Klopp: Origi is legend on and off pitch
JURGEN KLOPP labelled Divock Origi a legend after his introduction to a frantic Merseyside derby helped Liverpool stay in hot pursuit of Manchester City. Origi was introduced in the 60th minute, after Liverpool had spent most of their time huffing and puffing, and his first touch was a return pass to Mohamed Salah, whose cross to the back post enabled Andrew Robertson to break the deadlock. The Belgium striker will leave Anfield this summer, having not played enough games to win a new deal, but he will go — most likely to AC Milan — on a high after scoring his sixth goal in nine appearances against Everton. Only Steven Gerrard (nine) has more in the Premier League era. Klopp said: ‘He is a legend on and off the pitch. He is a fantastic footballer. For me, he is a world-class striker, our best finisher, he always was and everyone would say the same. He does it in training and then is not in the squad and that is a really hard decision to make. ‘The boys all are responsible for the situation we are in. Everybody loves Div and rightly so. He was very decisive again.’ Origi, as is his way, was understated in his own appraisal. As a man whose goals helped Liverpool win the Champions League in 2019, his place in the affection of supporters is beyond question and he said: ‘We just worked hard for the three points and we have got a lot to look forward to.’ Liverpool kept running down blind alleys in the first half but Origi and Luis Diaz gave Everton something different to think about and, ultimately, that injection of quality proved to be the difference. Klopp added: ‘They did what substitutes should do, I’m really happy with their impact. The boys came on with the right mindset. ‘Divock was involved in the goals and that helps, especially when you play against such a low block. We weren’t good in the first half. ‘At half-time it is 0-0, you have a good chance to improve and that is what we did and we won. The situation in the table is clear to us, if you want to win the game, you have to change things. We tried to adapt as well (in defence), Anthony Gordon was in behind a couple of times. We told Trent (Alexander-Arnold) to play a bit deeper so we knew where the threat was. ‘That is how it is but in football if you don’t take risks... it was easy to improve from the first half.’