Jürgen Klopp on Reds' win at Tranmere and summer transfer business
Jürgen Klopp declared himself satisfied with his side's workout and performance as Liverpool recorded a 4-0 win at Tranmere Rovers in their first pre-season friendly of the summer.
The Reds struck twice in each half to secure victory at Prenton Park on Wednesday night, with goals coming from James Milner, Marko Grujic, Pedro Chirivella and Ben Woodburn.
Klopp elected to give 22 players a runout as his men took to the field for the first time in 2017-18 – and afterwards, spoke of his contentment with the display.
Read on for a transcript of the manager’s post-match press conference…
On how tonight's squad compares to the one he brought to Tranmere for a friendly last summer…
The squad I had here last year was the first game [of pre-season] and not a lot of players were involved – all of the national players because there was a tournament – so I cannot compare the squads. I don’t think that makes a lot of sense. I was happy with the squad I had today; first half with a little bit more experience and second half with the young players. It looked good – as good as possible after around about eight days of training and I really enjoyed watching it. The first half started really well, then it looked a little bit more stiff – a few players were looking a little bit for their role, their position and all that stuff. Second half, surprisingly it looked fresher and that’s good – it was more flexible and a little bit more fluent. Both halves were good, we scored good goals and could have scored more. It was good.
On whether anything can be read into Liverpool’s performance…
No. Did you ever see a manager in the first game of pre-season play the line-up for the first game of the Premier League? That would be a surprise! I have no idea how we will play against Watford. We have a lot of time until then, a lot of training sessions.
On Simon Mignolet and Danny Ward not being involved…
They came back later [than the other players], but Danny has a back problem and had to finish training this morning. But before the game, it was already clear that Simon and Wardy [would not play] and that Loris would play. That was clear. Simon and Danny should have trained [today], but Wardy could not do that.
On where Dominic Solanke fits into his plans…
He decides that himself. He is a young lad and that means it’s a long-term project. I have all the time in the world, but if he brings a little bit of a rush with his development, then everything is good. I saw a few wonderful signs tonight. Everybody in England watched the U20 World Cup – that was fantastic football. He is an offensive player, a really skilled boy. He has to improve, of course, but a lot of things are already really good: first touch, movement, a lot of things. So it’s about him, if you want, and the situation. But I will not avoid his development, so the moment he is strong enough he is there. Where he is training isn’t already decided because I didn’t decide for all of the team, but he will train with us as often as makes sense and is possible. And where he will play, we will see.
On the work Liverpool have done so far in the transfer market…
We cannot only buy players because other teams buy players – we do our business as well as we can do it and we are completely in it. We are convinced about the way we are going, so that’s all. I’m not nervous, maybe that’s the right message.
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