Press conferenceJürgen Klopp on transfer market, Newcastle, clean sheets and more

The Reds boss was speaking to the media at the AXA Training Centre to preview Wednesday night’s Premier League meeting with Newcastle at Anfield.

In addition to Klopp’s injury update, read a summary of his chat with the media below…

We saw a lot more of Luis Diaz and Mohamed Salah in the penalty area, where it matters [against Bournemouth]. Following the defeat at Manchester United, was that more of a conscious effort? Was that a message from you?

Yes but not because of the Man United game, just in general. I saw situations where Mo crossed the ball and I think the two players in the centre of the box were Henderson and Trent Alexander-Arnold. So, we have to be more flexible, we need to bring players in the box, who it is I couldn’t care less. It’s just about having bodies in and around the box, being in the right positions, these kinds of things. My favourite goal from all the nine was actually Harvey Elliott’s goal; it was a beauty but not because of that, because we were that close together, we were that connected that we could react that quick. And it was in the end really not to defend in this specific moment. We can talk about the game if you want for another year but it doesn’t make too much sense. It’s just the way we played, we have to take into the next game because that’s the way we want to play. But nobody should expect we score again with pretty much each situation because that is just unlikely.

Final few days of the transfer window, I’m sure a 9-0 scoreline doesn’t alter your thinking. But are you still in the market, particularly for a midfielder?

Ish. Somehow. Yeah. But the closer we get to the last minute the more unlikely it gets, that’s how it is. What can I say? We are not out. I couldn’t [tell you names] if I wanted and I don’t want. It’s difficult, it’s really difficult because the right… for sure there are a few players out there which would be the right ones but they have different issues; some of them are contracts, clubs don’t want to sell, all these kind of things. That’s how it is and then we cannot force it. We’ll see.

When is it over exactly? Thursday, 11 o’clock, so there is still time. But when it’s then over and we signed or not signed, then I’m really happy about that because then we can stop thinking about it in that moment. In that moment then we can just focus on the squad we have, the team we have, be ready to face all the problems we will have in that season. Be ready to face them and sort them and go through together. And with together I really mean even our supporters who are pretty active on social media and stuff like this every day, just can stop doing that because we have a good football team, we have injuries, they come back, all these kind of things.

If somebody expects just to do always what others are doing, or what some people wish, it’s not possible, never happened before, will not happen in the future. This club arrived here in this situation with the way we deal with situations. When I say I don’t make the decisions about how much we spend, it’s the truth but I never did and we are still here and won a couple of things. Now from a specific moment on we can then finally focus on the really important stuff. Yes, bringing in the right players is important but if we can’t do that now then we can’t do it.

We saw some young faces and new faces against Bournemouth. Given there’s loads of games, are we going to see more faces like that and how ready are they?

We have a lot of wonderful talents. When you saw our U21s game against Tottenham [on Friday] for example, we could watch it in the hotel the night before the game, we have a lot of real talent and Barry [Lewtas] is doing an incredible job there. But in an ideal world you don’t play with three or four 17-year-olds in the same game. But they are ready and they will be ready, that’s more the case, they will be ready for sure. Whenever that will be. It was a wonderful thing to do, to be honest, on Saturday, to bring them on. They were smart enough to realise when the scoreline got higher and higher that it’s more likely they will get that. They deserve it and it’s really nice. I felt for both in that moment. Fabio [Carvalho] I don’t count in that department, to be honest. But for Bobby and Stefan I was really happy that I could be the one to give them that opportunity. I hope all the others come back pretty quickly. Then maybe not, but then in the future for sure.

Did Alisson Becker need the clean sheet against Bournemouth?

We needed it. Ali, less so. Yes, he wants to have a clean sheet because it makes massive sense. But he was not like desperate or something like that. I was really happy about it, to be honest, because how I said, when you are 5-0 up at half-time it’s not unlikely the opponent gets out and sneak one in and maybe score a second one or whatever and then it’s like this bitter taste. You don’t want to have that, it was not necessary, and the boys didn’t let that happen. Clean sheets are for all of us very important, of course. How can you start a series of clean sheets? Only with a clean sheet. Now we had it, now let’s hopefully carry on in this path.

