Klopp's Red Star press conference: Five key points
Jürgen Klopp took a range of questions during a press conference to preview Liverpool's Champions League tie with Red Star Belgrade on Tuesday.
The manager discussed the Reds’ form in all competitions so far this season, analysed the challenge he expects from the visitors tomorrow night and reiterated the influence a special atmosphere inside Anfield can have on the game’s outcome.
Read on for five key points from the manager’s chat with the media…
On the suggestion his side haven’t hit top form yet…
I understand that 100 per cent; maybe it’s because of one or the other post-match interview of mine, that I said things like that. But, to be honest, the first job we have to do is win football games and we have played really good stuff already this season. We all compare it with the best games from last year because nobody remembers the average games. For us, the most important thing is always to win football games and all the games we won so far we deserved to win. The two draws in the Premier League we deserved a point. The game we lost against Napoli we deserved to lose.
That’s what we have to make sure for the future as well. We have to perform and we have to fight. We have to do the right things in the right moment. It’s not about showing we can do things similar to last year. It’s about feeling right, feeling confident. It’s about game development, it’s about a good start – you score early and then you can use different spaces. So far, we had to fight in each game until the last minute. That’s not a problem. Yes, how all teams in the Premier League probably can do, we can do a lot of things better than we did so far. But I have said a few times: the basis we created is a really good one, football-wise and points-wise. Now we have to build on that every day. We will try that tomorrow again.
On improving defensively in the Champions League after conceding 13 goals in the last six ties…
We conceded against City, a lot against Roma, one in Naples and we conceded in the final. As long as you go through, that’s OK. These games were really special; the Roma game was special, the Manchester City game was special, we don’t have to talk about the final. If the opponent scores a goal with a bicycle kick then it’s quite difficult. We can work on that but not especially for the Champions League. It’s not about the competition. That was about the specific character of these games. Actually, apart from the goals in the final, I don’t want to miss one of the goals we scored or conceded because they made these four games pretty spectacular. That’s part of the game as well. Of course, we don’t want to concede goals, how you can imagine. Keeping a clean sheet against PSG would be a proper challenge for all football teams in the world, so I don’t care about those two goals. It’s only a general thing not a Champions League thing.
On Liverpool’s analysis of Red Star…
I know they are able to defend and they are able to create as well. Their strengths are the different possibilities to line up, different strikers, tall, quick, good footballers, good headers, full-backs really on their bikes, very offensive-orientated, a clear structure. Offensively and defensively, Serbian teams are always well organised, they know how to defend and are not bothered to be a bit more aggressive. So, we need to be ready for a really hard fight, we need to fight for each little square metre of space with all we have. For that, we need our crowd, that’s very important. We learned last year especially that atmosphere can make the difference. That’s what we have to make sure again.
On the absence of the injured Marko Marin…
I heard about it. I have known him since he was at Frankfurt; I lived there when Marko came through the academy of Eintracht Frankfurt. He was an outstanding player so I have followed his career since then. We saw three games [of Red Star] – the focus was mainly on the two Champions League games and the Partizan game in Belgrade. I have no clue which line-up they will choose because they have the opportunity to change. The back four stays the same as often as possible, and the goalie and the midfield three; up front, they have opportunities and use them. That always makes it interesting. But whoever they line up, they are a top team in Serbia and that brings them here with confidence. They are used to winning football games and we have to make sure that they cannot come in that mood.
On there being no Red Star fans at the match…
When I was a player I played in empty stadiums – they were not banned, they were only not interested in the football we played! I have never experienced a stadium full of only one crowd. The support here in England is different, especially at Anfield it’s different; we don’t sing against another crowd. It’s a little bit like that but it’s more that you follow the game and support your team. If we have a bigger number, cool. It’s all about being really together tomorrow. It’s not that we are now the most experienced team in the Champions League only because we came to the final last year; we are still pretty fresh in comparison to a lot of other teams in the competition. We have to make sure that this one advantage that we can have in our home games – our crowd – is there 100 per cent. I’m pretty sure they are ready but this is only a little reminder!