Advertisement
Liverpool coach Jurgen Klopp.

'We played like hell' - Klopp revels in Liverpool show

“I told the lads before the game anything can happen, but if we lose we must lose in our way.”

JURGEN KLOPP SAID Liverpool “played football like hell” in their 2-1 Premier League victory over Chelsea on Friday.

The Reds put in an impressive performance at Stamford Bridge, taking a two-goal lead through Dejan Lovren and Jordan Henderson, who scored a sensational effort from 25 yards.

Diego Costa pulled one back for Chelsea in the 61st minute, but they failed to register a shot on target after the Spain international fired straight at Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet four minutes later.

Liverpool comfortably saw out their second successive win at Stamford Bridge, inflicting Antonio Conte’s first competitive defeat since taking over at the Blues in the process.

Klopp enjoyed the way his team played football in the first half, but wants to see them control matches throughout the 90 minutes.

“We deserved the lead. We stopped playing how we needed at some points and Chelsea got back into it. We need to learn how we can manage the game with power and 100 per cent concentration,” he told Sky Sports.

“We did it really well after they scored. So often Chelsea score in the last few seconds but I don’t think they created much and we did well.

“Chelsea are too strong not to have space throughout the game, but in the beginning we were brilliant. We played football like hell and it was brilliant to watch, it was wonderful.

In the second half it was getting more difficult, with less power, but after they scored their goal we managed it well and they didn’t have many chances again.

“I told the lads before the game anything can happen, but if we lose we must lose in our way. There’s no guarantee in football.”

James Milner once again featured out of position at left-back but Klopp believes his team have proved critics of their activity in the previous transfer window wrong.

Two weeks ago everybody was asking what’s wrong with Liverpool in the transfer market – why have they not got five midfielders and eight new left-backs – but now these boys are starting in one of the most difficult fixtures in football, and we deserve the result tonight,” he added.

The Liverpool boss also offered praise for captain Henderson, saying: “He’s such a hard worker, he’s a young lad with a lot of pressure on his shoulders.

“I don’t think that he thought before the season that he’d be playing [at number] six but he’s a good player and he can play anywhere.”

Longford claim a rare victory in relegation six-pointer thanks to O’Connor’s match-winner>

Goalkeepers win out as Youths and Derry end all-square>

Author
View 50 comments
Close
50 Comments
    Submit a report
    Please help us understand how this comment violates our community guidelines.
    Thank you for the feedback
    Your feedback has been sent to our team for review.