Tag: Jurgen Klopp

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LIVERPOOL RENEW TOP FOUR HOPES WITH MASSIVE WIN AGAINST MANCHESTER UNITED

Jurgen Klopp tasted victory at Old Trafford for the first time as Liverpool breathed new life into their top-four push with a thrilling 4-2 win in the rearranged fixture against Manchester United.

After anti-Glazer protestors got into the ground and onto the pitch 11 days ago, further demonstrations could not stop Thursday’s Premier League fixture going ahead in Old Trafford’s final match behind closed doors.

United missed this chance to all but end Liverpool’s Champions League qualification hopes as their fourth match in eight days ended in a first home loss to their bitter rivals since 2014.

Stand-in skipper Bruno Fernandes’ deflected effort had got Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side off to a dream start, only for Diogo Jota to level with a smart flick after a penalty decision was overturned.

The equaliser came from a corner and United’s soft underbelly from set-pieces was again exposed in first-half stoppage time, with Roberto Firmino heading home Trent Alexander-Arnold’s excellent free-kick.

Liverpool pulled further ahead 72 seconds after half-time as a comedy of errors at the back ended with Firmino turning home his second of the evening.

United looked punch-drunk but eventually rallied as Marcus Rashford reduced the deficit, before Nat Phillips – who had deflected home Fernandes’ opener – cleared a Mason Greenwood attempt off the line.

Mohamed Salah ensured United would lose their sixth home league game of the season, racing through at the death as Liverpool moved into fifth and four points behind Chelsea with a game in hand.

It was an exhilarating match that followed a disrupted build-up, with United players arriving at the ground early in the afternoon to avoid protestors as executive boxes were turned into rest areas.

Liverpool stayed in a city centre hotel and saw a club-branded bus blocked in by cars, but players were not onboard and arrived through a back entrance as demonstrators descended on the main entrance.

The noise of a police helicopter reverberated around the heavily-guarded ground as the match got under way, with Edinson Cavani – among 10 changes – wasting a glorious fifth-minute chance after an Alisson Becker error.

But United continued strongly and opened the scoring in the 10th minute. Paul Pogba swept a ball out to the right and Rashford played into Aaron Wan-Bissaka, whose cutback found Fernandes and his shot went in off Phillips.

Liverpool dug deep after that shaky start and Dean Henderson thwarted Jota, before referee Anthony Taylor pointed to the spot following a hefty Eric Bailly challenge on Phillips.

But the video assistant referee intervened, and the decision was overturned after Anthony Taylor looked at the pitchside monitor.

Pogba headed just wide at the other end but Liverpool were looking sharp and Jota saw a stinging strike tipped over, with United failing to clear their lines from the resulting corner.

Salah’s initial effort was blocked and Phillips kept it alive, before sending a low effort back towards goal as Jota smartly flicked home.

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LIVERPOOL DON’T DESERVE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE, SAYS KLOPP

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp admits they do not deserve to be in the Champions League if they continue to play the way they did in the 1-1 draw at home to Newcastle.

The Reds’ hopes of a top-four finish were dealt a blow when midfielder Joe Willock scored an equaliser in the fifth minute of added time, benefiting from an additional 60 seconds on the clock after Callum Wilson’s goal just moments earlier had been ruled out by VAR for handball.

Mohamed Salah’s 20th Premier League goal of the campaign, becoming the first Liverpool player to achieve that feat in three separate seasons, in only the third minute had looked like giving the hosts victory despite a host of missed chances.

Critics, of which there have been many this week in the wake of the club’s involvement in the ill-fated Super League plans, may well enjoy the irony of the dent the result put in Liverpool’s aspirations of qualifying for the Champions League – a competition their owners Fenway Sports Group were seemingly more than happy to abandon just six days ago.

For Klopp, however, the concern was he did not think his side warrant a place among Europe’s elite on this evidence.

“If we play like this and don’t finish games like this off, why should we play Champions League?” he said.

“We want to deserve Champions League and we don’t want to come and be cheeky, we want to earn it and with these results you don’t earn it.

“It’s all on the table so go for it. It feels close to being unacceptable but we have to accept it anyway.”

Klopp accepted the way his side performed at both ends of the pitch – although particularly up front where they had 22 shots and nine on target – meant they did not deserve to beat Newcastle.

“Very tough day – but there is no-one else to blame but ourselves,” he added.

