Salah and the half-time whistle – 3 key things from Klopp’s post-City press conference

October 3, 2021
Joanna Durkan

Jurgen Klopp was never more thankful that a game has two halves as Liverpool needed to reset in their enthralling 2-2 draw with Man City.

Here are three key points from the manager’s press conference after the game on Sunday:

1. “Two completely different halves, thank God!”

The first half dragged and it felt as though Liverpool were hanging on by their fingernails as there was a complete disconnect and sloppiness across the board.

Long lopped balls became a thing of the past as the Reds became more direct, with Mohamed Salah at the heart of it with a lovely assist and stunning solo goal – both pegged back in the end, however.

“Quite an exciting game, eh?” was Klopp’s assessment and you can’t disagree!

“With two completely different halves, thank God! The first half was exactly like we shouldn’t do it against City, the second half was exactly like we should do it.

“So I was really happy about the half-time whistle.”

More of the second half, minus the defensive errors, after the international break please Reds.

2. Salah is simply out of this world

Not a direct quote that but that’s what we’re all thinking.

“Only the best players in the world score goals like this. Absolutely exceptional!

“This club never forgets anything, and people will talk about this goal for a long, long time.”

Salah truly is something else, a genius and Liverpool are so very lucky to have him – surely no more waiting on that contract.

3. Milner sub was planned

The No. 7 was key to pre-match discourse and followed it up with a major talking point post-match after escaping a second yellow card.

Pep Guardiola was certain it was another yellow and that Milner ought to have been handed his marching orders but Klopp said he didn’t see the incident with Bernardo Silva.

The plan, however, was always to take the 35-year-old off after his yellow card in the first half and it was not a reaction to the Silva challenge.

“I heard it, meanwhile I didn’t see it. Too far away from the situation but I saw the reaction from the City bench,” Klopp explained.

“We planned anyway to take Milly off because of the yellow card from the first half.”