Jürgen Klopp on Roberto Firmino's form and Merseyside derby importance
Jürgen Klopp discussed Roberto Firmino's recent form, the meaning of the Merseyside derby and the challenge of striking back ahead of Saturday's clash with Everton.
Firmino has yet to find the net for Liverpool in 2020-21 but registered two goals for Brazil during the international break and is in ‘top shape’ according to the boss.
The Reds cross Stanley Park to face Everton, meanwhile, with a collective point to prove having been heavily beaten at Aston Villa in their last Premier League outing.
Read more from the manager’s pre-match media briefing on each of those subjects below…
On the fact Firmino hasn’t scored yet this season and when that becomes ‘a problem’…
I don’t know when that becomes a problem for me; for me, it’s not even close to becoming a problem. These are the things where I have to be different to the outside world. If I would judge moments as much as you have to judge moments – and moments are not only a second or a game, or two games or three games, moments can be a period. For me, it’s just important how influential the player is, how it works for the team. Now we lost the last Premier League game obviously. Before that, we won all the Premier League games and Bobby didn’t score, but Bobby was incredibly influential.
It was always clear when a player like Bobby, if he is not scoring and people start focusing on that then you realise that even he loses the ball from time to time. Then you add it on – he doesn’t score and loses balls and all these kinds of things. All of a sudden, you speak about: “Is that Bobby Firmino?” Yes, it is. I was in training, he scored twice for Brazil, he is in a top shape, to be honest, and will play as long as he can. It’s normal that you discuss it. We discuss performances – individual and team performances – but not in the same way as you, obviously. Yes, we want him to score, we want him to come into the position where he can score. Yes, he could have scored, for example, at Villa, early and plenty; twice, for sure. I know that and he doesn’t like that, I don’t like it, but it’s not the one thing I think about when I think about Bobby, obviously.
On the wider importance of football on Merseyside during the COVID-19 pandemic…
I like to think that football here is always a massive point in the city, I’m pretty sure it is. But you are right. I think months ago we discussed: Is football really necessary? Does football really play a role in society? Obviously from a very subjective point of view, I was pretty sure it does. Meanwhile, we know it is like this, it’s an important role we play. Look, the people in the city are obviously used to dealing with difficult situations. How I see it, or what I hear – and I don’t live in the city centre obviously and I don’t know exactly how it looks there – but usually when bad things happen this city comes together and tries to make the best of it. That’s what we try from a football point of view, for sure. If we would play now Man City, for example, on the weekend it would have the same importance – [football] is just an important thing. But now because we are both clubs from the city, yes, the whole city is united and watches one football game and not two. From that point of view, you are probably right, it’s even more important.
On the challenge of striking back after two weeks without a club match…
I don’t know, we will see that. It’s difficult, of course. They all left on Sunday night after the game at Villa and most of them had to play three games. They played different systems and had different reasons to win the games; one was qualification, very important, like Scotland had to qualify for the final of going to the Euros. Then there were the Nations League games, like when Holland plays Italy and that’s a massive game. Then they come back and you have only a little time, but we are long enough together that we know why we come together – the only reason is to be successful and win football games. But it’s a challenge, obviously, to bring all these things together. They all had different situations, some were successful, some were less successful and all these things. But that’s always like football is, that’s not new. You like to win all the games before an international break because then it makes the international break easier, but it doesn’t make the next game easier because you still have to prepare the game, and winning a game before doesn’t make it more likely to win the next game. So it means we have the same chance and maybe a few more reasons. I’m fine with that. Obviously I try to help the boys come into the right mood. If it worked out, you can watch tomorrow.
On how exactly the defeat at Villa can be useful for the future…
Look, the challenge in this situation is that you don’t want the players to be affected or influenced in the next game, you want to have a self-confident team. You don’t want to have a team with heads down and stuff like this. On the other side, you don’t want to forget the game as well, and a 7-2 helps pretty much with that, that you will not forget it. I really think, and I got that feeling more and more during the hours after the game, that maybe after all the positive things that happened to us it needed a proper knock in the middle of our face to shake us through. I’m not 100 per cent sure about that, but that’s the way I take it. For this, it was then OK, because there’s no other reason why a 7-2 should be good. But if it was for that, then it could have been the most important game of the season. That’s what we try and that’s why we try to use it. We will see. Everton won the last game before the internationals, we lost it. That is a big difference. The closer we come to tomorrow, and now we are only a few hours before tomorrow, the lesser influential that is. It’s just not there anymore. Both teams have to give their all. The perfect shape maybe Everton were in before the international break is not automatically there; and our problems we had at Aston Villa are not automatically there. We can be different to the Villa game and that’s what we try. Then we are a team people just don’t like to play against, whoever you are. That would mean the same for Everton. With all respect for them, I have to say, it’s really good what they do. But that’s it, in the end it’s a football game and we have a chance. We had never more.
