Klopp pleased by Reds' battling spirit
Jürgen Klopp believes Liverpool displayed signs of the ‘never-say-die’ mentality he’s hoping to ingrain in his squad during Sunday’s draw with West Bromwich Albion.
The boss was pleased with the manner in which his side reacted to a handful of setbacks, including falling behind after taking the lead, and losing Dejan Lovren to injury.
It was Divock Origi’s deflected stoppage-time strike that ultimately salvaged a point for the Reds in a 2-2 draw and, although disappointed not to have won the game, Klopp felt there were positives to be derived in terms of his team's approach and resolve.
“In the first half we did really well - not perfect, far away from perfect, but really good,” the manager told Liverpoolfc.com immediately after the final whistle at Anfield.
“In the past, we’ve had some problems coming into a game after a Thursday game, but we didn’t have this problem. We started very concentrated, we played football in closed spaces, between the lines, around the box, and made a perfect goal.
“We [conceded] two goals from set plays. We knew we had to avoid it but we couldn’t. We should defend better, absolutely correct. We all know this and we will work on for it for sure.
“But we came back and that is the most important thing. There was a big, big mentality and a challenge with tired legs against this opponent. We had knocks with the two goals and the situation with Dejan [Lovren] but [the key is] don’t be frustrated and stay in the game.
“It is very important for us and since I’ve been here that was absolutely the best atmosphere. Everybody was disappointed but nobody made us feel that so that’s how it should be, everybody solid and trying everything [to win].
“We deserved that point and sometimes one point is worth more than three in a bad game. We didn’t play badly – we had faults, but we didn’t play badly - we always tried and that’s very important.”