Jurgen Klopp was back in front of the media on Friday as he previewed Liverpool’s trip to Tottenham Hotspur for the Reds’ penultimate Premier League match before the mid-season break for the World Cup.
The German would offer injury updates on Jordan Henderson and James Milner after the former missed Liverpool ’s 2-0 victory over Napoli while the other was replaced early with concussion. Meanwhile, after seeing his side return to winning ways, he was also asked about the current form of Fabinho and Darwin Nunez. Nothing out of the ordinary there.
But Klopp also went through a range of emotions as he recalled the Reds’ 4-1 defeat away at Tottenham back in 2017, explained the two reasons why he has had to keep changing formation over the past month and fumed at the scheduling of this year’s World Cup in Qatar. As a result, here’s what else we spotted from the German’s latest media briefing.
PRESS CONFERENCE: Jurgen Klopp press conference LIVE - team news, buildup ahead of Tottenham vs Liverpool
‘I had Dejan in the office!’
As is always the case whenever Liverpool travel to Tottenham, Jurgen Klopp was reminded about one of his heaviest losses as Reds manager back in October 2017. Early goals from Harry Kane and Son Heung-min left Liverpool with a mountain to climb early on, which led to Dejan Lovren being substituted on the half-hour mark.
And although Mohamed Salah would halve the deficit midway through the half, Dele Alli scored on the stroke of half-time before Kane netted his second before the hour-mark. However, the game would prompt a defensive change from Klopp before Virgil van Dijk was signed the following January. As a result, it is now seen as a turning point for the Reds on their path to being crowned English, European and world champions.
And fortunately, the Liverpool manager no longer remembers the game that well, what with everything his side have since achieved. While he would forget the score when speaking to reporters, he did remember a meeting with Lovren in his office the following day!
“When we lost 4-0? Oh, 4-1? Mo scored! One of the 400 goals he’s scored against Tottenham and it’s in a 4-1,” he joked. “I took Dejan off? I remember that as well by the way because I had Dejan the next day in the office!
“I asked him to come in, not that he knocked on my door. Thank god I cannot feel anymore what happened four years ago or whatever it was.”
Formation changes
Liverpool went full cycle against Napoli after a month of swapping formations as they reverted back to a 4-3-3 system. Klopp had experimented with 4-2-3-1, 4-4-2 and diamond set-ups before reverting to his tried and trusted.
Having last played the formation in their 3-3 draw with Brighton on October 1, the German explained to reporters the two reasons why he has had to keep switching things up before returning to his favoured set-up.
“Our problem, why we changed systems and why we did all these kind of things. One is the availability of players, the other is we were not as solid defensively as we used to be,” he acknowledged.
“You can always point the finger at the things that don’t do well and say, ‘This was not good, this was not good. We have to improve this, we have to improve that.’ Or you give them a completely new textbook.
“That’s what we tried with changing the system. Now it’s not about how we did last game. It’s like a new chapter. ‘In this system, we do it like this, this, this, this.’ You don’t compare it with the last one.
“Positive start to make sure you help the boys, because that is actually my main job. To help the boys do what they do in the most confident way and manner. That’s why we did that. Because our problem in these moments was defending actually, as a team, as a unit.
“That’s why I said in the last game we defended Napoli extremely well. A football-playing side. We closed exactly the right gaps, everybody was involved, chasing from the back, our counter-press was really good, we had a high last line which meant we were higher up in midfield so we really could be around these football situations.
“That’s why it’s not the system gave us opportunities to defend better, we defended in a system better, that one we didn’t defend that well in five or six weeks ago since we played it last time. That’s it.
“We have to defend on an incredibly high level. It’s a big challenge, even if we defend really well, we have to attack as well. It’s not that you can close one door or sort one problem.
“It’s pretty likely you open another problem in that moment, another gap. That’s why we are trying and trying and trying.”
‘Tell him he’s Pele and send him back!’
Klopp also offered some extra insight behind how Liverpool dealt with Milner’s concussion against Napoli, explaining why he continued after the interval, despite taking a heavy blow to his head in the first half, only to be withdrawn soon after the restart.
And it resulted in the German cracking a well-known football joke to demonstrate how things have improved when it comes to treating concussion in football.
“It’s difficult, it’s not that easy. You need two sources, one is the doctor and one is the patient,” he said. “For Milly it was clear. He got a real check on the pitch and was fine in the first place when it happened.
“In the dressing room and with our meeting, Milly was completely fine. We spoke and thought it was 100% okay and he came out. After calming down and coming out, with the floodlights, he was like, ‘Woah, what’s going on here?’ Then he realised.
“That is the most important source, that the player realised this isn’t good. He had to stop, he sat down and we took him off.
“The doctor gets on the pitch and if the doctor feels he’s not alright, he’s immediately off. There’s no chance for the player to say, ‘No! I’m fine, I’m fine!’ Count my fingers or whatever test they are doing. Everybody takes it really seriously. Nobody wants to push a player through with a concussion.
“What was it with Mr. Clough? Was it him or another coach? ‘How is he?’ ‘He got a knock, he doesn’t know who he is.’ ‘Tell him he’s Pele and send him back!’ It’s a good joke but we don’t do that nowadays anymore! Was it Clough? It’s a good one!
“We really take it seriously. That’s definitely the case. It was the first moment everybody knew and especially Milly knew and that’s where we stop.”
Klopp hates it
While Klopp was light-spirited talking about concussion laws, he wasn’t when conversation turned to the World Cup and players missing the tournament after suffering late injury.
Clearly agitated, he repeatedly interrupted the question as he made no secret of his disdain for this year’s World Cup scheduling.
“I hate this subject. No, no, no. That’s it. These problems were so clear,” he said. “So clear and nobody mentioned it one time until three or four weeks before the World Cup.
“All of a sudden a player gets injured and you say, ‘Oh, they cannot play in the World Cup.’ This specific problem of players getting injured late in a season and not being able to play in the World Cup is not new.
“After a long season, it happens everywhere in the world. Now, starting the World Cup a week after the last game. Oh, that’s a bigger risk, crazy! Nobody cares about us, how we deal with it.
“What do you think I should do? Ask the players before Southampton or Derby, ‘Really? Wanna play?’ What’s the situation?
“We are all guilty, and you more than I, for letting it happen. Letting it happen in the first place. Now it’s happened and we have the situation. That’s it. The players who get injured and cannot play, it’s a disaster. But how can we change that?”
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