TALKING TURNED THE TIDE, SAYS KLOPP

JURGEN KLOPP has revealed how internal talks helped Liverpool rediscover their mojo and breathed life into their Premier League title defence. Mo Salah capped a ‘really big week’ in the race with a stunning double as Liverpool beat West Ham 3-1 at the London Stadium yesterday. Salah had gone six matches without a Premier League goal — his joint-worst run for Liverpool — but he ended that wait of more than nine hours with a brilliant curled effort before completing a devastating counter-attack to secure all three points. Gini Wijnaldum added a third before Craig Dawson netted a late consolation for West Ham. ‘We scored wonderful goals. All three were unbelievable and I’m really happy,’ Klopp said. Liverpool began the week without a win in five and without a goal in four. They ended it with impressive victories over Tottenham and West Ham and now sit third — four points off leaders Manchester City. ‘We found a way for us to be uncomfortable again for the other teams. The last two games it was like this,’ said Klopp (right). When pressed on what had changed, he added: ‘We spoke about it in the last few weeks. In the last week we spoke the right stuff and maybe that was it. ‘These boys are a really good group, they always work together. They are not happy with not being successful, not winning football games. But they always stay in the right attitude. ‘They need the right information as well. I said after (the defeat by) Burnley, “This was my fault”.’ Salah’s double took him to 21 goals for the season. He is the first Liverpool player to hit 20-plus in four consecutive seasons since Ian Rush. Klopp purred: ‘I’m not surprised, I work on a daily basis together with him. ‘He will never stop having a massive desire to score goals. ‘He’s a world-class player, no doubt about it.’

Klopp sensed Salah’s fortunes were beginning to turn with his performance against Spurs, when he had a goal ruled out for handball by VAR. Salah still vented his frustration yesterday. ‘I said before I don’t like VAR,’ he said. ‘It’s just my opinion. It’s killed the joy of football. I don’t want to complain about it, I don’t want to get a fine or something but my opinion about VAR is that I don’t like it.’ West Ham had been on a run of six straight wins but boss David Moyes admitted his side were taught a ‘lesson’. ‘We came into the game with a lot of confidence. We’re trying to catch a few teams up. Not Liverpool, that’s for sure,’ he said.