Jürgen Klopp on centre-backs, Henderson, Firmino, West Ham and more
Jürgen Klopp covered topics including Liverpool's centre-back options, Jordan Henderson's qualities, Roberto Firmino's goalscoring and West Ham United during Friday's pre-match press conference.
The boss spoke with journalists ahead of the champions’ trip to London Stadium this weekend.
Read on for a transcript of Klopp’s media briefing...
On whether there are still possibilities for the club to sign a centre-back before the transfer deadline…
I don’t know but we will try. It would be funny when you all think, ‘Ahh, Liverpool is just fine with the situation, they don’t care and they don’t try’. We try, but how you know, there’s nothing to say until something happens so we will see. The situation yesterday didn’t make it easier or whatever but it’s still just that we try to do the right things. If that’s possible we will do it, if not then not.
On West Ham’s capability to challenge for Champions League qualification…
Great to see something like this is possible. Just obviously a clear idea [that] David Moyes always had. [They have] brought in the right players, I think everybody’s really impressed about the goal threat of Soucek, that’s incredible. Antonio is back. It’s just settled now. It obviously took a little bit [of time], that’s normal as well, and last year they really had to fight hard for staying in the league but now they are longer together and it works out. I am really pleased for David, to be honest, because [he had] such a long and successful spell at Everton and then from that moment on maybe the timing was a little bit tricky with Manchester United and then with all the other clubs it was just like, ‘Is it the right moment?’ You have to go there and you have to fix it immediately. And now he got the time and he shows again his capability of building successful teams. So we will face them, that’s clear. The position in the table is obviously one thing but being third or fourth or whatever in late January is now not exactly what is the most important thing, there are other moments when it is much more important where you stand but of course we didn’t start fighting last night. We fought a lot in the other games as well but last night was a really important game for us with important aspects and that’s the plan - to bring this again on the pitch on Sunday.
On Henderson and why the captain has been deployed in defence recently…
First and foremost, that’s experience. So we don’t worry about Nat [Phillips] and Rhys [Williams], for example, but it’s about the situation. Let me say, if they play with, and it’s possible, with Joel Matip or Joe Gomez or Virgil van Dijk together, it’s absolutely no problem. It’s clear who organises the line and stuff like this. But with young players it must always be in the 100 per cent right moment. Hendo plays there because he can do it and because he can help us there and you saw around the first goal [against Tottenham], stepping in and chipping the pass, that’s what you want to see as well. That he can defend in the position is clear, that he has to adapt and to learn the position is clear as well. But it’s the personality we need, the experience we need and it’s the football we need from the position. So that is about the decision with Hendo. The whole season is the problem, that we had so many different centre-half pairings - that’s more the problem than the centre-half pairing. So if another one could have played pretty much all the games that would have helped obviously, massively as well. Then we had to use Fabinho, who is our ‘usual’ No.6, which cost a bit of stability in midfield so it doesn’t change only the position, it changed the whole static of the game. We try to be as consistent as possible usually because you have two or three days [between games] and now changing it completely is not really helpful as well. So that’s it. For yesterday night we found a solution and hopefully we will do that for Sunday as well.
On speaking to Phillips and Williams and how far they’ve come in a short space of time...
We speak constantly but not probably the talks you think we have now. It’s not that I explain them every day the game and stuff like this. They’re talented, really talented and they will have a proper, proper career. So that’s all fine. Trust means as well let them do in a specific way and not judge everything. So, we are all different and we do things differently. Some of the things we have to do exactly right because we do them together and some of the things are individual. So, yes, we talk but it’s not that we give them every day a book about playing centre-half in the Premier League. It’s just we have a lot of faith and trust in the boys. For example, last night [was] a really tricky one - Nat coming on, early challenge, yellow card and then calm and playing a really good game and helped us a lot. That was really, really good. So, happy about that.
On Firmino entering the top 20 all-time goalscorers for Liverpool...
It shows obviously Bobby Firmino scores goals. Because we had in the same situation, I was sitting exactly here and you probably were there and I’m sure you asked questions about why Bobby Firmino is not scoring goals or not often enough. Now he’s in the top 20, so that makes it already sure that he probably will be remembered in the future as one of the top goalscorers for Liverpool, which is nice and well deserved. [He] played a good game last night, was in the right moment in the right position and that’s the most important thing for a striker. It was a great team goal, if you want, nice pass from Hendo, great run and pass from Sadio [Mane] and an easy finish, but you have to be there. So, I’m happy for him because I know how important it is for players that they can score goals and so that will help us as well.
On Firmino, Mane and Mohamed Salah all scoring in the last two matches...
After the game I mixed it up a little bit when I spoke that the front three scored. It’s right but it’s not right as well. I forgot for a moment that Mo’s goal, which was a really nice goal, was disallowed. It’s good. The right people scored the goals in the last two games, let me say it like this. It helps really. Trent [Alexander-Arnold] set a goal up and scored one himself, so was really helpful as well. We speak a lot about it and spoke a lot about the scoring record in recent times. We knew it, we tried to change it for last night and we could change it. Now let’s try to build on it.
On whether there was a moment that changed his thinking on signing a centre-back from ‘could do but probably won’t’ to ‘we’ll try to do something’…
So, my thoughts didn’t change. My words might have, but that’s probably rather because of my English. No, same situation as before. We work on this, we don’t have always training, we don’t have always press conferences, there’s time in between and if we don’t sleep, we work. That’s what we did all the time. We will see.
On looking at a long-term target or short term…
Actually everything is long term. OK, apart from we bring a player in for the next six months or whatever. Right, that would be short term. But usually everything is kind of long term. We had one half-year contract: Steven Caulker. No, it’s about solution, that’s the first thing. And that’s what we are working on.
On whether the challenge is financial or finding a player who fits the way the team plays…
Can you divide these two things? So, I’m not sure there’s an £80 million centre-back available in the moment so that a club says, ‘OK, we get £80 million for him, we want to sell him now.’ I don’t think that’s the case, to be honest, or pretty much I know. This player of this calibre probably, I’m not sure the team want to or would sell them now. No, it’s both. Of course we need to find the right player, that’s clear, and it needs to suit our financial situation, that’s clear as well. No, it’s both.