The manager previewed the champions’ trip to Selhurst Park by speaking with the media via video call from the AXA Training Centre.
Read on for a summary of what Klopp said…
How impressed have you been with Palace so far this season?
Very, just because of the talent of the group, I have to say. So results are one thing and it’s very important for the specific clubs, but for me it’s much more important what kind of performance level they are capable of and that is impressive, I have to say. If you go through the ranks, the strikers they have in the squad, now they played with Zaha and Benteke - Benteke had a red card [against West Ham United] but on the bench in that moment is Ayew, which was one of the main players last year, and Batshuayi. They have made a good signing with Eze, really good, talented boy, gives them the freedom to put Zaha a little bit higher up the pitch because maybe they have a similar profile, the two boys. [They have] a very experienced last line, made Kouyate now a centre-half. Mamadou Sakho is injured so they could even rotate I think. Cahill and Schlupp were not even in the squad for the last game, they were rested for the game against us so that just shows you how confident they are and how comfortable a situation they have. So, I’m impressed about the performance level they are able to play… they look good, they look sharp. It will be a tough one.
You spoke after the Fulham game about the importance of making a fast start – the team certainly seemed to manage that against Tottenham…
That’s true. I think it was Gini in the dressing room before the Tottenham game was shouting, ‘Don’t let us waste the first half again!’ We should have shouted that again before we came out of the dressing room at half-time because we kind of wasted 10 or 15 minutes then. Obviously it was a different game but it makes complete sense [to start fast]. But if you don’t have the perfect start, which is completely normal because it can happen, then you have to restart in the next minute not after half-time. We have space for improvement, it’s incredible. But the boys played a pretty good game in the last game, it was a really difficult game, so now we feel good in this moment and we try to use that.
It’s a tight turnaround between games so how have preparations gone and what kind of contest are you expecting, given that Palace also played on Wednesday night?
That’s the main difference this time, to all the other games we played at 12.30. When two teams have exactly the same it doesn’t make the timing better, it’s just then obviously a fair competition… but that’s now not the problem. The problem is now between Wednesday night and Saturday 12.30 there is not a lot of time for anything and we will see who can cope better with that. But it’s the most tricky thing to do for a manager, I can tell you.
Will the players have a break after the Palace game with there being an eight-day gap before West Brom visit Anfield?
Yes, we will meet again an hour before the West Brom game! No, they will have a day off of course, but the thing is that we have to prepare the rest of the season as well. So it’s like, doing nothing or doing recovery is a massive difference but of course they will have time off, that’s clear. We will for sure use the first two or three days [after Palace] for extended recovery, how ever we will do that is not finally decided yet. But then we will prepare the West Brom game, obviously, and the rest of the season because you cannot train in this period. Yes, the intensity of the amount of games is a hard one but the no time for proper training is another challenge and that’s what we obviously want to use then and hopefully it will help us for the rest of the season.