Chelsea 0-2 Liverpool: Jürgen Klopp's reaction
Jürgen Klopp 'loved' the application and hunger Liverpool displayed in Sunday's 2-0 victory over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
The Reds made it six points from six in the 2020-21 Premier League after a second-half double from Sadio Mane saw them overcome their London opposition, who had Andreas Christensen sent off prior to half-time.
New recruit Thiago Alcantara made his debut in the win when he replaced Jordan Henderson following the interval, before Alisson Becker saved a penalty from Jorginho in the 75th minute.
Read on for a summary of the boss' post-match press conference...
On the win and whether Thiago's 75 passes is a sign of things to come...
Against 10 men, probably. We know that, so it was a different game in the second half obviously. But I liked the whole first half already. I liked the way we tried to find solutions, I liked the way we took a difficult game. It was already good and I was ready for a very positive half-time talk with a few pictures of where we could've done differently. We had to move quicker, pass quicker, pass easier and stuff like this. Then, the red card happened and that obviously changed the game. We came in and Hendo said that he probably got a knock but wants to carry on. I said, 'No, we don't take any risks.' Then we had to make the decision and decided for Thiago because, even without training against 10 men, he's then pretty much the perfect player on that position, I would say. Everything he did today was completely natural. It was not all perfect but it was natural, so the passes he tries to play are natural. That's good, really good, nice. Clean sheet, Ali saves a penalty, Thiago debut. If Hendo has absolutely nothing, it's the perfect day.
On the decision to reduce Chelsea to 10 men and whether Liverpool would have won had it stayed 11 versus 11...
I saw the sending-off only in the situation. I see Christensen's arms around Sadio, so I thought in that moment it's a sending-off, to be honest, but I didn't see it back since then. So if you saw it differently or have another opinion, I respect that. Would we have won it? Who knows that? How I said, I liked our game in the first half, so I thought we could win it, yeah. But if we would have? I don't know.
On the goals scored and whether Mane's second shows everything about his work-rate and the team's hunger...
Yes, it says everything about that and it says everything about the team as well. I love that because we have these situations quite a lot – that we chase the goalie. I think in the first half Sadio was really close to blocking it there already but you just have to do it. I love it when we get the rewards for these kind of situations. The first goal was a nice piece of football, everybody involved pretty much. Firmino cross and then Sadio comes in front of his man, so it's really difficult to defend. Good goal and gave the game the right direction. That's exactly what we have to show all the time, that's what we wanted to show today. I saw us today, I saw us playing football today and I'm completely fine with that. I loved it.
On whether he's happier tonight than he was after the victory over Leeds due to the clean sheet…
I don't know if I have to compare happiness. Last week I was very happy, this week I am very happy but for different reasons, maybe. I liked both games. Look, we win 2-0, could have scored more, didn't and then the game is open. Then we produce a penalty – I am not sure if I would have given it, to be honest, even from a completely neutral situation, but OK. Then Ali has to make another save [from Tammy Abraham]. This is a proper team performance, everybody had to work hard, we did and we deserved the three points. I am overly happy with that.
On whether Thiago's performance highlighted why Liverpool bought him and Fabinho's display at centre-back…
We signed Thiago for different reasons and only one of them is [for] against deep-defending sides. We improved in that department a lot, I have to say, with all of the players who were already there before. But, yes, it is something that suits him, it is natural to him, so I like that. Of course, it is good. That's one reason of a lot. Fabinho, yes! If Sadio wouldn't have scored two goals, I think Fab would be a proper contender for Man of the Match. I loved his performance, he played outstanding. He helped us a lot with the ball and in defending as well, so yes, a proper performance.
On whether Liverpool's performance sent out a message to the rest of the league…
I liked the performance a lot. We are not playing for two things: three points and showing everybody 'you better be ready when we arrive' or whatever. That is not us. The next game will be incredibly difficult immediately for their own reasons because Arsenal are obviously flying for a few months already. It will be really tough, but for ourselves, if we feel the way we play with adaptations, with improvements, with developments, it made us successful and will make us successful if we really throw it consistently onto the pitch. So, a Chelsea game away will be for the next 500 years one of the most difficult games you can ever play – and it will become even more difficult now when for Chelsea all of the things settle. That's clear. For today, it was difficult enough for us but we did it and I am happy about that.