Liverpool 2-0 Aston Villa: Jürgen Klopp's reaction
Jürgen Klopp praised Liverpool’s adaptability and hunger to win following the Premier League champions’ battling 2-0 victory over Aston Villa.
Sadio Mane’s 20th goal of the season - and his 50th for the club at Anfield - put the hosts ahead with 71 minutes played on Sunday, before Curtis Jones came off the bench to register his first top-flight strike and seal all three points.
The Reds are now unbeaten in their last 57 home league matches and their next assignment involves a trip to Brighton and Hove Albion on Wednesday.
Read on for a summary of Klopp’s post-match press conference…
On whether he is proud that Liverpool are the only side in Europe’s major divisions with a 100 per cent winning record at home in the league so far this season…
The decisive word is ‘so far’! We didn’t come here and have the numbers we have because we thought about breaking records or something like that, we were always focused 100 per cent on the game and that will not change. In the end, whenever hopefully in the future any of these records will end or series will end then I can start thinking about it maybe. So far, I don’t even know the numbers, to be honest. I know we have 89 points, for example, because we had 86 before the game, but it’s just not a big thing. If we can do something special it is great but we really don’t think too much about it.
On whether the chance to break Premier League records provides his team with motivation for the final weeks of the campaign…
I think the boys know it. It’s easy, if we want to have a record points tally we pretty much have to win all the football games so it’s not that complicated - I don’t have to mention it, the boys know that. But it’s not necessary for this group, we played for everything each three days, for the three points, because you don’t get any more how ever good you play. You get three points if you win and that’s enough and I saw that again today. These boys are really fighting for these three points in a very difficult game. I think we should have had, in the first half, a shot on target because it should have been a penalty on Mo Salah, to be honest. But it was a difficult game, Aston Villa did really well and now everybody will be really happy that I mentioned it but the wind was again really tricky. I see a few of you sitting in the stands with winter coats and on the pitch the wind in the far right corner was incredible. I’m not sure who from Aston Villa tried to shoot the ball as far as he can and it came pretty much straight back. One reason, the wind [itself] and another reason, it dries the pitch like crazy and it means the pitch was really difficult. If you have the ball and you want to play then it’s difficult, if you cannot play on the ground but want to go with long balls [then] the wind doesn’t help with that. So it’s better that you are the not-dominant team in these situations and we had a few problems, but I liked how we stayed in the game, how we tried to find solutions, how the boys listened at half-time and during the first drinks break already. We tried really to adapt and I saw the improvement on the pitch, and then of course when the fresh players came on it was easier for them with fresh legs against a team that was already really busy until then and helped our players as well. It’s just an intense period - we will go through that but we need to make smart decisions.
On giving game-time to his young players…
They’re all good enough. I was asked if we will bring them [in] now and let them play or whatever, it was more my answer to that question. It’s really hard when you bring on Curtis and then later, only for a minute, Neco and Harvey is sitting there and you think, ‘Wow’ because he is incredible, incredible, in training and is ready as well. We take this situation completely serious and that’s why I said when the boys are the right choice in the moment, then they will play – but they will not play because they are young, so maybe that makes it a bit more clear. [Curtis] came on, the first situation he had was a shot and then he was involved in a foul, he had pretty much everything apart from a card in a really short period of time! Then he scored a goal and a goal he deserves because the cross is coming, it looks like the ball will be too long and then the wind slows the ball down, Mo gets the header and Curtis is there and anticipates really good and can finish it off. That’s quality and I liked that.
On Naby Keita’s performance…
Naby is a top player, a top player. It was a difficult game today, but he was really good and helped us a lot. Not only with the assist; you could always play the pass to him, he always offers, he was in smart positions. I liked the game a lot today and it’s just a good example of how good he can be. It was of course not his best game, but it was good and I am just happy when a player is in shape like this and can perform like this because we play again in three days, which is tough. Three days later we play again and four days later again. It is a tough period, it is for all [teams] tough, but you need to find solutions for the different moments and today Naby was a super solution.
On the introduction of drinks breaks…
I think I’ve said it before, it’s like a timeout. I wished for [it for] 20 years pretty much, nobody listened obviously! Now we have a drinks break and I like it a lot. If people think you need only a drinks break when it is like 40 degrees outside, then England is not a country where you need a drinks break very often - especially not in the north-west or the north-east! It is important just to have that. As I said, it was all a strange period of the players and we didn’t know exactly how the boys would react – nobody could know about that. Now I really like the opportunity to talk [to them]. I think in the moment the ref whistles, it starts and it takes pretty much 30 seconds until the players are around, so you have not a lot of time to talk to the players. They really go there for a drink, but you can give one or two [pieces of] information. We all have the same chance in the same moment, all the different coaches, so that’s good. It’s fair and I like it.