Jurgen Klopp explained why the 4-1 win over Luton was this team’s “Barcelona” match, as well as giving an injury update of sorts.
Here are 4 key points from the manager’s post-match press conference…
“This is their Barcelona”
A bold claim from Klopp, but he explained his reasoning in detail.
The German began: “I promised my team a few months ago I will never mention or use the Barcelona game again as an example, and I used it today again, so I broke my promise.
“Just because before the game it was kind of similar; many players missing stuff like that. The team that played tonight against Barcelona would have stuck to the knowledge ‘Who’s missing?’
The boss went on to describe each of the goals against Barcelona in detail before adding: “This team that time ignored the fact who was missing.
“I want us to ignore the fact who is missing. That is difficult because the public got the knowledge of the whole amount of players missing only tonight – I needed a few minutes to process it!
“From the moment when you know how you can sort it and deal with it for this game now, that feels really good, so that is what I wanted the boys to show.
“This is an example now tonight. This is now their Barcelona.”
Message received, boss; we need that never-give-up mentality!
“The second half was a thunderstorm”
Klopp knows the press like a headline and he gave the weather-based simile to describe the force of Liverpool shooting towards the Kop End.
“I know you tend to make headlines with these things,” the manager said.
“We all had to get used to the crowd as well first half. The boys knew that the last pass was not great, if you hear it then on top of that, that doesn’t help.
“So we had to make sure that we all start new in the second half. Not that I needed the proof, but what this place, together with a bunch of fantastic footballers, is able to create is so special.
“Oh my God, the second half, we were undeniable. I love that.”
Half-time team talk
One reporter asked what Klopp had said at half time to his players, to which the coach replied he hadn’t said anything “tactically.
“It wasn’t necessary. I asked the boys to delete it.
He added: “I asked the boys ‘Did you like the game, because your faces don’t look like it?’
“If you’d asked the crowd they would have said ‘Na, don’t like it.’
“Just the coaches liked it, because it was a good basis for the things we needed in the second half.”
An injury update
“The situation is not great, absolutely not,” Klopp admitted.
“There are obviously now a lot of super important games coming up and we don’t know, we go day by day. I cannot say anything about it and I don’t know.
“But, after Brentford, I had no clue that the situation would be like it is now.”
Fingers crossed Mo Salah and Darwin Nunez can play in the League Cup final.
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