Jurgen Klopp apologised to a number of his fringe players after Liverpool’s victory over Southampton on Tuesday night.
Having made nine changes to the side that beat Chelsea in the FA Cup final on penalties on Saturday, and having seen Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk join Fabinho on the injury list, the likes of Takumi Minamino, Harvey Elliott and Curtis Jones came into the starting XI following limited game-time in recent weeks.
It was the Japan international who cancelled out Nathan Redmond’s opener, before Joel Matip’s header clinched victory to take the title-race to the final day of the season.
And speaking to reporters after the game, Klopp admitted it was ‘a crime’ that he had not used some of his fringe players more as the Reds continue to chase an unprecedented quadruple.
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“It’s a crime! I apologise! Crazy! People ask me if it’s hard to pick a line-up,” he told reporters. “No, that’s fine. I love it! I have options. Today we could have lined up differently, but we really liked it.
“The football we could play was really good. It’s hard [to leave people out]. I expect them to react like they do, but it’s not normal. It’s special. Whatever happens, happens because the group is pretty, pretty special.
“Actually, I’m so happy about the performance, it was a bit touching to be honest. It was like ‘Wow, these boys!’ It’s like having Ferraris in the garage and then you let them out and they play like this.
“Harvey, not sure when he last played. Curtis, no rhythm. Takumi Minamino, it’s a crime he’s not playing more often. Oxlade didn’t even play and he’s in outstanding shape.
“It’s really tough for the boys but whatever happens this year, happened because of this group. It’s exceptional, and tonight they showed that again.”
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Having seen his side come out on top despite the number of changes, Klopp was full of praise for his side’s performance. However, he did take issue with Southampton’s opening goal, insisting Diogo Jota was fouled in the build-up.
“Incredible performance. Making nine changes, if it wouldn’t have worked out it would have been 1000 percent my responsibility,” he said. “Now it is 1000 percent the boys’ responsibility.
“I can ask for a lot but the boys have to do it. They did it exceptionally well. Some incredible performances tonight. I saw a group reacting to a blow.
“I didn’t see the situation [Redmond goal] back but I thought it was a clear foul, there could have been nerves but the boys on the pitch, not all. We just kept going.
“We controlled the game, we know how Southampton wants to play, and we played in all the spaces where they couldn’t get us. We made it a normal game and not the kind Southampton wanted.
“Last 10 minutes, this group didn’t play together 500 times so you could see now the changes. We have to work on how we can play time down without getting in trouble. But in the end, Ali was there and we deserve the three points. Fantastic.”
