Jurgen Klopp has summarily wiped away any chances that he would leave Liverpool and laid out the clear plan to get the Reds back to winning ways in the coming weeks.
The boss has admitted it has been a tough time for him privately, but has assured Liverpool fans he is not leaving after rumours over the weekend.
Those came in the wake of the late defeat to Leicester, a third league loss on the spin.
On Sunday evening, a banner appeared across the gates at Anfield giving support to the manager from supporters, which he acknowledged but didn’t feel was completely required as his focus remains firmly on the job at hand.
Jurgen thanked the fans, saying the “banner is nice, not necessary,” and that he does’t need “special support”, while also dismissing out of hand those wild weekend rumours that he could potentially depart.
“Did I get the sack or did I leave?! Neither one. I don’t need a break,” he told reporters in no uncertain terms.
Klopp directly addressed the tragic issue of having lost his mother earlier in the year – but made it clear that it has neither impacted his day-to-day work nor has diminished his appetite to lead the club back to winning ways.
“The last thing I want to do is talk about private things. But everybody knows. Privately it was a tougher time but it was not three weeks ago, it was a longer time already and we deal with it as a family 100 per cent.
“When I came here to the football club to do the work – I’m 53, I can split things, I can switch off one thing and the other. I don’t carry things around, if I’m private then I’m private. If I’m in football then I’m here.
“Of course we are influenced by what happens but nobody has to worry or whatever. I might not look like this, because the weather is not cool and I’m white and the beard gets more grey and I don’t sleep a lot, but I’m full of energy.
“I see it as a challenge, an interesting challenge. We will sort it by playing football, sticking even more together, by fighting with all we have and learning more than each season before – that’s the plan we have.
The boss continued to point out that despite recent results, the players had been performing well in spells of matches and there were small details and decisions which had skewed scorelines against the Reds.
Those mistakes and poor moments of play are the focus now in training and Klopp is certain that the entire group is up to the task or righting these recent wrongs.
“It’s a massive challenge, I’m ready, the boys are ready. We give our absolutely everything to sort it.
“But thanks for all the support, I am very grateful for these things, but you can think about other things because nobody has to worry about me.”
Next up is Leipzig – and if this was a battle cry which was somewhat forced out of the boss in response to questions, then the hope is that the players respond on the pitch.
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