Football
Glenn Price, Liverpool correspondent 6y

Jurgen Klopp: Doctors say Liverpool defeats are bad for my health

Jurgen Klopp says medical professionals have given him a clean bill of health, but went on to warn against his Liverpool side losing matches.

Klopp had a health scare earlier this week when he was self-admitted to hospital due to illness that forced him to miss Wednesday's training session.

The Liverpool manager returned to the club's training ground, Melwood, on Thursday and will oversee his team's match with Southampton at Anfield on Saturday afternoon.

"I am really completely fine," Klopp said. "It is not that someone should think I have to go back into hospital tomorrow.

"I told the players that the doctor said the only thing that can kill me is if we lose football games! That's it.

"It was nothing. It is like it is sometimes. People think: 'Oh, that's it.' I went there and they said: 'Okay, all good'. For this they need a little bit of time.

"You don't go in, take your temperature and you go again. They have a lot of machines. But I knew from the first second that I had nothing, unfortunately I was not the only one. Afterwards, everybody knew it!"

Ahead of Saturday's meeting with the Southampton, Klopp says the Saints' antics at Anfield during last season's meeting in May can be used as a source of motivation.

The Liverpool manager was angered when two Southampton players were booked for time-wasting as they delayed James Milner's penalty kick, which was eventually saved by Fraser Forster, in a goalless draw, declaring it "not sportsmanship."

"I still remember the situation around the penalty," Klopp said on Friday. "It looked like it was really strange and not completely fair.

"I don't forget last season. It was a very decisive situation for us, they didn't need the points. But it felt like someone kind of created stories so they were really spot on around the penalty and Foster was on fire. I think it's a good moment to strike back."

Meanwhile, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is a player who will hope to keep his place in the starting XI at the weekend after marking his first Premier League start for Liverpool with a goal in the 4-1 victory at West Ham United prior to the international break.

The £40 million summer signing admits it has taken time to adjust to a new style of management following his departure from Arsenal.

"It's been a change for me," he told Sky Sports. "You want to come to a new club and hit the ground running straightaway and maybe I didn't do that as quickly as I would have liked.

"Obviously, competition for places is really high here, as I expected, but you're always eager to be playing straightaway and starting as many games as possible.

"That hasn't been the case as much but I've learnt a lot and I feel like I've adapted well to the requirements of the manager, the coaches and the boys as well.

"But it's been a good integration into this team, and I'm happy with the way it's gone. It's just important now that I push on. I learned a big change in the style of play under a new manager.

"Arsene [Wenger] is a great manager and he's proved that for many years. His philosophy and style of play is based on the 'Arsenal way' of playing, with his passing game, which is brilliant and works very well for him.

"Jurgen is very demanding and he makes clear to us our roles and responsibilities, and the intensity that he wants out of us."

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