JURGEN KLOPP has described playing at Wembley as "the best thing you can do in football" as he urged Liverpool not to squander the opportunity to reach the League Cup Final.
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| Jurgen Klopp believes playing at Wembley is the best thing a footballer can do |
Liverpool renew their rivalry with Stoke at Anfield on Tuesday night cherishing a slender 1-0 advantage and hoping to remain on course to eke out a tangible reward for Klopp's first months in charge.
He has never lost a semi-final in his managerial career but finds himself charged with guiding the nucleus of a squad which fell twice at this hurdle in different competitions last season into next month's showpiece.
Protecting the lead gleaned through Jordon Ibe's goal at The Britannia would offer Liverpool a shot at silverware and Klopp recognises the importance of doing so as he endeavours to implement a winning mentality at the club.
"It is only a step," said Klopp, whose reign at Borussia Dortmund saw him beat the likes of Bayern Munich and Real Madrid in the semi-final of competitions.
"I never heard about second place in the League Cup. Does anyone know who it was four years ago?
"Reaching a final is great but at the end it is only memorable when you win it and that is what you have to do.
"Now there is only one target, go to the final and celebrate it more in your mind because in the real world we have another game on Saturday.
"You should not waste the opportunity of winning something and I know for the players it is really important. They really want to go to the final."
The prospect of an all-Merseyside Cup final looms large if Liverpool can hold their nerve in the second leg, and Everton do likewise against Manchester City on Wednesday.
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| Jordon Ibe's goal at Stoke gives Liverpool a 1-0 advantage after the first-leg |
Yet Klopp is focusing solely on ironing out the inconsistencies that have plagued his side, and overcoming Mark Hughes' team, rather than the possibility of Merseyside transplanting itself to the capital as it did on three occasions in the 1980s.
"I am the wrong person to ask this," said Klopp. "Everyone in the city knows about the rivalry of these two clubs. Until now, when I met an Evertonian nobody knocked me, nobody kicked me.
"It is one of the best rivalries in world football because in a lot of parts we are together and in the sport we are against. That is cool. That is how it should be.
"Going to Wembley is the best thing you can do in football. Who the opponent is at this moment is not the biggest issue. But if it is Everton, we want to beat them.
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| Andy Carroll scored the winner as Liverpool beat Everton at Wembley in the 2012 FA Cup semi-final |
"If it is Man City, we want to beat them. First of all, we have to beat Stoke and then we can talk about the rest."
Nathaniel Clyne is a doubt for Liverpool after suffering a knee injury in the helter-skelter 5-4 victory over Norwich on Saturday with Jon Flanagan on standby to make his first start since May 2014 after injury.
The return of Flanagan, whether on the right or left, cannot come quick enough, though it is the constant chopping and changing in personnel that Klopp believes is responsible for the dramatic variations in results and performances.
He cannot be sure which Liverpool will turn up, yet given their problems at set-pieces he might prefer Stoke to adhere to their newly-refined style rather than turning to Peter Crouch and Jon Walters in over-turning the deficit.
"The performance of my team is not as surprising to me as you would imagine," added Klopp. "Consistency is only possible when you have a settled line up. We haven't been able to do that."
Klopp knows the advantage lies with Liverpool. Beyond that, it is a case of keeping his fingers crossed.
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