ReactionLuton Town 1-1 Liverpool: Jürgen Klopp's post-match press conference
Jürgen Klopp acknowledged Liverpool were far from their best in Sunday's 1-1 draw at Luton Town in the Premier League.
Substitute Luis Diaz headed in a 95th-minute equaliser to earn the Reds a point from the Kenilworth Road affair.
Luton had gone ahead a quarter of an hour before then when Tahith Chong poked beyond Alisson Becker following a counter-attack.
Read on for a summary of Klopp's post-match press conference…
On Diaz scoring the leveller...
That we have to talk about that, it's wonderful, it's emotional and it's fantastic. But the real problem is not sorted. We wanted to give – and he wanted as well – Lucho the opportunity to be a little bit distracted from the other things. He cannot do nothing, he is waiting all the time, the whole family is waiting all the time. And so he trained now a few times with us and he was then in a good mood, and that's good for him. I think the signs from Colombia are rather positive, optimistic but the one thing we all want to hear, it didn't happen yet. He didn't train a lot and you don't know exactly when you can bring him. The game was obviously a game where another offensive player would make sense. If you bring him with the quality he has and 15, 20 minutes, I don't know exactly how long he played, and he scores the goal, so it's wonderful. That's it.
On what he said to Diaz after the goal...
Actually after the game no words were necessary. We just gave each other a hug. We know how he is – OK but desperately waiting for the right news. That's all. We had moments like this in the past. I understand 100 per cent that it's a nice story, honestly, and it's super-positive and great for him but these things go by. The real information we need is a different information. That's it. But anyway, it's a really, really positive thing for him. But all the other problems stay the same.
On the game…
Strange game. Strange feeling after the game. I think we should have won, but I think the draw is the deserved result – and we could have lost, so that's how it is. Credit to Luton, they did really well but even with all what they did, we created chances and didn't finish them off with the last conviction, to be 100 per cent honest. We were not calm enough in these moments. We should have scored and we should have created, but first and foremost it was alright – we created probably enough, just put one or two to bed and it's fine and you win 1-0 or 2-0. Absolutely fine, nobody won here with a crazy result and I knew before why, but now I felt it: they do really well.
But what I didn't like, particularly in the first half, was that we had 0.0 [per cent] counter-pressing and that is something I take personally, to be honest. I told the boys, it's not OK, but because I know that they actually want to do it the question is then why didn't they do it? So I have to figure that out. But I will, it's not rocket science probably but that I have to watch it back. I have enough time for that.
I told the boys at half-time, good, good, here good, be calm, be patient, stay patient, stuff like this and then if we would now put counter-pressing into that it would be really helpful because we have much more possession phases, longer possession phases, [and] they are less organised in these moments. Then we all know, we saw these games before, the situation doesn't get clearer with time. If we score one and then little gaps open up. With a 0-0 and the idea of Luton, which is fine and no problem with that – set-pieces and counter-attacks – they stay in the game, so you have to make sure beforehand that they are not in the game anymore, but they were in the game.
They had the counter-attack, scored the goal and I think everybody knows we should have won that ball – or shouldn't have lost the ball – at the 18-yard line. Then they scored, we scored the equaliser. I respect a lot what they do but the way they defend set-pieces defensively… if you watch it back, that's wrestling. It's not on the edge, it's on the wrong side, but they don't get punished, so why should they change it? So, fine. That was a little bit the discussion around that, that we thought it could have been – not when they scored the goal, before when Virgil's opponent brought him down. I think it was a good point score in wrestling, I am not sure. That's it.
On Darwin Nunez...
Our five offensive players are all in the team, they are all in the team. We just have that many games that they cannot play all the games, so that's how it is. One has a little bit of a problem and hopefully all other four are then healthy and then we find three of them who can start together and one will come on. And then we have young kids or Harvey can play up front there, different solutions. That's how it is for Darwin. So Darwin is 100 per cent in the team, it's just sometimes you cannot start again, so that's how it is, but then you come on. The first chance he had was really well done, great pass, first touch top and then he nails it on the crossbar, I think. And in other moments is just how it is.
The whole team was not in a goalscoring mood today obviously and that's then not helpful. But Darwin, what makes him really different is that he's involved in pretty much everything, so that's good. We are calm. Even when we should have finished better, but I don't think our problem was really finishing. It was other things. We should have created more and then we would have finished one or two situations off, and I would have been completely fine with winning here 1-0, I would've been very, very happy. But for that we should have played better.