Jurgen Klopp remains confident he is the right man to turn Liverpool's form around after seeing their underwhelming season continue with Saturday's 3-0 loss at Wolves.
Liverpool suffered their third defeat in as many away league games this calendar year at Molineux, falling to another dire reverse as Craig Dawson and Ruben Neves followed up Joel Matip's early own goal.
The Reds are now 11 points adrift of a top-four place in 10th, having lost more away league games this term (six) than in the last two seasons combined (five).
Klopp has previously professed his desire to oversee a rebuild at Anfield, and the German remains certain he is the right man for the job despite Liverpool's downturn.
Asked whether he was confident he could help Liverpool bounce back, Klopp said: "Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
"I know my job, you know my job, it's not to explain here how I can build up my team. I will be judged by you, which is fine. But today was not good enough, what I did."
Questioned on whether Liverpool's four-game winless run in the Premier League worried him, he added: "How can I not be concerned? I cannot sit here and say it's all okay. I was asked outside if it's because of last season, playing 63 games.
"Yes, of course, it's clear that it has influenced the first part of the season, but how long do we want to suffer from that? It's February now. We had a full week to prepare.
"We are fit, we are now there, that might have been a problem earlier in the season, of course, when we had injuries – all are clear now.
"But for today the first 12 minutes is not allowed, I have to say that, but we did it anyway. That's true and that's the outcome."
Asked whether he had lost faith in the players who almost delivered a historic quadruple last season, Klopp said: "No. I don't think they are at their best at the moment and do I like that? No. But I still know how good they are and how good they can be.
"But football, and life, is not like this. We work every day and it's not because of him, him or him. So, these things happen because we cannot help ourselves in these moments.
"These are the situations we have to go through. I don't lose confidence in the boys or whatever, but I see where we have to improve."
Liverpool have conceded more goals in the opening five minutes of Premier League matches than any other side this season (five), and goalkeeper Alisson struggled to explain the Reds' failure to start quickly.
"In a game of 90 minutes, you have to do it consistently for the whole game," he told Premier League productions. "We showed today you can get punished for 15 minutes and that's what happened.
"We have the same players who achieved so many great things at this club and we are not performing well. It's difficult to say why.
"I'm not saying I don't trust we can't bounce back. I'm just so disappointed about tonight's game. We have to keep working."
Leicester's Fatawu ruled out for rest of season with ACL injury
Leicester City manager Steve Cooper confirmed Abdul Fatawu will miss the rest of the season.
The 20-year-old sustained an anterior cruciate ligament injury (ACL) while playing for Ghana against Angola during the international break.
Fatawu has featured in all 11 of Leicester's Premier League matches so far this season and has registered two assists.
No Leicester player has attempted (61) or completed (29) more dribbles than him, while his 30 crosses is also a team-high in the top-flight this season.
"It's not good, it's a serious injury," said Cooper ahead of their match against Chelsea on Saturday.
"It's a real blow, first and foremost for him, being a young player and having an injury as serious as what an ACL is.
"Albeit, it can be quite common in sport, and in particular football, but it's still a serious injury.
"For it to happen at a young age is a blow for him and a blow for us as well.
"He's obviously a big talent and a young player, as exciting as he can be at his age, with lots to learn.
"It's only a pause, and we will make sure, as difficult as it is at the moment for him, that he comes back being a stronger player and person, which, with the mentality and character that he has, I think will be the case."
Arsenal qualifying for Champions League quarter-finals feels 'surreal', says Slegers
Renee Slegers says it feels "surreal" that Arsenal have secured their place in the Champions League quarter-finals with two games to spare.
The Gunners will finish at least second in Group C after Lina Hurtig's late strike secured a 1-0 win over Juventus on Thursday.
What looked to be a frustrating encounter was turned around by Slegers' substitutions, and after missing a glorious chance, Hurtig was eventually the difference at the Emirates.
Arsenal created 3.69 expected goals (xG) from their nine shots, getting three on target, compared to just 0.5 for Juventus, who tested Daphne van Domselaar the same amount of times.
Slegers was impressed by her side's resilience as they pushed to come away with all three points.
"It's surreal to be honest," Slegers said post-match. "I never felt we would get into this situation. We have done really well.
"I was part of Jonas [Eidevall's] staff and there was so much that was built during his time. I don't want to separate that. There is so much we are still building on. It's surreal in so many ways but we are very happy.
"I'm just happy for the team to win. Obviously, we have amazing depth in the squad, and we know anyone can do it for us - whether it's starting players or finishing players.
"It's the visualisation of how much everyone contributes in the team. I think that's what it means for us."
Slegers took over as interim manager following Jonas Eidevall's departure last month and has gone unbeaten in her first seven games, winning six and drawing one.
They have won each of their last five in all competitions, and have not conceded a goal in their previous four matches.
"It was just a very impressive block of the team," Slegers said. "We conceded only one goal during this whole block, so defensively very solid.
"The players have been stepping up big time, they've been owning this; we tried to relay it back to them all the time, so giving them the ownership.
"I'm just very happy with how the block has been, different challenges along the way, so all games have asked something different from us. We've responded to that really well, sticking to our identity but also playing the game that's ahead of us."
Arsenal qualifying for Champions League quarter-finals feel surreal, says Slegers
Renee Slegers says it feels "surreal" that Arsenal have secured their place in the Champions League quarter-finals with two games to spare.
The Gunners will finish at least second in Group C after Lina Hurtig's late strike secured a 1-0 win over Juventus on Thursday.
What looked to be a frustrating encounter was turned around by Slegers' substitutions, and after missing a glorious chance, Hurtig was eventually the difference at the Emirates.
Arsenal created 3.69 expected goals (xG) from their nine shots, getting three on target, compared to just 0.5 for Juventus, who tested Daphne van Domselaar the same amount of times.
Slegers was impressed by her side's resilience as they pushed to come away with all three points.
"It's surreal to be honest," Slegers said post-match. "I never felt we would get into this situation. We have done really well.
"I was part of Jonas [Eidevall's] staff and there was so much that was built during his time. I don't want to separate that. There is so much we are still building on. It's surreal in so many ways but we are very happy.
"I'm just happy for the team to win. Obviously, we have amazing depth in the squad, and we know anyone can do it for us - whether it's starting players or finishing players.
"It's the visualisation of how much everyone contributes in the team. I think that's what it means for us."
Slegers took over as interim manager following Jonas Eidevall's departure last month and has gone unbeaten in her first seven games, winning six and drawing one.
They have won each of their last five in all competitions, and have not conceded a goal in their previous four matches.
"It was just a very impressive block of the team," Slegers said. "We conceded only one goal during this whole block, so defensively very solid.
"The players have been stepping up big time, they've been owning this; we tried to relay it back to them all the time, so giving them the ownership.
"I'm just very happy with how the block has been, different challenges along the way, so all games have asked something different from us. We've responded to that really well, sticking to our identity but also playing the game that's ahead of us."
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