Don’t think that klopp is banging on about it at all, he’s asked questions by journos, if the question isn’t asked he wouldn’t be talking about it at all
Many a manager has said something like "that is in the past now, I want to focus on what is ahead" to deflect those sorts of questions. He embraces it every time and the journos ask him every time because they all know he'll bite and they get a nice little headline out of whatever he says. All he had to do was say "I've said all I have to say on the matter" but he doesn't, because he actually loves banging on about it. It keeps all your lot on side and feeds the "if only" narrative that lets you all go to sleep at night believing that you are actually the moral champions of Europe.
This will be the biggest test and most important season in Jurgen Klopp's managerial career so far. He's spent an absolute fortune on some very good players. He finally has a good GK so can't hide behind Mignolet and Karius not being good enough. Klopp can't play the underdog card this season because he's got one of the best first 11s in the league at his disposal (in my opinion of course, I'm still unsure about that back four but the rest is good enough to challenge for trophies.)
There will be some interesting tactical battles between Liverpool and other big teams too. Chelsea, Arsenal, United, City and Spurs all have very good managers now and they'll find ways to play over/around Klopp's press. Jose has already got Klopp sussed and Pep won't want to lose against Liverpool again this season so will probably reassess how he sets up against them.
I enjoy watching Liverpool but their style of football is hugely overrated at times. Their build up play is actually quite slow - it's only 'rock & roll' when they manage to dispossess their oponent high up the pitch and then quickly get the ball to Mane or Salah.
Anyway, Klopp has to win a trophy this season. Or he'll always be considered the 'nearly man' and not a notorious title winner like Sir Alex, Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola. Football fans always remember the trophies. They don't remember the lost finals and fourth place finishes.
I personally think Klopp prefers the 'underdog' tag because with that comes no pressure. But this season, there will be huge pressure.
I agree that this is a very big year for Klopp.
It's no secret that I'm very critical of him, but I do think we're getting to the "do or die" stage of Klopp's time at Liverpool. Last season they were going to snatch second off us and march to Champions League glory. They ended up losing the CL final and only managed to secure 4th on the final day of the season.
They've invested heavily. They've added strength in depth, and plugged some key gaps in their first XI with some real quality, and now have the most expensive defender ever, and the second most expensive keeper (who was the most expensive up until the other week). They can chirp on about "net-spend" if they wish, but the fact remains that their squad is now one of the more expensively assembled in Europe, never mind England.
I don't think it's fair to say they should expect to win the league, but they should realistically expect to mount a decent title challenge until very late into the season. For what it's worth, I think United need to be looking to do the same. If we get to May 2019 and Liverpool yet again find themselves entering the last round of fixtures having not yet secured a top 4 spot, then I think questions have to be asked. Currently, I'd say City are fairly clear favourites, but both United and Liverpool should be looking to push them all the way. That leaves Chelsea and Spurs to duke it out for 4th, with Arsenal remaining the outsiders of the top 6.
They also have to show real improvement in the cups. The excuse has been a lack of strength in depth, so they've been prioritising the CL and PL, but now they have that strength in depth. Yet another early exit in the FA Cup and another defeat in the League Cup to lesser opposition should be a massive disappointment to them.
The CL is the CL. They'll look to do what they did last year. Reach the quarters and go from there. I don't think any of the English clubs are in a position to look further than that, with the possible exception of City, who I think should possibly be targeting the final.
It's going to be an interesting season. City don't really seemed to have shown any signs of slowing, we've just all assumed they won't repeat last season's feat of running away with after a massive winning streak. United haven't progressed perhaps as much as people expected, but another year and some more investment means we're looking to do better than last year. Liverpool have invested a lot into their squad after securing a CL spot for another season, and off the back of reaching the previous year's final, so they need to show more than scraping 4th. Spurs haven't done much at all, so there's no real basis for expecting improvement, but they will be looking to maintain their spot in the top 4, or risk never getting back in. Chelsea will want to improve markedly on last season, and have the players to do so, it just all depends on how they decide to perform this season. Arsenal are Arsenal, and despite their managerial change, haven't really done anything to suggest they're in a position to really threaten any of the other sides.