JONES HAS THE CLASS FOR KLOPP
HE was smiling by the end, as you would expect. There were three points to take his side closer to history, a celebratory goal for a local boy and another clean sheet.
In many ways, it was the perfect outcome in the first game back at anfield for Jurgen Klopp and his newly crowned champions.
and it was given some gloss by 19-year-old Curtis Jones — fresh from signing a long-term contract 24 hours earlier — in front of the Kop.
These are remarkable times for Liverpool.
This was their 24th consecutive Premier League success at home, while four more victories from their final five fixtures will see them set a record for points amassed by a title-winning side.
Klopp should be smiling. You knew, though, that beneath the bravado and the bumping of fists, he will have looked at many aspects of this hard-fought triumph and seen room for improvement.
Pursuing perfection means standards are dauntingly high.
‘we do not think about breaking records,’ stressed Klopp. ‘we focus on games and that will never change. But if we can do something special, that is great.’
something special, though, seemed a long way off during an opening 45 minutes when they were comfortably contained by aston Villa. Klopp wasn’t happy with what he saw and, from the back of the Main stand, you had no trouble hearing him boom out his exasperation.
He had every right to feel this way. Klopp chose to give starts to alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Naby Keita and Divock Origi, but they only played on the edges. Villa simply did not have the class to capitalise.
True, they did muster the only shot on target during the first half — Douglas Luiz cracked a drive at alisson Becker — but each time it appeared they might break clear, they chose the wrong option. ‘we
needed a bit of quality or a bit of luck in the final third,’ admitted Dean Smith, Villa’s manager.
‘We played against a team that does not concede many goals. We would have scored against a side with lesser quality.’
Villa needed Jack Grealish, who seemed to be compromised at times by a calf issue, on the ball but the one moment he got to run at Liverpool’s defence, he succeeded only in drilling his shot into Virgil van Dijk’s back.
You knew Villa could not keep letting Liverpool off the hook, particularly as it was inevitable Klopp would make changes.
He introduced Jordan Henderson, Roberto Firmino and Gini Wijnaldum, and the pace lifted. ‘I certainly didn’t thank him for bringing the big guns on,’ said Smith.
‘I do not like the five substitutes rule. It was put forward by Chelsea. I don’t like rule changes within a season. It was only going to benefit clubs with bigger squads.’
It certainly benefited Liverpool. Henderson, for one, started barking and scowling and demanding that the tempo be raised. Firmino, standing out with his freshly dyed red hair, began running into areas that Origi had left untouched.
Within 10 minutes, Liverpool had the lead — Alexander-Arnold pushing a ball into Keita and the Guinea international laying off to Mane, who fired in off the underside of the bar.
‘You can’t always expect to score four or five even at home against a good opponent,’ said Mane.
‘The situation is complicated for them, but they were organised and defended properly. We pushed until the end and we scored the two goals.’
Once in front, Liverpool were never going to lose.
Villa, with only two goals in their last seven matches and only two points from a possible 27, looked deflated and they were eventually flattened by the best moment of the afternoon.
Henderson started the move, swapped passes with Jones, then asked Andrew Robertson to scamper on to a diagonal ball.
His cross held up in the wind and was knocked down from Mohamed Salah to Jones, whose shot beat former Liverpool keeper Pepe Reina via a deflection off Tyrone Mings. Time is running out for Villa. Smith put on a brave face but it was telling when he said he has no time for being considered a valiant loser, adding: ‘We are desperate to stay in this division and we are desperate for points.’
The same applies to Liverpool.
Another 12 and they will be regarded as the greatest English champions of all time, but that will only be a possible if they move through the gears again.
Klopp (right) — smiling or not — knows this better than anyone. LIVERPOOL (4-3-3): Alisson 7; AlexanderArnold 7, Gomez 7. Van Dijk, Robertson 6 (Williams 90min); Keita 6 (Jones 85), Fabinho 6 (Henderson 60), Oxlade-Chamberlain 6 (Wijnaldum 60); Mane 7, Salah 7, Origi 5 (Firmino 60). Subs not used: Adrian, Minamino, Shaqiri, Elliott, Williams. Booked: Robertson. ASTON VILLA (4-4-1-1): Reina 7; Konsa 7, Hause 7, Mings 6, Taylor 6; Douglas Luiz 6, Grealish 6, McGinn 6, El Ghazi 6 (Jota 74); Davis 6 (Samatta 74), Trezeguet 6 (Vassilev 85). Subs not used: Nyland, Lansbury, Nakamba, Hourihane, Guilbert, El Mohamdy. Booked: McGinn. Referee: Paul Tierney. Man of the Match: Van Dijk.