Emre Can: Criticism is “not easy to ignore”

January was a hard month for anyone who supports Liverpool Football Club. A plummet down the league table coincided with getting eliminated from both domestic cup competitions. Finally, though, last Saturday there was a light at the end of the tunnel. The Reds beat Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield, ending a long run of bad results, and hopefully beginning to put the no good, terrible, very bad start to this year behind them.

Emre Can, one of many Reds’ players who has come under heavy criticism for his poor performances, spoke about the difficulties in playing for such a high profile team in such a high profile league. The negativity can be hard to ignore when he’s trying to get his mojo back.

“It’s not easy to ignore what people are saying because you naturally tend to read the newspapers and speak to friends and a lot of people in the city,” he said.

“Of course they want to talk about football. It’s not easy to ignore, but we have to try and do that because it’s the best way to focus on the games ahead.

“The most important thing is we have to stick together. When we have good performances we stick together and we must do the same when we have bad performances.”

And about his manager Jürgen Klopp, Can revealed, “He is a very positive guy and has been encouraging us and trying to help us have a positive frame of mind so that everybody believes and thinks positively again.

“We have had a lot of meetings and he tries to motivate us because he also knows that we cannot forget the good times we have had this season.”

The players have nearly two weeks to train and get their heads together before they are set to face Leicester City on February 27th.