Klopp Talk: ‘We Want To Be Dominate’

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp talked to the media ahead of the Sunday clash with Manchester United about how he views the game and how his tactics might work. I think it’s an interesting look into what the manager is thinking about the game.

“How it always does.” Klopp said. “The majority of the time we face teams who are set up like this. We set up like this, we want to be dominant, we have to be dominant. [Against] most of the teams we are dominant, not always exactly like we want but the majority of time we have the ball.”

He continued to discuss the offensive strategy.

“That means you have to protect these situations.” He said. “You have to be as creative as possible. Offensive football only works if you use the full size of the pitch in the opposite half, I would say. That makes you pretty vulnerable in the moment when you lose the ball, so you have to make sure that you don’t lose the ball. Or if you lose the ball, you have to win it back as quick as possible. If you don’t do that then you have to be protected in the best possible way. That’s how football works. The better the team gets, the better the players get, the more important it is that you have this mindset. You cannot only be focused on offensive things.”

Klopp then went on to discuss how Manchester United plays the game.

“We respect them a lot.” He started with. “How I said, they’re not only a counter-attacking team, that’s how they played against us. We made analysis and in all the games they played they are playing build-up, even against Man City. Against us it was 80 per cent long build-up. How can we know exactly how they will set up? Maybe they’ve now found a specific way to play against Liverpool, but the difference between playing at Anfield and Old Trafford is massive and we want to show that as well.

How I s’aid, it’s just a football game and there are specific things you have to do. The better the opponent gets, the more consistent you have to [be] on the pitch. This game asks us for perfection, that’s how it is. Because how I said, if you lose the ball in the wrong moment and then the train starts going. That’s clear but it’s about us to make sure that will not happen.”