Jurgen Klopp was impressed with his side’s character in the face of adversity, but had bad news on Trent Alexander-Arnold‘s early substitution.
Here are four key points from Klopp’s post-match press conference…
Fight and character
This game was not as easy as advertised, but Klopp highlighted his side’s character:
“Really tricky afternoon, but then it’s about character – and the boys showed exactly what was needed.”
The boss also weighed in tactically, surmising that “we started too in a rush, too direct, then we couldn’t get the ball back.”
Thankfully the analysts spotted the problem and showed the team the solution.
“Further assessment” needed but Trent “felt something”
Klopp also confirmed that Alexander-Arnold’s knee injury recurred in the first half.
“He felt there…[his foot] got stuck on the grass,” the manager explained. “Further assessment needed, but we will see.”
It was a bitter blow on a day that the vice-captain set a new assist record for defenders in the Premier League.
Why Gravenberch didn’t play
Klopp praised his side’s ability to get a result despite a decimated squad, labelling it “a really good result, perfect – besides the Trent situation.”
He went on to detail some of the absentees: “We lost Joey with the flu, Ali we will see, and before the game, Ryan felt a little bit somewhere.
“They told me then he’s fine, but you cannot bring a player [on] who felt something warming up.
“We have to recover quickly, and hopefully a lot of the boys will be back for the next game, because we need them obviously.”
Jones at right-back!
Klopp also highlighted Curtis Jones‘ stint as an emergency right-back, asserting that he did “exceptionally well.”
The boss referred to a change in system after the break, intended to “make it as simple as possible for him” so that Jones didn’t have to “play inverted and think about all of that.”
Alexander-Arnold had started to find some joy out wide anyway, and the way Jones slotted into that position clearly pleased his manager.
Should he need to, Jones could be an option at the back when Liverpool take on Brentford next Saturday.
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