Jurgen Klopp has admitted Liverpool achieved their objective of ‘proving a point’ after earning a record-equalling Premier League win over Bournemouth on Saturday afternoon.
Three points were required for the Reds after two draws and a defeat in their opening three league matches. The pressure was on Klopp and his players to perform, who responded to this challenge by putting nine goals past their opponents.
Liverpool supporters were pleading for a tenth goal to be scored as the game petered out, highlighting just how routine the occasion had proven to be for the hosts. Missing out on the chance to become the first Premier League team to hit double figures in a match will not have bothered Klopp in the slightest, who recognised after the match the importance of adhering to the high standards set by his players so often in years gone by.
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Asked to provide his one-word reaction to his team’s nine-goal rout, the German responded: “Needed.”
Klopp continued: “We had to prove a point for ourselves. After a short pre-season with mixed results, good performances and less good performances is completely normal. I know how it sounds when you lose a game and you try to explain - it’s always the same. Each manager in the world is a fantastic entertainer when you win and when you don’t, it sounds like excuses.
“The public part of my job is not important, it is just important what the conclusion is for us. We had to prove a point for us. We were not happy with the way we played. We had good moments in nearly all the games, where we showed things which we are strong at and other things we had to improve. What we had to do today was to give the game a proper direction and that is why I loved the start so much. We didn't hesitate or hold anything back, we just went into the game flying and had bodies in the box, around the box, second ball situations and a counter-attacking threat.”
One of the most pleasing factors of the afternoon was Liverpool’s ruthless nature in the final third, having found themselves five goals to the good at the break. Fabio Carvalho was one of six separate scorers for the Reds against Bournemouth, representing his first strike for the club since his summer switch from Fulham.
“In the end, it was the perfect football afternoon for us with a lot of different goalscorers, wonderful goals and we all know we needed something like that,” said Klopp.
“We had bigger chances in other games and didn’t use them, which is the nature of the game. I think Fabio had an easier situation against Palace with a volley and the whole goal open and today he took the volley, so he knows he can do it and now we can go from here.”
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