Jurgen Klopp addressed the contrasting halves following his side’s 3-1 win over LASK and heaped praise onto the teenagers who were involved in the contest.
Here are the four key points from the manager as he reflected on the three points in Europa League opener.
Confidence issues early on
Having fallen to an early deficit, the manager cited confidence as having an impact on the side’s attempts to get themselves back into the contest in the first half.
“We had very good moments but I saw that the boys didn’t feel them, it was not that we could gain confidence from our good moments,” Klopp explained.
“I’m pretty sure the boys thought we had nothing good in the first half, but that’s not true.”
Future is bright
Ben Doak made his full debut for the club against LASK and Stefan Bajcetic recorded his first appearance since March in what was a much-changed Liverpool side.
Klopp insisted that Doak would have made a greater impact had he seen more of the ball and added that Bajcetic “found his way into the game after a difficult start.”
No interest in records
The manager reached a milestone 50 European wins with the Reds – more than any other Liverpool manager – following the three points against LASK, but he is choosing to look forward. rather than backwards.
“Let me say it like this, if I’m still on 50 after the group stage then I am still the most successful Liverpool manager and everybody will hate that fact,” he joked.
“It’s great, but probably because in the competition there has been much more games than in the past, I’m pretty sure that’s it.”
Pitch complaints
Despite the brand-new stadium, LASK’s pitch at the Raiffeisen Arena was questionable at best in the Europa League opener.
As you might expect, Klopp wasn’t too pleased about the “really bad” surface the teams played on and said LASK “suffered much less” due to the amount of possession the Reds had.
He added: “I’m glad we didn’t play here in December.”
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