“We created chances. The golden rule of football is you’d better use your chances. That’s what we didn’t do and that’s why Newcastle deserved a point.

“They score a goal which was disallowed the first time – we were lucky with VAR – but we didn’t even take that present and we gave them another one and it’s 1-1.”

Newcastle boss Steve Bruce was delighted with a point but felt the joy of snatching a draw was somewhat lost by the intervention of VAR and the application of rules he feels need changing.

“There’s no denying we were sloppy with some of the decisions we made trying to play out from the back but I always thought we carried a threat going forward,” he said.

“We scored twice in the last minute which is quite remarkable. To go and get something from the game is vitally important.

“We were gutted (by Wilson’s disallowed goal). When you see the goal back you think what a ridiculous decision that is not to allow the goal.

“We are going to have to look at these crazy rules. VAR is becoming laughable and it is not VAR’s fault, it is the letter of the law. It doesn’t make sense.

“VAR was brought in for a clear and obvious mistake so to be looking at every goal whether it is a millimetre or two onside is not a great spectacle.”

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CHAMPIONS LEAGUE COME BACK DIFFICULT IN AN EMPTY ANFIELD – KLOPP

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp insists his side are not ‘comeback kings’ and turning around their Champions League fortunes will not be easy – especially at an empty Anfield.

A 3-1 defeat to Real Madrid in the quarter-final first leg immediately led to parallels with what they did to Barcelona in the 2019 semi-final second leg when they won 4-0 to turn around a 3-0 deficit from the Nou Camp.

That paved the way for them to win a sixth European Cup but it was achieved in an electric atmosphere at a packed Anfield which will go down as one of the greatest nights in the club’s history.

Next Wednesday they must do something similar, with the away goal helping slightly, but behind closed doors.

“Of course, it is completely different. Completely different,” said Klopp.

“If you want to have some emotional memories, then you watch the Barcelona game back and 80 per cent of this game was the atmosphere in the stadium, so yes, we have to do it without that.

“But it is not that I sit here and think, ‘Comebacks are our thing, we do it all the time’. We did from time to time but we always had supporters in the stadium.

“We don’t have that this time so I don’t know if we can do it, but I can promise you we will give it a proper try.

“It must be a really tricky task for Real Madrid at Anfield with or without supporters.

“This here (at the Alfredo Di Stefano Stadium inside Madrid’s club’s training ground) was really strange.

“It was really difficult, a different situation with the stadium, but Anfield is at least a proper stadium and that will be good for us.”

In a season of ups and downs, a week ago the most likely route back into the Champions League next season for Liverpool looked like coming from winning the competition itself.

However, a win over Arsenal and other results going their way has put the top four back within reach as they sit just three points adrift of West Ham, who occupy fourth place, with only one of their remaining eight games against a team (Manchester United) higher than ninth.

But Klopp said it was not realistic to just flip-flop between prioritising competitions.

“We cannot be picky with that, we have to go for everything,” he added.

“It’s not like we can now make the decision after that game there is no chance for us in the Champions League any more.

“In the Premier League, we cannot change it every week – we have to fight until the end and we will.

“This was a really good result for Real Madrid and it’s not that we have any kind of advantage, but with each day and each minute that will go until the next game the 3-1 will not be that good any more for Real Madrid and not that bad any more for us because there is, of course, a chance.

“But we have to play much better football (and) we cannot get it like tonight. For example, when we played against Barcelona and lost (the first leg) 3-0 we played a super game. That’s a massive difference.

“We can play much better (than against Madrid) and we can be much more uncomfortable to play against than we were and that’s what we have to make sure next week.

“Now we have to recover first and then concentrate on Aston Villa, which is for us a very important game, not only because of the results we had recently or in this season against them.”

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JURGEN KLOPP ACCEPTS DEFEAT BUT CRITICISES REFEREE OVER SADIO MANE CALL

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp admits his side got what they deserved in a 3-1 quarter-final first leg defeat to Real Madrid which leaves their Champions League hopes hanging by a thread.

However, he took a bizarre swipe at referee Felix Brych for having what he claimed was a personal issue with Sadio Mane after the German official ruled the Senegal international had not been fouled by Lucas Vazquez on the edge of the penalty area as he ran through on goal.

Mohamed Salah’s 26th goal in 44 Champions League matches had given the Reds a vital away goal and brought the score back to 2-1 early in the second half after a dreadful first 45 minutes saw them concede to Vinicius Junior and Marco Asensio.

