Klopp's verdict: Patience, penalties and LFC's Champions League position
Jürgen Klopp declared himself satisfied with Liverpool's 3-0 home victory over Maribor and his team's position after four games in Champions League Group E.
After an uneventful and goalless first half against the Slovenian visitors, the Reds upped the tempo in the second period and got their reward through strikes from Mohamed Salah, Emre Can and substitute Daniel Sturridge.
The result opened up a one-point lead over Sevilla in the section and the manager is content with the current situation in the battle to reach the knockout stages.
In his post-match press conference, Klopp also discussed the patience required to ultimately find a breakthrough, the quality of Salah, a missed penalty by James Milner and the performance of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
Read on for a full summary…
LFCTV GO: The 3-0 win over Maribor in 90 seconds
On the patience Liverpool showed…
That’s a very important thing in football always. If you have a perfect start, it always makes life easier but if you then don’t carry on in a good way then the problems are back immediately. First half, everybody saw it was not the most exciting football. It was very difficult. We knew that they would play like this – anything else would have been a big surprise. The box was full of people in a Maribor kit and we didn’t come through in the right way, we didn’t take shots when we could have taken it. Roberto, for example, was very lively and he tried everything; the problem was then when we had the cross, he was not in the box. Not always, he had a nice header. So, there were a few problems we had.
But again, it was similar to the last game, to be honest. At half-time, we told the boys we had to stay patient. It’s not allowed to be frustrated about different things, because there were a little few signs that we were not that spot-on anymore in the counter-pressing situations – and they are very important. Counter-pressing is a fantastic playmaker, you get the ball back and the gap is there. We didn’t speed up in these situations. Second half, a fantastic goal; good timing, a good cross but good timing of Mo as well, coming into the box and being in the centre. The second goal was fantastic play, speeding up even in a small space, playing a one-two and then taking a shot. Third goal after a set-piece. I’m pleased, especially with the result and the reaction. The game was not our best game we’ve ever played but before the game we knew the maximum points we could get was eight after the game. Three goals, good; clean sheet, good; eight points, perfect.
On the goalscoring positions Salah gets into…
He is a very offensive midfielder, if not a striker. He likes these situations. He used his speed even in the small space, coming in behind. That was the problem in the first half, that we prepared the direction but we didn’t use the runs often enough. Roberto is clear that he needs to be there for the one-twos, for keeping the ball so we can push up. Ox and Mo offered these ways very often but then we didn’t play the ball. It’s about patience, but it’s as well about doing the right things with perfect timing because it’s easy to lose patience in a game like this. The end of the first half looked a little bit like this; second half, we were again there and decided the game pretty early.
On whether the attackers have become calmer when searching for the first goal…
It’s always a relief to score the first one. It’s always good for the players. We are working hard for this. Maribor changed their style completely but they showed always when they played football. It was difficult for us; we had the ball all the time and then we were not in a real formation when they had the ball, so they could play football and let us run more than it should have been. They had no real chances, one or two shots and that’s maybe absolutely OK. But the goals were of course a relief, 100 per cent.
On missing four consecutive penalties at Anfield…
After you win a game, that’s not a big concern, but of course you don’t like it. I thought today, the penalty was a really good one [from James Milner] but it was a fantastic save as well. We have to respect this. I think the last penalty was not too creative, but today it was a really good one. Before that, Roberto missed and before that Millie missed. Yes, we will find a player for sure. But the situation how we got it was a world-class move and dribbling from Roberto – that was really good.
On whether his side are more equipped to break teams down now than before in his tenure…
When you win you see the result and you can say yes after two games in a row now. Probably the next is coming up against West Ham, I am not sure – we will have to do the analysis first before I say something about this. Yes, we have everything we need for it, that’s 100 per cent. I don’t talk about players when we lose a game but we’ve missed three – and probably with Gini after 15 minutes, four – of the most creative players in the league with Sadio Mane, Phil Coutinho, Adam Lallana and then Gini Wijnaldum. That doesn’t make life easier because whatever you planned before the game, the players have to do the job. They have the tools, they know what to do, but the situations are always a little bit different. Yes, I think we are better equipped because we are meanwhile more used to it.
On Oxlade-Chamberlain’s performance…
If you start a Champions League game, you should not be far away from starting a Premier League game, I would say. It was good; he offered a lot in the first half but we did not use it often enough. He showed a lot and I loved his counter-pressing situations. I’m not sure he did this a lot of times in his life already, so it is really nice to see that. For players with speed, it is not too easy in a game like this but I saw a lot of good things of him and I am fine with the performance, of course.