By Glenn Price and Chris Shaw
Jürgen Klopp previewed Liverpool’s ‘massive game’ against Aston Villa at a press conference on Friday morning.
The Reds welcome Unai Emery’s side to Anfield on Sunday afternoon and are looking to enter the September international break with their third win of the 2023-24 Premier League season in hand.
Klopp fielded questions from reporters at the AXA academy ahead of the clash – read on for a summary of his comments…
Facing the Villa…
I saw the game against Burnley – we have seen almost every game in the meantime – but I watched it when it happened. Burnley were good, to be honest, but Aston Villa are a machine – counter attacking, well organised, everyone committed 100%, when they defend deep they defend their best and go from there , they leave. I think everyone agrees when we look at Villa, [the] players they signed, that makes perfect sense. [They have] speed on the wings, Watkins up front, super smart McGinn, physical too but really looking for those balls behind and that sort of thing. It’s a huge game, there’s no doubt about it. Yes, we have to play a top game to get something out of it and we also need Anfield, so that’s what we have to make sure. I know it always depends a bit on how we play and we have to do our part, but I know people are ready to do their part, especially after last weekend. After it’s the international break, so we can get a good start [and] make it a very good start to the season in terms of results. But there are a whopping 115 minutes in between.
On the confidence Darwin Nunez can derive from his winning appearance at Newcastle United…
Massive, massive, that’s for sure. It’s what he wants, what we want. This is exactly what should have happened: this is a massive threat. You can of course see it the next day. But everyone could feel it. This game was huge. And the way it happened, all that stuff, for 10, 20 minutes, it felt like everything was going against us – not fate, we had something to do with it. But the way the boys got away with it was pretty impressive. So now we should try to do it with 11 players.
On assessing Liverpool’s business during the transfer window…
You almost have to reinvent the team. The midfield is already and will be completely new. In recent years, we have had to do the same with our front line. The most stable area is obviously the last line but now not because of injuries and suspensions. And we had to do it in a season where we didn’t qualify for the Champions League, which has a huge impact, that’s how it is. I know people expected it to be different, but that’s how it is. So I really think we did some good business.
The players we signed are really good, they will help the team and even improve. And I think especially for Macca and Dom, everyone could already see it. For Endo it’s a huge step, a huge change in the way he plays and the way we play, so obviously it takes a bit of time to get there but that’s not a problem. And so, I really like the team. When I look before starting the game and you look at the line-up, yes, the options off the bench have been a bit young for the past few weeks, but even that is great. I think everyone loves it when Ben Doak comes on and takes his minutes in those kinds of games. Stefan is back in full training. So yes, we have rejuvenated, but we had to. We are less experienced but that’s normal. But we are full of desire. I love this team.
How impressed he was with Trent Alexander-Arnold’s performance last weekend after an early yellow card…
Yeah, great. I think a lot of people would have thought, and I also thought for a minute or two, do we need to change it? Do we already have to make this change? And I’m very happy that I didn’t and I’m even happier with how Trent got through this game because it’s tough. I think we can all agree that everyone in the stadium apart from the Liverpool supporters wanted him to leave as well in the following situation and I’m pretty sure that would have happened if Trent had given someone the chance to do it. It was absolutely a big step in his development, keeping calm and even getting into the game, because he was really into it. He was super important, in the defensive part, before the first goal; it’s not a pass anyone will remember forever, but it was a sensational pass through the lines – Mo, Diogo, bam, behind. As I said, we have already learned a lot this season. We will learn more, but we already have to use what we have learned so far.
On how the Reds’ midfield dynamics and skills have changed from last season…
We will see that. I think the natural skills are obvious. But we had to replace and change the most successful midfielder in the young history of this club. Fabinho, Henderson, Milner, Gini Wijnaldum a few years ago all had very important roles in this team. Yes, Naby and Oxlade have all played important roles in this midfield. In our best periods, I remember you asking me if we were goal-threatening enough from that midfield, when we were scoring all the goals from the front line. I think we now have a lot more threat in midfield, that’s definitely the case.
But the work rate these guys provided, the stability they gave us, it was second to none and that’s what we have to create too, certainly. We’ll see how we get there because we can play on different systems, we definitely have to think about that during the season. But we are still at the beginning of the season and we have to find [our way] in the season and you don’t do that with 12 changes in four days, you do that by keeping things as they are and going from there. That’s what we’re doing at the moment, but we’ll keep our eyes peeled on what’s best for the specific line-up and then adapt. But I think it’s clear that the players we signed have real qualities, are young and in a very enthusiastic way to have the opportunity to be here. So it’s a nice mix.
#Jürgen #Klopp #massive #game #Aston #Villa #midfield #dynamics #confidence