West Ham vs. Liverpool: Jurgen Klopp's Key Comments from Pre-Match Presser

Liverpool will look to seal their third successive Premier League victory when they travel to Upton Park on Saturday, where Jurgen Klopp's side face West Ham United after a tense 1-0 win at Sunderland in midweek.

Black Cats boss Sam Allardyce called Klopp a "soft German" after that result, per the Daily Mail's Kieran Gill, following a touchline outburst in which the police had to intervene. However, the Reds chief told the media on Thursday he's been called worse, per Sky Sports:

The Merseysiders endured a rocky run of results in December, defeating Southampton 6-1 in the Capital One Cup before going four straight games without a win and recovering to hit their current three-win stride.

Adapting to the Premier League's winter schedule has been a major task for the former Borussia Dortmund boss when compared to the Bundesliga's midseason break. But Klopp insisted it's the same task for every manager, per the Mirror's Liam Prenderville: “Maybe I've spoken too often about the number of games. I knew about this but it feels different when you’re in the middle of fixtures. It’s the same for all teams and we have to find solutions.”

Liverpool travel to West Ham with Klopp as their chief, but the fixture could have seen the German lining up in the hosts' technical area had he decided to accept the Hammers' summer interest in his services.

Klopp left Signal Iduna Park at the end of last season and didn't take over at Anfield until October, and Prenderville provided further quotes from the tactician, who confirmed the east Londoners were in for his services:

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In the summer, I was not available. I’m sure I should say not too much about this. I'm lucky I had a lot of interest, West Ham is a good club but it was the wrong time, like all the clubs who approached me. Everything is OK. The Hammers. More my second name than “soft.”

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The Kop will surely be glad it was they who clinched Klopp as a successor to axed helmsman Brendan Rodgers, and he is getting consistent goals out of summer signing Christian Benteke.

The Belgian has netted 1-0 winners in each of the Reds' last two outings against Leicester City and Sunderland. The Liverpool Echo's Andy Kelly quoted Klopp who, while praising Benteke, highlighted the team's overall improvement as the real positive:

Benteke's place in the team is under threat once again, though, after Klopp confirmed injury-plagued frontman Daniel Sturridge is in the running to make his return to the team on Saturday, per Kelly.

He also jumped on the bandwagon of pundits praising the rapid rise of Leicester City sensation Jamie Vardy, dubbing the England international his player of the season:

A win at Upton Park this Saturday could move Liverpool from their current place of seventh up to fifth depending on the results of Manchester United and Crystal Palace.

Klopp is almost three months into his Anfield reign, and all the signs suggest he's swiftly acclimatising to life in the Premier League, insults and all.