Klopp: We proved something to ourselves against Leicester
Jürgen Klopp highlighted Liverpool's reaction to the goal they gifted to Leicester City on Saturday as a particular positive to take from the 4-1 victory.
Backed by the new capacity crowd of around 54,000 at Anfield, the Reds wasted no time in picking apart the reigning Premier League champions.
Roberto Firmino’s composed touch and finish broke the deadlock and Sadio Mane took advantage of a cute Daniel Sturridge back-heel to double the lead – prompting brilliant noise throughout the stadium.
The elation was punctured before the interval, though, as Jamie Vardy capitalised on Lucas Leiva’s misplaced pass across the area to tap in at the Kop end and bring the Foxes back into it.
But the visitors’ hopes of a comeback were quickly extinguished in the second half thanks to Adam Lallana’s unstoppable blast into the top corner, and Firmino’s second late on added gloss to the scoreline.
And Klopp was especially pleased with the bravery his team showed in overcoming the setback against a side set up to punish opponents on the break.
The manager told Liverpoolfc.com: “The lads did really well. From the first second we played a wonderful game – we were clear, strong physically, creative, quick in mind.
“And that’s all against a team who give you the ball a lot and they wait for the counter-attack.
“To then stay brave enough to play, even when you have one or the other situation where there’s a little bit of a problem, especially around the goal, was really good.
“It was a nice proof for us, to show that we can do that. So I’m happy.”
The combination play between the likes of Firmino, Lallana, Mane and Sturridge was scintillating to watch and proved too much for Leicester to stop.
Klopp believes the squad is profiting from the work achieved in pre-season but insists the Reds are still travelling the course of development.
“It is still very early,” the German continued.
“I know that when we lose we speak about everything, but not about positive development. When we win we speak immediately about positive development.
“Our way never ends, that’s the thing. We always have to carry on and that’s what we have to do.
“A lot of these boys have now been together for a really long time, from July 2 a lot [of them]. A few came a little bit later but now we have had a long time together.
“I see a lot of things we do in training and I saw them in the last games, but the results were not like we wished. I’m really satisfied with the performance of all the players.”
And the boss offered individual praise to Lucas, who stepped into central defence after Dejan Lovren was ruled out the day before the match due to a head injury in training.
Klopp said: “For Lucas, it was really hard and difficult. Until [Friday] it was clear he would be on the bench, and maybe it would be better not – after a really long injury – coming back and playing 90 minutes immediately.
“But he did well against one of the most difficult to defend strikers in the league, because of all these balls behind the line. It’s difficult to defend. But they all did well, so I’m really happy.”