Boss: That's exactly how we should play, but we can still improve

The Reds produced a display of complete authority at Anfield on Saturday, and eased into a two-goal lead in the opening 35 minutes courtesy of Sadio Mane and Philippe Coutinho.

That the final scoreline was only 2-1 in the hosts’ favour thanks to Gareth McAuley’s late strike did not reflect the pattern of the game, which was dominated by Klopp’s team from first whistle until last. 

Liverpool now sit third in the Premier League table, but while the boss was more than satisfied by the manner of their victory over the Baggies, he believes there is more to come from his players.

“The way we played was exactly how we should play, but football is never perfect so we could’ve done a lot of things better,” Klopp told Liverpoolfc.com.

“But the movements were good, much better than against Man United, we were cooler in the passing situations. 

“The defending was unbelievably difficult because we had to play extremely high pressure, counter-pressing, because each ball they can play without pressing or pressure...[Salomon] Rondon keeps it, or goes on the ground and it’s a free-kick from 45 or 50 yards. That’s close enough to make a real thing of it! 

“So the defending was high intensity, very important, and then cool down and play simple and smart and cool football to create the spaces. And when there’s an opportunity, try to force mistakes - that’s what we did, especially around the second goal I think. 

“It was fantastic run of Roberto Firmino to make pressure on the goalkeeper, he played a not-so-good ball and Phil [Coutinho] is in the box and can shoot. 

“So there’s not a lot to moan about tonight, not even the goal we conceded because I would say the big thing that we did was only [give away] two or three set-pieces to them. 

“In this moment it was luck. Luck was on their side, so they scored the goal. But I was not nervous that they’d score twice.

“We had one of the best atmospheres we’ve had since I’ve been here when we don’t play Borussia Dortmund, Man United, Everton…it was really great, and thank you to everyone who was part of it.”

LFCTV GO: Klopp sees room for improvement

Klopp used his pre-match press conference to call on Liverpool to be ‘angry’ and ‘patient’ in their attempts to break down Tony Pulis’ well-drilled, resolute West Brom team.

And the manager was happy with his side’s attitude and application, which resulted in them taking a two-goal advantage into half-time.

“Unfortunately West Brom don’t change anything when they concede a goal, so it’s not a typical kind of play where they open their formation or something,” Klopp added.

“They play the way they play and that’s successful for them so why should they change? We had a 2-0 lead, we had five, six, seven 100 per cent chances and they were still cool. [They think] 'If we score once and the game’s still open, as long as they don’t score a third'.

“It was very important that we were patient, but, and this is the bigger challenge, is to be lively. I don’t know exactly how it works, to be patient and lively, to stay concentrated and all that stuff - but yeah, all good tonight.”

The Reds have taken 20 points from their opening nine Premier League games of the season, which have included trips to Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur, as well as home clashes with Leicester City and Manchester United.

However, Klopp is not getting carried away with just a quarter of the campaign gone.

“It’s still early in the season, a lot of games to come, intense times to come,” he said.

“The only thing I can say is that I think everybody who thinks about it and feels with us and who loves Liverpool FC feels better than this time last year. 

“That’s our job, and it’s the same with the team and the manager. All good in the moment but nothing happened until now, so let’s carry on.”