: We'll show our trophy intent on the pitch
Liverpool are out to try and win the EFL Cup this season, but will aim to demonstrate their intent with actions on the pitch rather than words, insists Jürgen Klopp.
The Reds resume duties in the tournament on Tuesday night with a third-round trip to Derby County as they aim to go one better than last campaign, when they were defeated on penalties by Manchester City in the final.
However, while acknowledging Liverpool’s desire to go all the way, Klopp is eager for his side to let their football do the talking, rather than any soundbites about their ambitions in the competition.
He told journalists at Melwood on Monday: “It makes only sense to be part of a competition, especially cup competitions, with the aim to win it – there is no other reason why we should start in it.
“It’s not that we have nothing else to do - we could train today and tomorrow, which would be very important, but [instead] we have a very competitive game against a strong side.
Watch the manager's press conference in full on LFCTV GO
“It’s not that we say every day we want to win the EFL Cup, but it’s a very important tournament and we showed last year that it’s really exciting to be part of it. We had a lot of great games and being part of it helped us a lot, to learn more about each other and how we react in specific situations. That’s what we want to do again.
“The final was a great experience – always being part of a final is great, but only really great when you win it. That’s what we had to accept after the game, but the final was good for us.
“We start in this competition to win it, but it’s not important to talk about it – it’s more important to show it on the pitch again. It will be a real challenge.”
Klopp continued: “It’s not about talking about it [winning trophies], it’s about doing everything so that you come as close as possible to get them.
“Whatever I could say now, nothing would change but everybody can imagine that we are really ambitious in all competitions – it’s the only reason we do it [compete in them] – but it doesn’t help to talk about it.
“It’s all about using the moment, having a good squad with a very good working attitude and big skills. The only problem we have is there are a lot of teams around that are not really worse, to be honest – they can play football too, so you have to find your own way to be a little bit better on each matchday. That’s what we’re working on.”