Klopp on Bury draw, Curtis Jones and Lallana's form
Jürgen Klopp feels the intensity of training in the last few days meant Liverpool were not able to muster a performance worthy of a victory in Saturday’s 0-0 friendly draw with Bury.
The Reds’ third match of the summer ended goalless at a sun-drenched Energy Check Stadium, with Klopp’s team unable to add to the 10 goals they scored in their first two pre-season games, against Chester FC and Tranmere Rovers respectively.
Sheyi Ojo and Dominic Solanke both saw goal-bound shots cleared off the line either side of half-time, while Ben Woodburn was denied a winner in the second period by a brilliant save.
However, it finished all square - a result Klopp, who handed Virgil van Dijk and Joel Matip their first appearances of pre-season, was happy to accept responsibility for when he spoke to the media afterwards.
Read on for a summary of what the manager had to say…
On his verdict on the game…
The mix-up of intensity in training, a lot of information in training, very warm weather and a very dry pitch is not the best preparation for a football game. I think we all saw it, we could have scored five or six times with a little bit more in the last [stages of attack], but these were the good moments and the rest was really a lot of intensity in the body, with all the tired bones and stuff like this. I saw a little bit more in the first half than in the second half, but both [Liverpool] teams struggled and that’s OK.
If you want, it’s my fault because we did a lot in the last two days. I wanted us to score, I don’t like the a few situations; first half with Divock when maybe he can pass the ball for an easy goal. It’s the part of the season when players try to impress me, but I’ve told them already: ‘You impress me not by scoring any goal; if you see someone in a better position then that impresses me much more.’ Making the right decisions when you are really tired, when it is really warm and the ball is not really rolling is very difficult. I knew that before, and that’s what we saw today.
On Curtis Jones’ display…
He is like the others, like Ben Woodburn was a year before or Trent Alexander-Arnold. It’s good, very good for us. It’s not about showing up once or twice, it’s about making the right decisions. Physically, he seems to be ahead of the others because he is taller, but there is a lot of his body he can still change with muscles. There is enough there, it is good for the moment and all these boys are good footballers. But you see it, it is difficult - one year older and everyone thinks you need to make the next step because the next young boy is coming. We don’t expect anything, we are only happy we have another one. It’s a long wait and we are calm enough.
On Adam Lallana’s pre-season campaign…
For him, it is nice he could do pretty much [a full pre-season so far]. In the beginning there was a little problem when he was ill, but since then he has been in all sessions, which is really good for him and you can see it with all the things he is doing. What an exceptional footballer he is, but he needs the pre-season most if you want because it was a long time that he couldn’t train, then he had this really quick ‘pre-season’ to help us as quickly as possible. Now we are really building again a proper basis and that’s what is happening in the moment. That he is able to play football is not a big surprise.
On Daniel Sturridge…
“That’s funny - it’s my third pre-season here and every year we talk about the same things, and he always had a future, not a problem! I always said there’s always a future, it’s about what we do in the moment. In this moment, all good, but we don’t have to make decisions now in this situation, that’s how it is. In this moment, I don’t think like this about my players. It’s not that I think ‘maybe he’s in or he’s not in’ with these guys. With the young ones, yes we have to make these decisions, but not with the others. They show up and then it’s for me it should be easy at the end [to make a decision]. Until then [the end of the transfer window], we have to make decisions but it’s still wide open, right? It’s closing tomorrow? No, good.
On Dejan Lovren’s form ahead of Sunday’s World Cup final…
He was a few weeks ago with us in the Champions League final, he was three years ago with us in the Europa League final. He didn’t win that but that makes only 11 players better and in his position then maybe only two. Same in the Champions League game - I didn’t see him play too bad in the Champions League final. For me it’s not a surprise, he played a really good World Cup but doing it more consistently is important. Dejan and me, we will work together for a long time so I have the opportunity to help him in that way.