Boss on Danny Ings, new signings and Tranmere displays
Jürgen Klopp discussed the performances of three summer signings, the talent of match-winner Danny Ings and much more following Liverpool's 1-0 victory over Tranmere Rovers.
The Reds created a host of chances during the friendly encounter at Prenton Park but had to wait until the 79th minute to break the deadlock against the local side.
Ings was the man on target, clinically finishing beyond the goalkeeper after an excellent dribble forward and reverse pass into the area by youngster Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Klopp, who signed a new extended contract with the club earlier in the day, reflected on the game, his long-term deal and other subjects once the final whistle was blown.
Read on for a summary of the manager’s chat with the press.
On Sadio Mane’s performance…
I was quite satisfied. He had an exciting week or 10 days. He trained a lot in his break, did what he had to do and now he is here. He is a very, very nice guy and a good football player. Everybody could see in the first half, with really tired legs he really played a good game. He could have scored, could have done one or the other thing a little bit better, but he was fine.
On his new extended contract…
It’s really a big moment. I came a few months ago and had the first press conference and everybody asked me how it feels and I couldn’t imagine. A few months later, now we talk about a long-term relationship – obviously something happened in these eight months and I’m really happy about the opportunity to be at the club for a long time. I know how the world of football is and I know what everybody thinks – that contracts don’t mean anything. In my opinion, they mean a lot; because it’s a clear statement in the moment, you don’t do anything like this when you think you want to quit early. We are all convinced about our way. We know it’s really difficult, it will be really difficult. It was difficult and it will be still, when you see what happens around us. I like this sign for consistency. In life we have to make decisions and we made the decision to stay together. Usually you don’t have to make this decision and you wait [to see] what happens. It was an early moment when the club asked me and I was surprised, but when I thought about it I thought it was good and felt right, and so we did it. Now we are all happy.
On his ambitions for the future…
I said to LFCTV that signing the new contract is a little bit like having a penalty – now we have to finish it. You cannot celebrate the penalty, you have to score the goal. That’s what we have to do now. We really need to be successful, that’s clear; we need to develop the club, we need to develop a lot of things. We’re already building a new stand, we’re thinking about bringing the Academy and Melwood together, things like this. We think about everything at the club and this is much longer-term than my contract. So it’s really important that we do the right things so this wonderful club can be successful. We all feel very responsible for the club and for the people around. Everybody can be sure that we’ll try our best and we’ll see what it brings.
On the timing of his contract extension…
I started thinking about it and, for me, is there a better option around? Do I want to train another club or work at another club? I asked Peter and Zeljko, we asked our family, and we said ‘no, that’s the club, let’s do it’. It’s about giving a sign that this is the right thing. Because we know it will not be easy and, actually, if it’s not easy everybody starts thinking about the manager and saying ‘change this’. We don’t think we have to change the manager or big things in the next few years; we think this is the right relationship. Now we have to use it. Go through the hard times and hopefully the good times, all celebrate together and suffer together. At the end, be really happy about the time we had together.
On Ings’ performance and goal…
Danny Ings, with his qualities, will score goals in the future – that’s for sure. I can imagine it’s a special day today for him, but after the last year and so on he should not put too much pressure on himself. He should enjoy the game – he needs to get fit after the long, long-term injury he had. You need a long period to get back into 100 per cent shape. We are on this way and we’ll work together with him. Today, it was cool, it was a nice goal and he had other big chances, so I think he will be really happy. I know for Danny and all the other players, we have a really long way to go in this pre-season. We have to use this time.
On Loris Karius, Joel Matip and Mane’s debuts…
Loris is a good goalkeeper, there is no doubt about this. That’s why we made the transfer! Joel Matip had a little surgery during the break – he had a screw in his ankle – so they had to take it out because it was an old injury. He got a little bit of an infection and he’s only been two weeks in training. You could see in the first half he couldn’t jump, which is actually one of his big strengths, so he lost one or two headed challenges. That’s the moment, that’s how pre-season is – you watch it and you say ‘that’s OK, that’s not OK’ and you work on it or ignore or whatever. Sadio was the most impressive player in the first half from the new players because he had really good moments and linked brilliantly with Roberto Firmino, so that was really good and everyone could see it. It’s a good transfer. It looks like we have [made] a few good transfers.
On the possibility of players leaving on loan…
All these players that came back from loans are in the squad at the moment. We will have to see. My job is to give them the best training I can and in the end we may have to make decisions because today we had 20 [players], we had three or four at home and 14 still on [holiday], so that’s 38 and 100 per cent too much. We will have to make a few decisions but each club that takes a player from us can be sure he has had two or three weeks of really hard and intensive training in his legs and will be as fit as possible.