Liverpool 0-2 Atalanta: Jürgen Klopp's reaction
Jürgen Klopp reflected on what he considered a deserved defeat for Liverpool after they were beaten 2-0 by Atalanta BC in the Champions League.
Having taken maximum points from their three previous outings in Group D, the Reds were overturned by their Italian visitors on Wednesday night following a quickfire second-half double from Josip Ilicic and Robin Gosens.
During his post-match press conference, Klopp assessed where he felt it went wrong for his side on the evening, which ended with Liverpool two points ahead of Atalanta and AFC Ajax, who they welcome to L4 next Tuesday.
The manager also paid a detailed tribute to Diego Maradona, the legendary Argentinian who passed away aged 60 today and was remembered with a period of silence before kick-off.
Read a transcript of Klopp’s press conference below…
On why it didn’t click for Liverpool tonight…
Good question. It’s a mix-up of a lot of things. The opponent obviously defended well and aggressive, how they defend. We didn’t use the specific things of their defending – this man-marking thing – where you can move players around, open gaps and pass the ball there, like really open gaps, crazy open gaps. We didn’t use that tonight, we used it in Bergamo really well. Then you only face the difficulties of this kind of man-marking system. If you move right, if you pass in the right moment then it’s like an open door. That’s football. It’s all about decision-making and tonight the decision-making was obviously not so good.
And, yes, we made five changes; that was very important for us that we did that. In the end, it didn’t work out. That’s part of the deal, you never know before. And, anyway, I would do it again. That was the reason. Five changes means no real rhythm. The first half was not a good game at all, they were not good as well. I don’t want to blame them but it was just not a good game. We spoke about it, so now we can do it maybe [in the second half]. It didn’t look like, that’s why we changed then kind of early. Unfortunately, like a second before we could change they scored a goal, the first one, in a space which we knew they try to use. We couldn’t defend it in that moment, so they score the first one and then the second one in a similar manner. And we didn’t create, so that’s it. We had good, better football moments then but not good enough. If you don’t have a shot on target that’s never a good sign.
On whether, at the start of the campaign, he would have taken the situation of having to beat Ajax at Anfield to qualify for the knockout stages…
If I would think like this, it would be great. But it’s tricky. It sounds easy: ‘Beat Ajax.’ With all the challenges we face in this country on top of the normal challenges already, my concern and what I think about in the moment is not Ajax, sorry. We go in a few hours to Brighton and play there. That’s the first thing we have to think about and when this game is over, then we start thinking about Ajax.
On his reaction to the passing of Maradona…
I had the honour to meet him once. As a 53-year-old man, loving football as long as I can think, he is one of the greatest ever. Was one of the greatest ever. I saw not so long ago the documentary, which I think is exceptional, to be honest. You could see there was Diego, which was an unbelievable football player. And there was Maradona, who struggled slightly with all the things around. When you are a young person and the people go crazy wherever you go, that’s not so easy. He had his fights with that, 100 per cent. I will miss Diego and Maradona because he was just… what a footballer he was, unbelievable.
On the scale of the contribution Maradona made to football…
He showed all of us what would be possible. We all struggle and fight with our whole limits as a football player. Is it technique? Is it endurance? Is it attitude? He just showed us that you don’t have to be the tallest, you maybe don’t have to be the most busy person in training, you don’t have to be always in time – it is possible you can still be the best player in the world. He loved this game so much, you could see that in each second when you watched him playing, even his warming up was special. There was Pele, for German people it was Beckenbauer, I don’t know who exactly it was for England, but we all had these absolute heroes who would make football look completely easy; it looked like there was no effort necessary. But they trained a lot and they were just skilled, they understood the game on a completely different level – and that’s what Maradona did as well. He understood the game on a different level and he knew what other players would do before they knew what they would do. So, that made him really special and, of course, he pushed football onto a different level, clearly.
On why Liverpool didn’t perform to their usual high level…
Rhythm, we didn’t have rhythm tonight. We made five changes and that obviously gives you a few problems with rhythm, but we usually get through a game. Atalanta were good – Atalanta fought, Atalanta defended well, that’s why we didn’t have a shot on target. My defence was completely fine apart from two situations, that’s how it is. Atalanta did do well in these moments and we have to admit [that]. It is a deserved defeat, I have said that a couple of times. It doesn’t sound nice but it’s the truth, so congratulations to Atalanta.
On the performances of Rhys Williams and Neco Williams in defence…
The kids did really well, all of them. Neco did well, first half he defended very often. Not on his own, but he was really aggressive in these situations and could sort the situations. It is a tough task for the kids; we ask them to show up in the Champions League and play their best football and people sit there, ‘Oh, he’s good… oh, he’s not that good…’ and stuff like this. They all did well: Rhys did well, Neco did well and Curtis played again like a 26/27-year-old midfielder. They didn’t get tired during the game, which is helpful. They did really well, the kids were really good.