Jurgen Klopp believes Liverpool have taken a “clear step in the right direction” after concluding their Far East tour with victory.
Goals in each half from Jordan Henderson and Mohamed Salah earned the Reds a 2-0 win over Crystal Palace in front of more than 50,000 at the Singapore National Stadium on Friday.
It came after an experimental Liverpool side was thumped 4-0 by Manchester United in Bangkok three days earlier. And Klopp was delighted with the performance of his team with Harvey Elliott and Fabio Carvalho again among those to impress.
IAN DOYLE: Darwin Nunez truth emerges as word from inside Liverpool camp proves true
“We played a good game against United but we lost 4-0 because we made mistakes at completely the wrong moments,” said the Reds boss.
“The mistakes we made left us open, but we were much more compact today. We still played really good football and scored two goals. It was a clear step in the right direction.
“It’s only our second game and we have to work a lot in the next four weeks to prepare the rest of the season. We have to use the time because from mid-September on we will not have time to train anymore. We will be playing every three days.”
With Diogo Jota, Alisson Becker, Joe Gomez and youngsters Tom Hill and Melkamu Frauendorf absent, Klopp selected a first-half team, and then replaced nine of the second-half team with around 15 minutes remaining.
And explaining the decision, he added: “For some players it was right to play 45 minutes, others 30. They probably could have played longer but I really wanted to give the young boys opportunities in this incredible atmosphere.
“We used 32 players tonight and I like all of what they did. It looked like proper football. The counter-pressing was extremely obvious and is very important for us.
“I know we don’t have a long time – there are only two weeks until we face Man City (in the Community Shield) so we must not waste time – and we have only been a week together. But we are used to the circumstances, and over here we have tried to squeeze every minute out for training.
“Apart from the injury to Ox, the rest of it was absolutely top class.”
READ NEXT
Rank the Liverpool players after their 2-0 win over Crystal Palace
Jason McAteer makes admission about Liverpool youngster after Man United friendly
Jurgen Klopp denies Real Madrid claim as he explains Liverpool transfers
Erling Haaland makes 'insane' Liverpool claim and blunt Man City Pep Guardiola 'point'
Liverpool tipped to make 'shock' move for Chelsea star Jurgen Klopp can make 'smile again'
