Emre Can believes Liverpool has taken a "huge step forward" under Jurgen Klopp but must focus on becoming more consistent if it is to achieve its aims this season.
Klopp replaced Brendan Rodgers as manager at Anfield in October and his first six months have been a story of highs and lows.
Stunning victories over the likes of Manchester City, Chelsea and Southampton have been undermined by woeful displays against teams such as Newcastle United and Watford, while the undoubted highlight of Klopp's reign thus far was the Europa League win over arch-rival Manchester United.
Liverpool has a mouth-watering Europa League quarter-final with Klopp's former club Borussia Dortmund on the horizon, but sits ninth in the Premier League - just one place higher than when Rodgers was sacked.
However, Germany international Can feels his compatriot has improved Liverpool and sees no reason why it cannot overcome Europa League favourite Dortmund.
"You should not only look at the standings," Can told Kicker. "We still have to play one, two matches more than the teams ahead of us, we can still gain a few spots. Thus we have achieved something under Jurgen Klopp."
"You should look at the football we have played in recent weeks. We've made a huge step forward as a team and have put in good performances most of the time."
"A berth in a continental competition clearly has to remain our goal. Our problem is that we are just not consistent enough. We follow up two good matches with one bad match too often. We need to manage to be consistent for a longer period of time. This also applies to me."
Speaking about the Dortmund tie, the 22-year-old added: "Dortmund are the slight favourites but we have a 50-50 chance. We have come so far in the Europa League, we now want to win the competition."
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