Klopp's satisfaction at Reds' Bournemouth victory
Jürgen Klopp was in good spirits as he discussed Liverpool's 2-1 win over AFC Bournemouth at a post-match press conference at the Vitality Stadium.
Goals from Daniel Sturridge and Roberto Firmino helped the Reds to Barclays Premier League victory on the south coast, as a much-changed team prevailed against dangerous opposition.
Klopp praised the contributions of the many young players he selected, plus the performances from his goalscorers, and offered an update on the fitness of Kolo Toure and Divock Origi after the match.
Read on for the key points from the manager's media briefing.
On the performance as a whole...
I am really, really pleased for the boys and how they played today. Daniel [Sturridge] was absolutely brilliant. He was absolutely right in the decisive moments, like in the last few games because he has been involved in nearly all the goals we've scored in the last few weeks.
After a beautiful pass from Ibe, he back-heeled and Roberto reacted well. The second goal was after a set-piece and was really good. We had a lot of moments where we could have scored more, but we didn't, so it was still a little bit exciting. It was close at the end when they scored the goal, but it was a really deserved win.
On making 10 changes...
I am responsible for this line-up. Now it is easy to say, but I told the boys you can play football because if it doesn't work, they can blame me and not you. We really tried to enjoy the game and that's what they did. I think it was the first Premier League starts for Connor Randall, Brad Smith and Ojo. I think all three played well and it's really nice what they did.
Jordon Ibe [has had] not the most easy time and I have heard something that he has some problems with me or something – absolutely not. Only a few young players come up and sometimes you're in the squad and sometimes you're not. He is still a brilliant, big, big talent and good for English football. He did well today. Both wingers [were] young, the centre-backs experienced and the goalkeeper young. I was not surprised, but it was better than I thought it would be.
On whether Europe is the focus...
We had no other chance to win [other than to make changes]. I said to the boys maybe sometimes rotation is for resting players for another tournament. In our case, we only rotate because the most important tournament still and always will be the Premier League, and we want to win this game. That's why we took another formation. You cannot rest for a tournament, you can only try to find a few more fit players, that's what we tried to do for today. We have two more Premier League games before the next European game so we don't think about Europa League.
On Sturridge and Firmino...
He [Sturridge] is really in good shape, mental and physical wise, and that’s really good for us and so important. Roberto Firmino had a problem after he was in perfect shape. He had to fight back from his injury. He is a really good ball keeper for us, to save the ball for us. With Daniel and Roberto working in the game and the speed on the wings, it looked good to be honest. We could have conceded more goals, they had too many chances but it could have happened – especially in the last few minutes. I am really pleased for the boys.
On injuries...
[Origi] got a knock on his back, I think. I asked him after the game and he said it was a little knock in the back and hopefully it's not serious. [Toure's injury is] a little bit more [serious], it's the muscle. I'm not sure if it's cramp or more but in the last few months Kolo had absolutely no issue with his muscles so hopefully it's not a big thing.
On young guns flourishing...
The exciting thing is giving the young boys the opportunity to be part of their first Premier League game, second Premier League game. I think Kevin Stewart made three [starts] - nine points. Nice record! That's really nice but it's not always exciting, we try to do our job that's all.