Press conferenceJürgen Klopp on Bournemouth encounter, transfers, midfield and availability
Jürgen Klopp previewed Liverpool's meeting with AFC Bournemouth by attending a press conference at the AXA Training Centre on Friday afternoon.
The Reds boss touched on a range of topics ahead of his side's first home game of the season, including the set-up of his midfield after the arrival of Wataru Endo from VfB Stuttgart.
Read on for a summary of Klopp's comments from the media briefing...
On any further incomings or outgoings in this transfer window...
The window is open and until then pretty much everything can happen. On the outgoing side, from my side, nothing will happen but I learned in this window a lot of things so we will see that. Incomings, there is still time, so let's have a look and that's what we will do.
On what he expects from Bournemouth compared to last season's games with them...
Something in between! It's now one game, but I think the manager [Andoni Iraola] stands for a specific style of play. If you did your research, you could have found out [there is] no coincidence the Bournemouth board thought about him and brought him in. He did an exceptional job at his last club in a pretty unconventional way, if you want. I liked to use in the past very often the phrase 'organised chaos' but he likes not only the word – it is organised with chaos as well, so it's a tough one. They will go for it, that's how they did in the first game now. They will go for it, they will press us properly and, on top of that, they have an offensive approach. If you let them play they will play and if not they have an idea how to get in behind the line, that's the idea they have. It's not the most complicated football idea but it's a good one. But it's the first home game, maybe we should not forget that.
To be honest, when you start the pre-season a lot of things you don't need immediately because you need the time to work on it, but the first home game is not one of them – it is really the one thing you cannot wait for and that's exactly how it is. We missed Anfield, missed the atmosphere. Yes, we know there are a few little problems but there is still a wonderful stadium there and all the rest will be sorted. I am pretty sure the people are excited and happy to see us again so let's use that as well. Yes, it is Premier League and early in the season there are no favourites for anything, it is just you have to be ready, you have to fight, you have to run, you have to play, you have to shoot, you have to tackle and all these kind of things. That's what I want to see.
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Watch on YouTubeOn how Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai can benefit from Endo's arrival...
First and foremost, both help us a lot and they did in that game [against Chelsea]. I think Dom was especially impressive physically, his work-rate until the last second was immense, to be honest – I didn't expect that. It's the first game of the season and you know that players feel that much more. The most important session in the whole pre-season so far was the game against Chelsea for all different things. And being there on that kind of intense level, like he was until the last second, is pretty special. And then you have on the other side, you have Macca with a really fine foot, finding small spaces, finding bigger spaces, being a real creator of whatever you want, that's really helpful, but with a really, really good defensive game as well. Our problems didn't come from the position of Macca or rather offensive-orientated players on the six. Nothing to do with it.
We didn't play enough football, that was our problem. We got into a rush after the equaliser and they scored a second goal pretty quick after. We were not settled enough in the way we want to play. I think that's not too surprising because it's just after pre-season. You always have the problem a little bit but then if the game goes perfectly well in the right direction, it's good for that game, it's not that good for the game after because then you think you sort it already and then you have these problems a little bit later. So, what we lacked in that game was rhythm, especially in possession. We had 35 per cent possession, which is an absolute joke, it should not happen. It can happen against City on a special day and if it's an idea to do it a little bit like that, to sit a bit deeper or whatever. It was not our idea for that game but it happened just because we were, with the ball, too much in a rush. And in that game, the two did a really good job and that helped us.
The problem what we have in the moment a little bit is... OK, Endo is now in and he's allowed to train this afternoon. If he's allowed to participate in the game tomorrow, I don't know, we will see that. On top of that, Stefan Bajcetic, really close but not there yet. Obviously we really count on him. Thiago Alcantara the same – slightly similar profile, obviously much more experienced as well, but not there yet. So we need to just give them time. We cannot rush that. That all will look completely different after the international break but until then we have super-important games.
We have solutions for our situation, just not available in the moment and that's why we need to sort it in a slightly different way and this is always an opportunity. You can always play it like that. Is Chelsea the perfect moment to do it? I am not 100 per cent sure but anyway it's a way in a line-up, in a set-up you can definitely play and win football games. So, yes, everybody will benefit from a player whose first idea is to protect everything what we do. He's involved in the offensive stuff but then has the heart, the desire and he enjoys it as well to clean up behind them. And, of course, that will be helpful.
This article has been automatically translated and, while all reasonable efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, some errors in translation are possible. Please refer to the original English-language version of the article for the official version.