Press conference: Klopp on Burnley, a full Anfield, Ox, Keita and more
Jürgen Klopp previewed Liverpool’s Premier League fixture with Burnley at a press conference on Friday – read a round-up of what he had to say.
The Reds are out to make it two wins from two in the new Premier League campaign as they prepare for their first match in front of a full Anfield since March 2020.
Read the boss’ pre-match comments below...
On whether Burnley's win at Anfield last season provides extra motivation...
Not in the moment sitting here, to be honest. I didn't even think about it. When I think about that game, it was a strange one but, yes, we lost it, Burnley won it, that's how football is, so well deserved. But [it] has obviously nothing to do with the game now. We will try everything to have our first home game in front of our crowd for 520-something days I think and we want to enjoy that. Football is only possible to enjoy when you play in a positive way, when you just go for it. There are no guarantees out there, not at all, especially not against Burnley because they can make your life really uncomfortable. They defend well, have really good footballers in the team. Sean is doing a brilliant job there, set them up for being not only annoying but they can be annoying as well, good set-pieces, all this kind of stuff. They have a clear way of play, so that's what we prepare for – not for any kind of revenge or whatever. We really want to have a positive game and that only works when you play really good.
On recent Liverpool signings playing in front of a full Anfield for the first time...
Everybody is looking forward to it, massively so. Usually when you sign for Liverpool then one of the first two or three things you are waiting for is your first game at Anfield, to feel and to experience that atmosphere. Everybody tells you about it, you might have seen a few games on television but you don't know it before you felt it or experienced it. Each and everybody of us who had the first game at Anfield in the past, and we all had them obviously, it was a very special moment. It will be a very special moment for them, that's absolutely great. That's individual, so they are looking forward to it. But we, who had 200, 300, 400 games at Anfield, can't wait as well. This place is really special and we are really happy to have it back.
On the Kop and comparisons with Borussia Dortmund's 'Yellow Wall'...
Both things are great stands, are incredibly important for the club, yes, the benchmark if you want for the club. There's a discussion in Germany because the club wants that their stadium is called after the name sponsor, Signal Iduna Park, or the old name is the Westfalenstadion. Nobody discusses the Yellow Wall thing, so that's clear. When you go to the stadium, whatever sponsor will be on it, the Yellow Wall is still there – and that's exactly the same how it is with the Kop. In the VIP area and stuff, people come out and sometimes maybe a little late – I don't think it's in our stadium too often the case – but are not directly on their toes, in England especially you have to wear suits and it's not that comfortable. But when you sit on the Kop or when you are on the Kop or when you are on the Yellow Wall, you go there just for football, that's it. If they get on their toes then the whole stadium will follow and that's a nice thing about this relationship. I can't wait to feel this connection again. We are really blessed. We were at Dortmund, thank God we are here – really blessed with a really good crowd. Think back six years or seven years, I don't know, people didn't enjoy the football in this specific moment too much when I arrived here. Thought about leaving early to get to the car park, stuff like this – I think we left that already behind us before the pandemic. But now in this moment I think everybody wants to enjoy each second in the stadium and we all have to do our part for that and that's what I'm looking forward to.
On whether there's been any developments on Jordan Henderson's contract situation...
No, still all good.
On Virgil van Dijk's display against Norwich City...
I was not 'impressed' in a surprised way. It's not like, 'Oh my God, right, that's him.' He had a four-and-a-half-week pre-season, maybe five, or maybe if you put in all this other rehab as well then it was probably the longest pre-season of all time. But I saw him obviously in training every day, so he played like he trained before. So I was not surprised. But, yes, Virgil is a good football player and that's why I was really happy to have him back.
On how valuable Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Naby Keita are to him...
Very valuable! It's all about being available and using the momentum and stuff like this, that's football. It doesn't make you a worse player or whatever. Without luck in life, you are really on the wrong side of a lot of things, and when you get injured in the wrong moment, the football train never waits. So we have to be really on top of that, that we try to keep them really in the best possible shape, stuff like this. But the quality of the players was never in doubt. Come on, if you think about these two players and you go through the strengths they have, that's a book of its own, you can just write a book about that. Great to have them. That's life and that's football – you get the chance, you better use it. It will not be the last, especially not in our case the last, but it makes more sense to use it immediately. Then you have another game, another game and another game, that's how it is. But there are obviously a lot of good football players in our squad and we will change independent of performances in the last game, just for intensity reasons, but that's obviously now a little bit early.