Liverpool’s 4-2 victory over Crystal Palace was a bit of a wild ride. Three goals in a span of five minutes early in the first half set the tone for what was a real nail-biter for both sets of fans until the dying minutes.
But Reds manager Jürgen Klopp summed it up with a trademark wry grin.
“Sorry for this boring performance! I think we were responsible for the bad atmosphere.”
He continued:
“Of course, it was all good. I was not too happy with the start, not clear enough, not direct enough. Good football-wise, but not how it should be. Then we scored nice goals and created unbelievable chances. We really could’ve scored more, I think everybody agrees with this. Then we opened the game up again ourselves, we thought there is always excitement when Liverpool is part of the game! I think their first goal especially was a present, and the second goal was not good defending and at the end a good header, so that opened the game. Of course, the atmosphere then was really intense. We scored the third before half-time and then second half, the beginning was... we were not clear enough, we didn’t play football enough. That’s a problem, so it was still a wild game and we invested a lot. [...] Everything could’ve happened in this game, but I don’t think anyone could say it was not a deserved win, so all good from our side.” Klopp also spoke glowingly about his players’ strength of character.
“Since I’ve been at Liverpool I’ve been happy with the character of my boys. That was never a question for me, but it’s still football and you cannot strike back every day. You should not come in situations like this too often but we’re good enough to find a solution in situations like this. 2-0 would’ve been better for half-time than 3-2, but now everything is good.” He also acknowledged that yet more work needs to be done on defending.
“We will sort the defence – what then happens, we will see. They can defend really well. I know after this game that everyone will talk about this. Inside a football team, you are not in the dressing room saying ‘You are a really bad defender’ and ‘You are the goalkeeper, where are you?’ and all of those things. They are all human beings, we work on it and I am completely convinced about the quality. If they make mistakes and stay in the game, then it’s a very good test for them – and they stood in the game [tonight]. I am happy with the reaction, not with the situation, not with the start of the game, that’s what we have to work on. But I am happy with the reaction. So, I am fine, we will work on it and then we will see where it leads us to.”
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