Klopp: I'm still learning about squad but I'm not scared to spend big

But the Reds boss suggested he would not be scared to spend big to enhance the talent at his disposal if the player was needed and available.

Liverpool's decision not to continue the pursuit of £38m Alex Teixeira from Shakhtar Donetsk in January was seen by some as an indication of budget restrictions but Klopp is of a different mind.

He will happily spend the money if necessary but believes Liverpool must “go their own way” to avoid the scenario where the club struggled after a star player left, specifically referring to Luis Suarez.

Klopp wants a more stable approach and of course continues to believe training is more important than transfers, a mantra he has been preached since the day he walked into Anfield last October.

He hopes it will deliver his first Liverpool trophy at Wembley on Sunday but it is a philosophy borne of his years at cash-strapped Mainz where he worked with a budget not built for promotion to the Bundesliga, something nevertheless achieved - albeit after two seasons of last day heartache.

Klopp said: “When I came here I spoke about how I am the only one who believes in training, all the others believe in transfers.

“I was not asked how will you work with the team so much as ‘who will you buy?’

“But if I started my career thinking about money I would have no chance.

“Football is about development, football is about training.

“I have really good players here. I don’t know enough about them at this moment but I know a lot more than I did five months ago.

“I love in this game, that working together – helps.

“And I would not like in this game that I take this guy from here, this guy from there and in the end you have 11 and then you let them play together and you think it works.

“That’s not how I understand this game.”

As much as the budget is needed to attract top-end talent, the Liverpool manager is fully aware of the competition for signatures but seeks to lessen its impact with a more collective approach.

He said: “If we have to pay money for a player that we really want then it’s good and it’s not an issue.

“We don’t say he’s too expensive, yes he’s really good but he’s too expensive. No.

“For some players you need to pay. If you need them.

“That’s how it is - if you can get them.

“It’s not easy to have a genius £50m idea but for Liverpool and for us it’s really important that we go our own way.

“I remember with Suarez that was a genius squad of course but it would mean in the end that we would have problems because they are not here any more.

“You need to be more stable and that’s what I try.

“I am patient enough. I would like to win every game and I am really, really, really disappointed after a defeat.

“But next morning the sun shines again. You have the chance to use it, this defeat and that’s what I love in this job.

“It’s not about transfers. Right player, big money, I don’t care.

“If we have it take it, use it. If we don’t have it, don’t say we have not enough money.

“Try a different way. That’s all.”

Klopp's opposite number at Wembley has generally had plenty of money available in building a squad at the Etihad, for all that it is one that he will leave behind at the end of the season as Manuel Pellegrini is replaced by Pep Guardiola.

Asked if he had some sympathy for the Chilean, the Reds boss suggested in football “nothing is for ever.”

“It’s kind of the nature of football. I don’t know Manuel too well but when I saw him talking about this, he’s completely with this,” he said.

“Man City and Manuel Pellegrini together have had a great time together. Now Man City will do something else and Manuel Pellegrini can do something else. That’s it, that’s how it is in football, nothing is for all time. You have to accept a few things.

"I have never had it until now where a club kicked me out or something but there are worse situations than Manchester City and Manuel Pellegrini.

“Everything is clear, how it should be, full of respect. Everything was okay, Manuel was involved, for sure not in all the talks with Pep Guardiola. That’s how it should be. You can say ‘at the end of season we do something else’.

“Usually it’s worse, usually you have four weeks where everybody talks about you, says you know nothing or you lost completely your football brain, but never is it the truth but nobody cares.

“If a manager says, like I said in Dortmund, ‘at the end of the season I will stop’ and everybody accepts it that’s great. Usually you cannot do this as a manager but if you are really respectful with each other then you can do it.

“And you only said it public because it’s professional football, otherwise you’d wait until the end of the season.

“From my side I don’t know enough about this situation but it looks how it should be.”

Klopp was in a similar situation to Pellegrini in Dortmund last year in so much as his players knew midway through the season he was leaving at the end of the year.

But he rejects any suggestion it might have a big impact on the players.

“Nothing (the impact), well maybe nothing is not right but until even now I have a really good relationship with the players.

“There was nothing during a difficult season where we split or anything like that. It was good. But when the press asked the players they said now we will bring this great great common story to a perfect end. That's how it is, that's how we worked, that's how we thought it was like, how life should be like.

“We had a great time together and if we should meet each other in a few years or whenever we will have great memories together.

“So yesterday I had a visit from a former player of mine from Mainz, he was here to watch the game. I saw him, I like this. Life is too short to worry about things like this.

“We had great times, one not so good year, a good finish at the end and both okay and both go their separate ways and everything is okay.”

Steven Gerrard and Kenny Dalglish are just two significant names to praise Klopp's impact at the club in the past week but it is not something that he either hears or is affected by.

“I have enough self confidence. I don’t use papers or other things to get more. Of course it’s very nice. Give me time and I could sing a very nice thing about Kenny Dalglish or other Liverpool people.

“I should though only think of the things that can have any influence. We have to think about the preparation for the game and decisions to be made and not this.

“Until now I have had a nice career – it hasn’t been the most successful in the world – but it’s been okay when you think where I have come from, that the people in my village are proud, but it’s not important for this game.

“We are two days away from a final and these should be some of the best days in your life, that’s how you should see it.

“I do feel pressure but not because of what people are saying. It’s my own pressure.”

Klopp's last trip to Wembley was of course with Borussia Dortmund for the Champions League final of 2013, a visit which ended with his reputation enhanced but with the trophy heading to Bayern munich after a 2-1 victory.

Klopp though tries to see the positives in the experience.

“There were two things about Wembley. Very positive. It was a really good game, the latest one in the season, it wasn’t the highest level of intensity but we started really well.

“We had a good match plan but in the end we lost the game against Bayern so it wasn’t too good.

“If you want to go to finals then you must also know that it’s possible to lose.

“The best way if you do lose is to become more greedy and want to come back. But there’s only one way to stay successful and that’s to win these games.”

Source: Liverpool Echo

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