Jurgen Klopp has taken “100 per cent” of the responsibility for Liverpool’s “rubbish” season.
The Reds are currently eighth in the Premier League and host pacesetters Arsenal on Sunday.
It will be a big ask to get a win against the Gunners – who have won seven league matches in a row – but anything can happen at Anfield.
Liverpool have shown glimpses this season, beating Manchester United 7-0 at home last month.
However, Klopp’s side are out of every cup competition and are 13 points off the top four with 10 matches left to play in the Premier League.
Finishing in the Champions League places will be extremely difficult, and you get the impression Liverpool will have to be near-perfect between now and the end of the season.
Their home form has not been alarming, but playing away from Anfield has proven to be extremely difficult. Liverpool have three league wins from 15 matches on the road this term.
Klopp accepts full responsibility for his side’s form in 2022-23 and has apologised to the club’s supporters.
“I’m sorry for our people, that they don’t have the season they wished for,” the German manager told Sky Sports. “But in the long term they will forget that.
“I couldn’t care less what we did last year or the years before. I’m 100 per cent responsible for this rubbish and it’s really not cool.”
Klopp did admit that this season will make him a better manager in the long run, however.
“In the long term, definitely (this year will make me a better manager),” he added.
“But now? Yeah, definitely. You need to improve to get the best out of yourself.”
And Klopp has assured Liverpool fans that his team will come out of this season “in a classy manner”.
“I know everybody can express their emotions in an instant and there will be a lot of negative comments about us – I understand that,” he said. “But the people in the stadium are incredible.
“You see things happening at other clubs, not only sackings but teams against owners, fans against owners, fans against the team – I’ve seen it all.
“But if anyone can get through a situation like this in a classy manner, I really think it’s us as a club.”
Klopp continued: “What you’ve seen this year is that a lot of teams that performed last year on an extremely high level are not exactly there.
“Even City – of course they play sensational football – but they don’t have the same points tally as last year.
“The intensity, at one point, gets you and maybe it caught us this year. But that is no excuse for the next 10 games.
“It may be an explanation for why we are not on our top level. We didn’t find a way to bring in consistent performances.”
Explaining his side’s woeful form away from home, saying: “A lack of confidence – that’s clear.
“World-class players are performing on a strange level. It started with injuries and players coming back early, and we were never really settled in this season.
“We have to go through that and I have no problem with that. When I look back in 10 or 15 years this season will probably not be involved with highlights, but hopefully there’ll be a lot of things we can learn from it and can use next year.
“But we have to fight through this and this is tough. If it was easy they wouldn’t pay me that much money for it.
“We’ve had a super-strange season. We’ve had the two highest wins in our history but then a week later we cannot do it.”