But they conceded another to Vinicius to leave them with a tough task at a fan-less Anfield next week.

“First and foremost I don’t think we deserved to win tonight, we didn’t play good enough and that is my first concern,” said Klopp.

“Especially in the first half we didn’t play good enough football. We conceded the first goal, served the second on a plate (after Trent Alexander-Arnold’s mistake), but that was not the real problem of the game.

“Of course conceding goals is a problem but it is not the problem. The second half we did better, we scored our goal which is the positive of the night and that’s how it is.

“Did we deserve more than the 3-1? I’m not sure.”

Klopp was baffled as to why Mane did not receive a free-kick and Vazquez a red card for the challenge late in the first half.

“The situation with Sadio, what the ref did tonight I have to say I don’t understand,” he added.

“For me that was something personal because he dealt with the situation with Sadio, which was a clear foul, like he was a diver or whatever.

“From that moment on whenever Sadio went down he didn’t get anything. That is not right. That is what I told him after the game, that I thought he was unfair with Sadio.
“That doesn’t change anything at all. He (Brych) didn’t lose the game. We were not good enough to get a better result, but in these moments you need just an ‘OK’ ref. That would have been enough.”

The pace of Vinicius was a problem for Liverpool all night and the Brazilian’s first double in a game was well deserved, according to coach Zinedine Zidane.

“I am happy for him because what he is doing and what all the guys are doing is a great job, especially from a defensive point of view,” said the Real boss.

“Maybe he was missing some goalscoring with the work he is contributing to the team so to score two goals is big to provide a lot of confidence and he deserves that.

“I don’t know if that was his best match but two goals in the quarter-finals is important for him and the team.

“I am happy because of the football. At the beginning of the second half we had a bit of difficulty but at the end of the day we are happy with 3-1 as it was a huge effort.

“We have to enjoy what we did today.”

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JURGEN KLOPP RUBBISHES EXIT RUMOURS

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has denied that he needs a break and insisted his team will turn around their poor run of form.

Liverpool conceded three late goals on Saturday to lose 3-1 to Leicester City and could drop out of the top four if Chelsea avoid defeat against Newcastle United on Monday evening.

“I don’t need a break, I am full of energy,” Klopp said at a press conference on Monday, ahead of Liverpool’s Champions League match against RB Leipzig in Hungary.

Liverpool have lost their last three Premier League matches, against Leicester, Manchester City and Brighton & Hove Albion, respectively.

They have picked up just seven Premier League points in 2021 with their place in the top four under serious threat.

This has also been an incredibly difficult period for Klopp, who was unable to return to Germany for his mother’s funeral last week because of COVID-19 travel restrictions. Germany has banned most travel from countries containing new variants of the virus, including the UK.

On Monday morning some Liverpool supporters made their support for Klopp clear by hanging a banner outside Anfield which read ‘Jurgen Klopp YNWA’, in reference to the club’s ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ anthem.

Ahead of Liverpool’s Champions League match against RB Leipzig in Budapest on Tuesday, Klopp was asked about the banner left outside Anfield by supporters and rumours on social media that he could quit the club.

“I heard about both,” he said. “The banner was nice but not necessary. I don’t feel that I need special support in this moment or whatever.

“On the second thing, did I get the sack or did I leave by myself? Neither, nor. I don’t need a break. Look, the last thing I want to do is talk about private things in a press conference. But everyone knows yes that, privately, we’ve had a tough time.

“That wasn’t just for three weeks, it was a much longer time already. We always deal with it as a family 100 per cent. I’ve worked in football as a coach for 20 years so I can split things, I can switch one thing off. I don’t carry things around. If I’m private, I’m private, if it’s football then I’m here. Nobody has to worry about me or whatever.

“I might not look like it because the weather is not cool and my beard gets more and more grey, yes I don’t asleep a lot, that’s all true, but I’m full of energy, honestly.”

Liverpool take on Leipzig on Tuesday night in the Champions League Round of 16.

Ahead of the clash, Simon Hughes has profiled Leipzig manager Julian Nagelsmann, a talented young manager who may one day emulate Klopp.

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COVID-19 RESTRICTIONS PREVENT KLOPP FROM ATTENDING MOTHER’S FUNERAL.

Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp was unable to go to Germany for the funeral of his mother on Tuesday because of the current travel restrictions in place amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Klopp paid an emotional tribute to Elisabeth after her death, aged 81, but it is understood he could not attend the funeral in-person in his native Germany due to fears of spreading Covid-19 strains from high-risk countries.

“She meant everything to me. She was a real mum in the best sense of the word,” Klopp told German newspaper Schwarzwaelder Bote.

“As a devout Christian, I know she is in a better place now.

“The fact that I can’t be at the funeral is due to the terrible times, but as soon as the circumstances allow, we will hold a wonderful commemoration that is appropriate to it.”

On Wednesday, Liverpool tweeted a message of support for their manager which read: “You’ll never walk alone, Jurgen.”

A reply from the Premier League’s official account said: “The thoughts and condolences of everyone at the Premier League are with Jurgen, his family and his friends at such a difficult time.”

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CITY LOSS: KLOPP SAYS LIVERPOOL AFTER TOP FOUR

Jurgen Klopp says top four is now Liverpool’s ‘main target’ after suggesting Alisson’s blunders at Manchester City could have been down to cold feet.

The Liverpool goalkeeper twice passed straight to City players as Pep Guardiola’s side stormed to a 4-1 win at Anfield which puts them five points clear of Manchester United at the top of the Premier League table and 10 points ahead of defending champions Liverpool, with a game in hand on both.

Liverpool currently sit fourth, one point ahead of West Ham and Klopp accepts his priority is now to ensure his side qualify for next season’s Champions League, with a successful title defence looking out of reach.

“That is of course our main target, that is clear,” Klopp said when asked about a top-four finish. “We will try everything.

“There is enough games to play to secure that – but we have to win games and tonight we didn’t.”

On Alisson’s errors, which allowed City to add their crucial second and third goals through Ilkay Gundogan and Raheem Sterling, Klopp said: “You cannot hide them.

“It’s two [instances] where we didn’t give him a lot of options, especially around the first one. I think the second one, yeah, he just mis-hit the ball.

“I don’t know, it’s not a real explanation for it but maybe he had cold feet or something. It sounds funny but could be. But there’s still the opportunity to kick it in the stands.

“But Ali has saved our life plenty of times, no doubt about that, and tonight he made two mistakes and that’s how it is.”

Despite the mistakes and impact of the defeat on Liverpool’s hopes of winning back-to-back Premier League titles, Klopp insisted he was happy with the performance of his team.

He felt his side could have gone on to win when Mohamed Salah’s penalty cancelled out Gundogan’s opener and believes Liverpool would have been closer to City if they’d been at that level throughout the season.

“If you lose 4-1 it is of course not our day but a big part of the game was a brilliant game from my side,” he said.

“We played really good football. I really liked it. In the first half we played really good football. Against City it doesn’t mean you are 2-0 or 3-0 up it only means you’re in the game. I’m not sure what the possession was but it was for sure not what it’s like usually for City.

“Start of the second half, City changed their system slightly to a 4-4-2. It’s a little adaptation in the end but in that start of the second half we didn’t give enough options to play and gave the first goal away.

“They scored that goal, we scored the equaliser, which in that moment it looked like the game could now go in our direction. We looked really good again.

“We make two massive mistakes, that’s clear. Everybody saw them, they used them. 3-1 down in a game like this is really tough to take and then [Phil] Foden with a genius situation where he scores the fourth goal.

“The performance was good most of the time. Really, really good, on a high level. If we’d played more often like tonight, we would not be 10 points behind City.

“The goals, we made massive mistakes. Against each team it is a problem, against City it’s a killer. And that’s why we lost the game.”

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LIV 0-1 BUR: ASHLEY BARNES’ LATE PENALTY END LIVERPOOL’S HOME UNBEATEN RUN

Ashley Barnes’s late penalty snatched all three points as Burnley ended Liverpool’s unbeaten home run with a surprise 1-0 win at Anfield.

Jurgen Klopp’s team dictated play for much of the match. Sadio Mane went close with an early header, Xherdan Shaqiri blazed a shot just wide and Divock Origi also forced Burnley’s Nick Pope into action more than once in a one-sided first half.

A minute before half-time, Origi crashed a shot against the crossbar after a defensive error by Ben Mee put him clear on goal.

After Trent Alexander-Arnold went close, Klopp introduced Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino from the bench on 58 minutes, and Salah immediately brought a fine reflex save from Pope with a low, angled shot.

