Ahead of the Champions League final, Jurgen Klopp accepted he would be judged on trophies despite insisting he will never forget Liverpool's "brilliant season". The Reds boss is well aware that his haul of silverware will be seen as the ultimate marker of what he has achieved on Merseyside.
Liverpool have a chance to win their first piece of silverware under Klopp when they face Tottenham in the Champions League final in Madrid on Saturday.
Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino defended Klopp, saying the German should not be judged for losing two Champions League deciders.
While he agreed with Pochettino, Klopp said he knew why he would be judged based on trophies.
"I think Poch is right but that's not important," he said, via The Guardian. "The thing is, you – the outside world – it is your right to judge us by what we win and what we don't win.
"Look back in 20 years and nobody will talk about our brilliant season unless another team comes close to 97 points but for me, as a person, it will stay forever.
"That is probably what Poch is like as well but the outside world is like this and we have to accept that. To judge a coach by what he is winning is a silly thing because we all have different circumstances. We all have different teams, different clubs. We have to fight with or against different things."
"Whatever you had in the past, it helps, but you need to be ready for this game."
Klopp has already lost three finals since taking charge of Liverpool in October 2015, including last year's European decider. But the former Borussia Dortmund boss said there was more to judge coaches on than just silverware.
"Coaches, most of us, judge each other not on trophies. And not because most of us don't win but because we know about the job," Klopp said. "I don't say [Manchester City manager] Pep Guardiola is the best – which is what I really think – because he constantly wins the league he's in. "It's because of the football they play and the things he's doing."
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