Seeing strong signs of progress during Liverpool’s 2-0 pre-season win over AC Milan, Jurgen Klopp praised his side’s “dominant football.”
Goals from Divock Origi and Roberto Firmino sealed the victory for the Reds, as they continue their summer preparations in the US.
Liverpool’s performance was aided by the inclusion of a number of big names, including Origi, Daniel Sturridge and summer Georginio Wijnaldum, who made his debut for Klopp’s side.
Fielding an ambitious, attacking 4-3-3, Klopp saw his touring squad shine, creating a number of excellent chances in the final third and keeping things solid at the back.
Speaking after the game, Klopp lauded his side’s “dominant football,” turning the focus away from Origi to hail a team effort.
“Everybody knows about the potential of Divock Origi. I understand that after a game like this you name single players,” he told reporters.
“But I think, especially tonight, it is not the night to talk about single players.
“If you want to talk, then it’s [about] the style of play, the dominance we had, the passing.
“The situation we had in the first half—we played brilliant, we did the right thing, we did the right thing, we passed all time until we were through.
“We created chances, we didn’t score—that’s right. Of course, you need a finish but that will come, 100 percent.”
After drawing a blank against Antonio Conte’s well-drilled, defensive Chelsea side on Thursday, Klopp was particularly pleased with how a patient Reds outfit broke Milan down in the final third.
“I said before the game that I’m really happy about the opponents because Italian teams are always organised and they make problems and you will always struggle with different things in a game because it is not easy to play them,” he continued.
“We did really well and scored the goals and wonderful goals [and] had one or two more chances.
“In the first half we had four or five big moments.
“Playing dominant football like this and then reacting on balls we lose, like we did in the counter-pressing situations—that’s the only moment where there should be a little moment of hectic, all the rest should be calm and dominant.
“I’m pleased with the performance of the whole team.”
Able to call upon the majority of his first-team squad at this stage of pre-season, barring injured players Lucas Leiva, Joel Matip, Joe Gomez and Mamadou Sakho, Klopp is now witnessing the fruits of his tactical work.
Liverpool are looking to head into 2016/17 as the fittest side in England, and this is designed to show on the pitch.
The hard graft will continue against AS Roma on August 2, where the Reds can look to dominate another Serie A side and work towards Klopp’s vision of high-intensity football.
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