Press conferenceJürgen Klopp on run-in: 'We have to be emotional in the right way'
Jürgen Klopp wants Liverpool to be ‘emotional but in the right way’ as they continue their challenge for the Premier League title by hosting Sheffield United.
Sunday’s 2-1 victory over Brighton & Hove Albion, coupled with the goalless draw between Manchester City and Arsenal later that afternoon, sent the Reds two points clear at the summit.
Klopp’s men will aim to maintain their position as pace-setters when they face the Blades in a 7.30pm BST kick-off at Anfield on Thursday night.
In addition to providing updates on squad fitness and Joel Matip at his pre-match press conference, the manager discussed his side’s approach to the title race, analysed Alexis Mac Allister’s influence within the team, and more…
On the importance of squad strength at this stage of the season…
Thursday, Sunday, Thursday, Sunday, Wednesday, Saturday – these are our next six games. So we need the squad, we need everybody who can come back. We need, yeah, in an ideal world full strength, which is probably not possible because they come back but somebody else will not be available. That’s how it is; the games are too intense, everybody is fighting for everything. It’s really, really a tough period but exciting as well. Looking forward to it. Tomorrow and all the games coming up. They are all difficult for different reasons, because first and foremost they are football games, that’s always difficult. But we are really looking forward to it, I cannot say it differently.
On how much Mac Allister has met his expectations since arriving last summer…
I had no limits for him, I didn’t want to limit him, I knew it was a player I desperately wanted. Thank God we got him. Everything he learned at Brighton was super-useful but then it’s a new environment, slightly different role. How he adapted to that, you never know. Not from a footballing point of view, it’s more like character because there were a lot of discussions: can he play the six and these kind of things. It sounds like it was five years ago but it was only a few months ago people had these kind of discussions and I got asked the question quite frequently. These things always help, if you play a little bit out of your comfort zone it always helps.
We all know the eight is his best position but he can play the six anyway. I’m absolutely happy. We had talks before when we signed him, and after them I was super-positive that he’s a fantastic boy. But you see that then only when he is here. He is in the middle of the group, he is obviously the best English speaker of our Spanish faction. That’s great as well. They sit together on the table. If you would make a picture of that – and Ali [Alisson Becker] on top of that on the table usually – and then you go to the Copa America, it would be a funny picture how they treat each other then! Just a great player. Fantastic footballer, super-important for us.
On Mac Allister’s relationship on the pitch with Mohamed Salah…
After the game [on Sunday], somebody told me that Mo obviously ordered an assist… but Mo is doing that probably on Monday with everybody in the squad! I’m pretty sure he tells everybody, ‘If you don’t know where to pass the ball, give it to me’! There’s no specific partnership, I think the most assists for Mo probably is Darwin [Nunez]. We need them all, we need them all in their best shape.
What I loved about this goal specifically [was] how we used the formation, how everybody was pretty much in a perfect position and then in the end things can work out like that. The pass from Dom [Szoboszlai] to Macca was already exceptional and then the next pass is only possible because Mo arrives there, because in that moment Dom is on the right wing, Conor [Bradley] is in the half-space, so it’s exactly like it should be, especially against man-orientated teams. It was in the end difficult to defend and very well played, that’s the most important. There will be other moments when Macca has to pass the ball to another striker or to another player and hopefully he finds them then as well. Partnerships on the pitch are very important. Usually I enjoy partnerships with three because that makes more sense in football than it’s only two. We are in the position we are because the boys played really well together, and that’s what we need in the next hopefully 14 games as well.
On Luis Diaz’s defensive work against Brighton on Sunday...
Defensively, the difference is always how much your offensive players work back. Otherwise, you defend with seven and the better the opponents are, the more players they involve in their offensive game – and then seven to defend the whole width of the pitch is really tricky. So, you can defend it, it’s just difficult to defend it proactively. To win balls in the right spaces, you need these boys, the three up front, to do all this kind of dirty work as well – and they do it. That’s super-important for us. For me, as a manager, I just don’t understand the game in a different way, I never did it – I never asked a player to stay away and wait until we win the ball. I never had this, it might be my limitation but I never could do that. But I can explain pretty well why it makes real sense that they all are involved. Lucho now specifically against Brighton, his positioning in our midfield press was slightly different and he adapted really, really well and did it really well. I liked it a lot. We need them in both directions and so far we had them, good.
On discussion about Liverpool being ‘favourites’ for the Premier League title following last weekend’s results...
It’s obviously nothing we are really aware of. The situation for us is Sheffield United and not who is the favourite. I am pretty sure when we lost at Arsenal we were not favourites after that matchday. Maybe rightly so or not, I don’t know and I don’t care. I think I said in the last press conference, one of the most important things to get through this period is just to ignore the outside mess, because that goes up and down and is emotional and all these kind of things. We have to be professional. We have to be emotional but in the right way. We have to be the best version of ourselves, we have to try to play the best football we can play and then let’s see what the outcome is. There are no guarantees, there are just opportunities. The clearer you see the opportunity, the more likely you can take it. That’s it.