In terms of Liverpool, you talk about being the right player for this club, wanting to focus on the season once the transfer window is done, but you seem to be very careful with the money the club spends here, so do you factor that into the situation?

I’m not careful. I don’t think I thought in one moment, ‘I have to be careful’, no. We get told what’s possible and what’s not possible, that’s it. And in this range, we try to work it out. That’s it. There is no criticism in anything, it was all the time like this. We became champions in a season where we didn’t sign anybody, I think. It was not the most famous approach after coming second; I don’t say that’s now the case. And we had injuries and I don’t like that. The whole discussion since we started, it’s like different kind of players we need, we need, we need. I understand it 100 per cent, but you have an existing team as well and the team you have, it then obviously becomes more and more famous that clubs get more and more ruthless with players and tell them, ‘You are not part of the squad anymore’ and these kind of things. I thought really this year it was harsher than in a lot of other years. That’s not the way it should go. I think players, with time, should punish that with thinking about these kind of clubs where you think, ‘OK, I might get good money for one year, but in the second year they have a different idea and they want to push me out of the back door.’ All these kind of things, you need to have your own values as well.

With all the players we have here, we want them to be here and now we have to work with them. Yes, unfortunately, the season started and we had too many injuries – the 100 per cent truth. We ask ourselves all the questions: why that happened, how it happened and all these kind of things. But we have to get through this and that’s actually, for me in my understanding, is the Liverpool way as well, not with transfers and injuries but in general. To get through it, together, that’s what I like nearly the most about this club. If you would be a supporter of this club only in the good times that would have been an interesting ride because there were some lesser-good times, obviously. The people got even closer to the club in these moments. And now, when we are doing pretty well in general, now we start getting picky with these little things here and there and if we don’t sign him then everything is rubbish. That’s not how it is.

I want to develop the squad, I want to develop the club, I want to be successful, everybody wants to be successful here, 100 per cent. What does that mean? Is our situation as it is in some other clubs? No, it never was, but it is good enough to work with and that’s what we are doing.

Newcastle is the next challenge. If you look at their results, probably going back to the second half of last season and they’ve brought players in, do you see them now as a really strong team who could maybe be the next team who breaks into the elite at the top?

They will be. They will be. If Eddie [Howe] gets time and stuff like this, I am not sure they need another transfer window but if he gets time for it, they will definitely be. That’s the world, the football world we are living in and it’s completely fine. Newcastle are a great club and obviously has had a lot of success in the past and now for a few years not that much anymore. They have now everything you need to be a top-six, or whatever that means, club.

Do you see them as being stronger mentally and maybe at the back as well?

That’s normal, they are unbeaten in this season. Since Eddie is there they obviously got an awful lot of points, they played a really good second part of the season. I don’t know exactly when Eddie started, but since he is there they played really, really stable. Difficult for us to play against. Yes, they are a threat, that’s how it is. With Isak, they have brought in a really good player and not only him; Botman, all the things there, Bruno Guimaraes last year. Smart signings, good signings; Wood, absolute real machine up front, so these kind of things. But of course, if Callum Wilson cannot play, each team would recognise that because he is really a top-class striker. So, yes, a completely different animal.

When you mentioned you get told what is possible and what isn’t possible in the market; do you feel like you have been backed sufficiently by the owners this summer?

Yeah. What does it mean ‘backed’? Look, what I don’t like about it is if I say now, ‘I’m not sure’ then we make a massive thing of it. But it’s not. I realise as well it was always like this. Is it always easy? No. Do we discuss these kind of things in public? Of course not, why would we? We don’t start now with it. Let me say it like this, from time to time I would be ready to risk a bit more, but – how I said – I don’t decide that and that’s then fine because I am like this, we try everything until somebody tells us here is now the deadline and we cannot do anything anymore. In that moment, I don’t think one second back. That’s what we have to all do then. Let’s go from there, let’s make something special of this team now. It is a great team and they have everything. Yes, we had problems already, we didn’t play always great football, but we will really try to squeeze everything out of this season. That’s the only thing how I understand it, to be honest. That’s it.