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Jurgen Klopp told what to do if Liverpool LOSE Champions League final tonight vs Tottenham
LIVERPOOL manager Jurgen Klopp has been told to put extra thought into the FA Cup and the Carabao Cup if the Reds lose the Champions League final tonight.
That’s the verdict of former Liverpool midfielder Paul Ince.
The Reds face Premier League rivals Tottenham at the Wanda Metropolitano in Madrid this evening (8pm) in what is their second successive final in the competition.
Klopp will hope, having lost three finals as Liverpool manager, that the Merseyside outfit can finally end their seven-year wait for silverware against Spurs.
The German oversaw Liverpool’s best ever Premier League season this year, guiding them to a club-record 97 points, only to lose out on the league title by one point to Manchester City.
Liverpool also came close but not close enough in the Champions League last year when a first-half injury to key man Mohamed Salah saw their hopes of victory unravel as they went on to lose 3-1 to Real Madrid in Kiev.
Klopp also lost the finals of the League Cup and the Europa League in his first season in charge with a maiden trophy at Anfield having thus far evaded him.
And Ince - who played for Liverpool for two years from 1997 to 1999 - thinks that if Klopp loses a fourth straight final with Liverpool then he should give domestic cup competitions greater priority next year.
In 2018-19, he fielded second-strength teams and crashed out in third round of both the Carabao Cup - losing 2-1 at home to Chelsea - and the FA Cup, when they lost 2-1 at Wolves.
Perhaps it would be a case of putting more focus in securing a League Cup or an FA Cup
Liverpool have not progressed past the fourth round of either competition in the past two seasons.
And Ince has recommended that Klopp look to change that next year just to end their trophy drought if they are beaten by Spurs, though the 51-year-old slammed claims that the manager is a ‘bottler’ if they do lose out in Madrid.
“I hear people saying that if Klopp loses this final, he’s a bottler,” Ince told bookmaker Paddy Power.
“Let me tell you something right now, people who say things like that - I can’t even find the word to describe them.
“How can you call Liverpool bottlers? They’ve pushed City to the last game of the season, they’re in the Champions League final and they were in it last year too.
“Yes, they were nervous and lost out, but they’ve clearly not let it get to them.
“It’s completely disrespectful to call them or Klopp a bottler. We all know that as a manager you have to win some silverware, but [Tottenham boss Mauricio] Pochettino is in the same position.
“Both teams have proved that when they can dig in and get a result. When you look what’s happened since Klopp took over - he’s done an amazing job, a job no one else could have come in and done.
“The only thing I would say is that if Klopp fails to win this weekend, perhaps it would be a case of putting more focus in securing a League Cup or an FA Cup, to ensure you have trophies in the cabinet and the winning mentality.
“But, to call Liverpool or Klopp a ‘bottler’ is a disgrace - utterly ridiculous, whether they win or lose.”