‘Final loss can be turning point for Liverpool’ – Team will be different next yr: Klopp

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Sevilla’s Sergio Escudero (right), and Liverpool’s Adam Lallana battle for the ball during the Europa League final soccer match between Liverpool and Sevilla in Basel, Switzerland, on May 18. (AP)
Sevilla’s Sergio Escudero (right), and Liverpool’s Adam Lallana battle for the ball during the Europa League final soccer match between Liverpool and Sevilla in Basel, Switzerland, on May 18. (AP)

BASEL, Switzerland, May 19, (AP): Juergen Klopp knows his team’s loss in the Europa League final looked bad. It felt bad, too. But the Liverpool manager believes that perception can change over time. “We will use this experience together,” Klopp said after a 3-1 loss to a superior Sevilla on Wednesday. “And then some day everybody will say Basel was a very decisive moment for a wonderful future of Liverpool FC.”

Still, it showed how much the charismatic German must do in the offseason to improve a squad he took over just seven months ago. First, he plans to address how and why Liverpool’s play and self-belief slumped after Sevilla equalized less than 20 seconds into the second half. “Of course this team will be a little bit different next year. We will do something with transfers, that is clear,” Klopp said. “Pure work. That is what the job is.”

In some ways, Klopp’s first partial-season at Anfield was a successful holding operation with a disjointed group he got from Brendan Rodgers, the previous manager fired by Liverpool in October. Klopp chose not to make major changes in the January transfer window, and — with a well-organized team that had clear weak links — he almost repeated Rafa Benitez’s European feat of winning the 2005 Champions League in his debut season with Liverpool.

But with no Champions League soccer to offer potential new signings, Klopp’s immediate task has been made much harder. Liverpool fell far short of qualifying by placing eighth in the Premier League, and UEFA’s reward of a group-stage entry for Europa League winners goes to Sevilla.

Liverpool’s failure to qualify for the Champions League will make it harder for manager Jurgen Klopp to attract leading players to the club, according to former Anfield favourite Steve McManaman. Liverpool could have secured a return to Europe’s top competition by beating Sevilla in Wednesday’s Europa League final in Basel, but despite going ahead through Daniel Sturridge, Klopp’s side lost 3-1.

Having finished eighth in the Premier League and lost to Manchester City on penalties in the League Cup final, it means they will not be involved in European competition next season. McManaman believes that could deter potential signings, telling BT Sport: “It will be harder to attract the real star players to Liverpool.

“Yes, Liverpool have got an amazing history, they’ve been in two finals, and that will help. The manager will certainly help. “His aura will drag players to the team, but the very, very best want to play at the very highest level and that is in the Champions League.” Former Liverpool striker Michael Owen, however, echoed Klopp by saying that the lack of continental distractions could bolster the club’s efforts to return to the upper reaches of the Premier League.

Liverpool’s last sustained title challenge, in 2013-14, came during a season when they were not involved in European competition and Owen believes the extra time on the training ground could prove beneficial again.

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