Mane shot over after being teed up by Salah as the Reds continued to press, while visiting substitute Johann Gudmundsson put a rare chance wide for Burnley after excellent wing play by Dwight McNeil.

Firmino side-footed wide on 72 minutes but the Reds could find no way through and, seven minutes before the end, Alisson brought down Barnes in the penalty area.

The Burnley forward calmly converted the penalty to end the Reds’ 68-match unbeaten home record.

Liverpool’s first defeat in three years and 273 days leaves them fourth, on 34 points, six points behind leaders Manchester United at the halfway stage of the season.

Burnley’s first league win at Anfield since 1975 lifts them up one place to 16th on 19 points.

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WE MUST BE CLOSE TO PERFECTION TO RETAIN THE TITLE – KLOPP.

Liverpool head coach Jurgen Klopp has said his side will need to be “close to perfection” in order to win a second straight Premier League title.

Klopp’s side ran away with the title last term, clinching the club’s first Premier League crown by an 18-point margin over Manchester City.

The race for the title is set to be much closer this season with Liverpool currently in fourth place, four points back of table-topping Leicester City having played one game fewer.

With several teams looking to be genuine title contenders Klopp knows that his side, currently on a four-match winless run in the Premier League, can’t afford many more slip-ups.

Asked what it would take to win the title, Klopp replied: “Close to perfection, but perfection depends on the situation.

“There is no perfect season with 114 points, there is just dealing with circumstances and the situation and the amount of games. We have to be as perfect as possible and that is what we try.”

Leicester took the lead in the Premier League after defeating Chelsea on Tuesday, but Manchester United could regain the lead by beating Fulham on Wednesday. Klopp said that the back-and-forth nature of the race this term means every team must always be on their toes.

“It changes all the time and that’s because it is so close, we know that for a few weeks,” Klopp said. “That makes it a slightly different title race or race in general this year and we have to be ready, 100 per cent.

“I know in this business only results count but before you have a result you need performances and the last performance was really good.”

Klopp said he wasn’t getting too carried away with his side’s form, insisting he saw some positive signs in Liverpool’s 0-0 draw against Man Utd on Sunday.

“It is not a catastrophe, it is not perfect, but that is not important,” he said. “Be as good as you can be. I saw a lot of good signs in the Man Utd game and if we had won that game everyone would have seen them, but because we didn’t win no one was interested. That doesn’t change my view.”

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KLOPP ESCAPES FA SANCTION DESPITE COMMENTS ON MANCHESTER UNITED PENALTIES.

Jurgen Klopp has escaped an FA fine despite criticising Andre Marriner and questioning Manchester United’s penalty record.

The German made the comments after his sides 1-0 defeat to Southampton on Monday evening. Klopp felt his side should have had a penalty in the first half when Sadio Mane went down after a collision with Kyle Walker-Peters.

Liverpool’s goalless performance led to only their second defeat of the season and United, who are level on points with a game in hand, now have a chance to go ahead.

Annoyed by the decision, Klopp claimed Marriner did not handle the Mane moment properly. Not stopping there, the Reds boss also questioned United’s large number of penalties. Across the 2018/19 and 19/20 seasons United were awarded 11 more penalties than any other team in the league.

But despite his comments, Klopp will face no action, according to reports.

“We had a really good view of it [the Mane incident], and it looked like a clear penalty,” said Klopp at full-time. “I turned around to the fourth official and asked if it was going to be checked, he said it already had been and was not a penalty. That’s 100 per cent true, and now someone wants to tell me how quick they had it in all these different angles.

Last year, there was a penalty against Leicester when people said Sadio Mane goes down too easily – if he goes down easily, we would have had a penalty in this game and the last game, a stonewall penalty, but what Andre Marriner did with Sadio Mane I’m not sure if that’s okay.

The boy tried everything, had a few great challenges with Walker-Peters. But there were a lot of situations which should have been free-kicks. The last one, when he goes down, you see that back and in the box he hits him in the end with his left foot, that’s a penalty.

“We cannot change. I hear now that Manchester United had more penalties in two years than I had in five-and-a-half years. I’ve no idea if that’s my fault, or how that can happen.”

Managers can be punished for their post-match comments, but the FA say “provided they are not personal in their nature, imply bias or attack the integrity of the officials in charge of the match, or in any other respect bring the game into disrepute.”

Despite Klopp questioning United’s number of penalties it seems his comments were not strong enough to warrant any action.