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Following Graham Potter’s dismissal, Jürgen Klopp acknowledges that his future at Liverpool is an “elephant in the room.”
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has confessed that he feels like the ‘last man standing’ after Graham Potter and Brendan Rodgers were fired as managers of Chelsea and Leicester, respectively.
Both Chelsea and Leicester sacked their managers as a result of performing below expectations, and some Liverpool fans have demanded that Klopp be fired as well following a disastrous season that saw them drop to ninth in the Premier League.
When asked about his reaction to the news of the recent firings, Klopp acknowledged that he believes his continued employment is solely a result of Liverpool’s success.
“What can I say about [the sackings]? I think the elephant in the room is why am I still sitting here in this crazy world! [I am] the last man standing!” he said during his press conference ahead of the trip to face Chelsea, who will now be led by interim manager Bruno Saltor.
The Liverpool boss continued: “I am aware of the fact I am sitting here because of the past, not because of what we did this season. If it was my first season it would be slightly different.
“I am here to deliver. I am not here as a talisman or for murals on walls. I am here to deliver, I know that 100%. I know I am here for what happened in the last few years [and] I don’t like relying on that. I am fully in, and we have to sort it. We cannot continue playing like we do from time to time. I am really disappointed about us that we do these kind of things but now we have to find a way out.”
The exits of Potter and Rodgers took the total number of Premier League sackings this season to 12 – a figure Klopp admitted he was shocked to see.
“I think it’s 12 now, which is an awful number,” Klopp added.
“I think some clubs are underachieving, us too. There are expectations out there, rightly so and if you don’t reach them, you have to accept the decisions.”