Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has plonked his feet down squarely and said he will not leave the club unless he is compelled to, and instead even hinted at changes being made at Anfield during the summer.
Klopp’s comments have been made amid a run of truly abysmal form for the Reds, who are currently languishing ninth in the Premier League and a gaping 10 points off a top-four spot.
“Either the manager’s position changes or a lot of other things change,” said Klopp.
“So, as far as I am concerned unless someone tells me I will not go.”
He added: “So that means maybe there is a point where we have to change other stuff. We will see that, but that is something for the future. Like summer or whatever. Not now.
“I have space and time to think about it. We have to play better football now.”
Klopp was also candid in stating that it is unlikely any more signings will follow after that of Netherlands forward Cody Gakpo in January, while midfield trio James Milner, Naby Keita and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain will be out of contract in the summer along with forward Roberto Firmino.
The Reds were vanquished 3-0 by Brighton on Saturday after what Klopp described as a “really bad” performance, admitting his team needed to get “back to basics” to improve their form.
Next up for the Reds is the clash with Wolves in an FA Cup third-round replay on Tuesday, and prior to the game Klopp denied the suggestion that he had been too loyal to some of his players.
“Yes, of course I have heard it. I heard that before and I am not,” said Klopp.
“I am loyal. I think everybody should be loyal, but I am not too loyal.”
He added: “The problem is too complex. You have a good player who did a lot of good things in the past and then in your mind [you think] maybe that’s it for him.
“If you can then go out and bring in another player to replace [him] that makes sense.
“If you cannot bring anybody in you cannot bring anybody out. That is the situation.”
However, Klopp does not think some of his players have stopped listening to him.
“I was not that often in a similar situation, but I know exactly how it works when things don’t go well,” he said.
“There is a list of things you go through and one of the things is the players aren’t listening to the coach any more.
“In Germany we say the manager doesn’t reach the team any more. So I understand it looks like this sometimes but it is just not the case. You can take that off the list.
“Everyone feels responsible. There is nobody sitting there thinking, ‘I was OK but he wasn’t’. It wasn’t there, I don’t see it, I don’t hear it, it’s not there.
“If it was here then the player would have a real problem. That is the moment the problems really start.”