The Reds got their Premier League season under way in dramatic fashion, with the third goal of Salah’s hat-trick at Anfield – an 88th-minute penalty – securing three points at the last.
Klopp’s men had previously been pegged back three times by the visitors after two from Salah either side of Virgil van Dijk’s header during a thrilling contest.
During his post-match press conference, the manager reflected on Salah’s overall performance and explained why he expected such a challenging clash with Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds.
On whether the game was a good example of how difficult the season will be…
How difficult the season will be, we knew before the game. If it is a good example for the season, this specific game, I don’t know, because Leeds are special. I said it before the game and in the game everybody saw it obviously. I know how people are and it’s completely fine, really fine and absolutely OK; they say Leeds performed outstandingly well and how can these mistakes happen? These kind of things that everybody is saying after games like this. We are not like this because we respect them a lot and I knew they would cause us problems. On top of that, we struggled in some defensive situations obviously, that’s why they scored. But apart from that, I’m really happy with the things we did with the ball, to be honest, because it was very difficult as well to play against them with the ball. The way they play, the way they defend, the way they go into challenges was really, really good – and for 95 minutes, by the way. We played really well around these situations, scored four goals, could and maybe should have scored more because we had really good chances on top of that. So, I’m completely fine with the game. Offensively, it was good; and defensively, we can improve and we will improve. So, let’s carry on.
On the kind of numbers Salah is achieving for Liverpool…
First and foremost, congratulations to him because he’s a very special player. A very, very special player. The numbers tell the story a little bit, all the rest around you probably don’t know. Today is a very good example. Yes, he put three more goals on his score list but the performance around was absolutely exceptional in a game like this. So he deserved the goals today, 100 per cent. Yes, two were penalties – one was a sensational finish – but he deserved these goals because he was constantly pressing and present, caused the opponent massive problems, was top in one-on-one situations, played football. Of all the good performances Mo had for us obviously, this was for sure one of the better ones. So he should be proud of that because it’s very special to have these kind of numbers. ‘Long may it continue,’ I like to think in these moments, and this time I say it as well.
On whether he anticipated his team would have less of the possession…
Yes, I expected that, to be honest, because they play… the build-up is with a pretty deep last line so if you jump in there and you don’t get the ball, you just have a more open formation. It’s clear if you build up like they do – with their quality, which is really good – then you cannot jump constantly. But in the moments when we have the ball, could we have kept the ball more often? I don’t know, it’s not too important, you have to do the right thing in the right moment. With the ball we were a proper threat in a lot of moments. We wanted to be direct in these moments because we knew that caused them a problem. If you don’t get intense in these situations then they have the majority of the ball and probably the better situations or cause you a problem when we have the ball. The game was like it should have been, minus the three mistakes around the goals. Apart from that, it was exactly like it should be. We cannot just press them in their own box always because that’s where they play out, it’s impossible, other teams do it in a similar way, so we needed a compact formation. In our situation we needed 4-5-1, we needed both wingers 100 per cent involved in defending, we all did that and it helped a lot. So, I’m fine with that.
On Leeds’ approach to the game…
I said before the game, we will all struggle against them, 100 per cent, because the way they play is just uncomfortable, let me say it like this. It is different to all the other teams. You know we have usually three days to prepare for a game – a Premier League game – through all the different competitions. We felt that now as well. Our boys came back from international duty and we could only start to prepare for the game now and it was pretty difficult to deliver all the information we thought they needed before the game. If you don’t respect the opponent, the plan of the opponent – and we always do that – then they kill you in a football way. I liked a lot the attitude of my team today, really. I think a lot of people would have thought, ‘We will see… Leeds… 16 years… first time in the Premier League against Liverpool who became champions, let’s see how they are now, are they still a fighting unit?’ – and I have to say, they just don’t stop and I like it. I really like it. That’s OK, we know we have to improve, we will work on that, but a lot of things were already really good.
On Liverpool’s defensive performance…
I didn’t really see us struggling defensively, it’s just the way they play, you cannot defend it 100 per cent all of the time. The goals we conceded, the first goal, both full-backs were deeper than the centre-halves and that should never happen in football, actually. But then you need the opponent to use this situation and they did. The second goal I think was a misunderstanding between Virgil and Ali. Things like this can happen – should not, but they can – and I don’t think we will see these situations very often when these two boys are not exactly clear what the other one is doing. The third one, we changed Hendo I think a minute before, or not long before, so they came through. It was a throw-in, our formation was not moving and we didn’t close one gap. So, again, to use the situation like that you need the game plan and also the bravery of Leeds in this situation. I don’t think it was a striker if I am right, he just showed up there, got the ball and finished it off really brilliantly. We let them run, that’s true, the two midfielders could have done differently. The gap between Virgil and Joe was big as well. It’s defending, but it’s not an excuse, it’s just an explanation. The last line played for England, Holland and Scotland four days ago or whatever. All top teams but all different ways of defending, so it can happen then. If all these things are not really settled: people say they’ve played 500 games together, but defending is not like riding a bike, you have to work on it constantly. Like I said, [there’s] space for improvement.