Emperor of Football: Julien De Rocca Chapter 532 532: Chapter-532 Press Conference

On paper, Fulham were a team capable of staying up comfortably and doing little more than that. Their current ans did not extend to genuine ambition in either direction. But comfortably safe was still eleven n on a pitch, and eleven n on a pitch with Berbatov at their center were capable of making a difficult afternoon for anyone who didn't respect the threat.

Jol himself was under pressure of the specific, accumulating kind that mid-table managers feel when the results aren't coming.

Ten Premier League rounds in, his side had won just three tis. They were riding a three-match losing streak, the most recent of those defeats coming against Moyes's Manchester United that had bought the under-fire United manager a little breathing room at Fulham's expense.

It was a ga that had burned Fulham to keep soone else's fla alive for one more week.

The pressure on Jol was real, and sides under pressure sotis produced either their best football or their worst, with very little that the opposition could predict in advance about which it would be.

That afternoon, Klopp held his pre-match press conference.

The questions ca less about Fulham than about the letter which was, if anything, the expected of the week's coverage, and which Klopp had understood would happen when he published it.

A reporter leaned forward: "Jürgen, the handwritten letter you published on the Players' Tribune last night has generated a great deal of discussion. Why did you choose to communicate with your supporters and players in that particular way, rather than through the conventional channels?"

Klopp smiled, and the warmth behind his eyes was entirely genuine.

"Simple. I wanted people to know what I was actually thinking, not what a communications strategy said I should be thinking, not the version of my thoughts that had been smoothed and approved and rendered safe.

Football isn't just ninety minutes on a pitch. It's the stubbornness, the trust, the dreaming that happens in the hours between matches, in the training sessions, in the conversations that nobody sees.

What I wrote wasn't only for the supporters. It was for my players, too. We ca to Liverpool to win, to give this city sothing to celebrate. That is not a slogan. It is what we are working toward in every session, in every match, in every decision we make."

He paused, then continued with forward montum.

"The players' reaction this morning gave a great deal of satisfaction. Before training, they all wanted to talk about it. That told we are on the sa page. The letter was just a thod of communication, what matters is that we are all pulling in the sa direction. Together. Against Fulham tomorrow, and against every opponent that follows."

A follow-up arrived from the back of the room: "Does this an you're committing to a long-term future at Liverpool? That you intend to fulfil the promise about winning the title within four years?"

Klopp nodded, the gesture was firm and without hesitation.

"Absolutely. I did not co here for a short spell. I love this city. I love these supporters. I love my players. The new owners have given us trendous backing and a real belief that we can build sothing here. We have Julien, this young man who has already shown what he is capable of. We have Steven and Luis as the heartbeat of the squad.

We have everyone in that dressing room united by an absolute hunger for victory. Those are every reason I need to stay, and more than enough reasons to believe the goal is achievable. Winning the championship within four years isn't empty talk. It is a destination. We are walking toward it, step by step, match by match. But right now, the next step is Fulham. Three points tomorrow is the first step."

When asked for his specific match objective, Klopp produced that unmistakable grin.

"Maximum points. Full stop. We have prepared well. We have a plan for Fulham, Berbatov in particular requires careful, specific attention, and the coaching staff has worked through exactly what that looks like in practice. But we will also show what we are capable of going forward. The fans are going to see a good ga. Football is a team sport, and I trust my players completely. They'll show everyone tomorrow that we're moving in exactly the right direction."

Klopp's letter had been the story of the week in English football before the press conference. Afterward, with his responses out in the world to be read alongside the letter itself, supporters began responding in their droves and the vast majority of them, it seed, ready to take up the offer to believe.

Many Liverpool fans had long defined themselves, half-consciously, as watchers-and-waiters. It ant not folding when the match went wrong in the first twenty minutes or the season went wrong in the first eight weeks. They were willing to give Klopp ti, because they had seen enough of what happened when ti was not given and had concluded it produced nothing worth having.

The draw against Arsenal had shown sothing. What exactly, and how far it could carry them, nobody yet knew with any confidence as one result from which two goals down told you about character but couldn't tell you about the months ahead.

But sothing was clearly there. The question was whether it would grow.

Elsewhere, of course, the sceptics had found their own platforms and were using them.

"Stop talking up Klopp, the Arsenal draw was entirely down to Julien. We were 0–2 down, the tactics were ordinary in the first half, and without his two goals we lose that match comfortably. One player's brilliance doesn't transform a draw into a tactical masterclass."

"Beautifully written letter. Football, however, speaks through results."

"He's a Premier League rookie. He hasn't yet proven he can handle the rhythm here, the schedule, the pressure of a top-four race over thirty-eight matches. Talking about winning the title in four years before he's even settled in, isn't that getting considerably ahead of himself?"

"The new owners having money is fine, but they've barely spent any of it in the windows since the takeover. City and Chelsea are splashing out on world-class players at premium prices. We have our existing squad and a talented nineteen-year-old. That is not the composition of a title challenge. Klopp's thods worked brilliantly in Germany. The Premier League is a different animal."

"Liverpool fans really do love a borrowed title, don't they?"

The volu of conversation, much of it from Liverpool supporters responding to the sceptics, generating the kind of feedback loop that English football Twitter specialized in was sufficient to keep the story at the top of the week's football news.

Beneath it, a piece about Chelsea: Mourinho had caused a minor stir by leaving Hazard out of the Champions League squad entirely for the Schalke fixture.

Chelsea had won 3–0 at Stamford Bridge and strengthening their grip on top spot in the group.

The three points were routine. The Hazard exclusion was not.

It had baffled many. Hazard had been exceptional in the Premier League, a tiny, electrifying wrecking ball, a player who could change the outco of a match in a single possession and he was Chelsea's most important creative force.

The press had started drawing comparisons between him and Julien: both had arrived from Ligue 1, both had adapted to English football without any visible period of adjustnt, both were producing the kind of performances that made it clear their previous league had not been a ceiling.

After the match, Mourinho gave the explanation. Hazard had turned up late to Monday's training session. Mourinho had removed him from the Champions League squad and issued a one-match internal suspension; the ssage being that no player, regardless of importance, operated outside the rules that applied to everyone else.

The punishnt, Mourinho made clear with the particular directness he brought to all press conference communications, was behind them. Hazard would be nad in the squad for Saturday's league fixture.

The matter was closed.

The English press, naturally, dug further. It erged that Hazard had been late because he had travelled to Lille on Sunday to watch his forr club play Monaco in Ligue 1.

On the way back, he had bad luck: he lost his passport sowhere between Lille and the station, missed his train as a consequence, and did not make it back to London until Monday morning, arriving at training late.

Chelsea's weekend opponents in Round Eleven would be West Brom at Stamford Bridge.

At the pre-match conference, a reporter raised the Hazard matter one final ti.

Mourinho's response carried the brisk, slightly impatient tone.

"His attitude after the incident was good. He apologized to and to the club. But an apology on its own is not sufficient—he needed to feel so consequence, and he felt it. Now it is done. There is no issue. He is in tomorrow's squad. He is ready for the ga."

There was a brief pause, then the closing line was delivered with the deadpan precision that was Mourinho at his most distinctive:

"Frankly, from a purely footballing perspective, leaving him out would have been rather stupid."

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