Jurgen pressing
It happened in the first half when Mohamed Salah tried to find Roberto Firmino and Jannik Vestergaard intercepted only to retreat back towards his own goal. Salah sensed blood and so did Firmino, the pair of them giving chase and suddenly, Liverpool had a throw-in.
From his position 60-yards away in the technical area, Klopp did that thing he does regularly, a sort of 360° pirouette of applause, as if to encourage all four sides of the ground to recognise the importance of the moment.
By then Anfield was already clapping away contentedly anyway; this reflects how Liverpool’s fanbase understands him and trusts him more than it did at the point of his arrival, despite the pomp of the period.
His response would again remind how important the counter-press is, as if counter-press and passion is the same thing – or at least, it translates at the same thing.
“If we deliver passion they are over the moon,” Klopp said.
“Today we controlled the game so I am completely fine. If I was a manager of another team coming here I would never feel comfortable…”
Xherdan Shaqiri’s halftime substitution brought surprise when in cold assessment; it should bring encouragement. If a strength of Klopp’s is telling Liverpool’s players how great they can be, another strength is his ability to rein them in.
Shaqiri had enjoyed a fine afternoon, playing a key role in two of Liverpool’s goals, but Klopp was unhappy with the balance of the team in the first half though it would be extreme to conclude that he had made a mistake with Liverpool leading 3-0.
At that point, it would have been tempting to let Liverpool run riot, expending more collective energy ahead of two games with Chelsea, a trip to Naples and then Manchester City’s visit to Anfield. In removing Shaqiri, Klopp showed restraint.
“Changing system and not having real time to do it in training doesn’t feel comfortable,” Klopp reasoned, attaching some blame to himself. “You saw it. Defensively we are used to jumping from midfield positions, and today that made it difficult.
“I’m not worried it will cost his confidence. He is a naturally confident boy, and he will play again. It’s all good.”
Sometimes, there is just as much to be gleaned about the status of a team when a manager, unrelated to the event, volunteers an opinion without prompt.
Having been thrashed by Chelsea and Manchester City on successive weekends, Cardiff City’s Neil Warnock assessed his experiences by saying, “I think one or two teams will get a bit of a turning over by City and probably Liverpool this year.” – The Independent