Klopp: Win at City ‘far, far, far from perfect’

Ian Watson

Jurgen Klopp admits there were some “brilliant moments” during Liverpool’s impressive victory at Manchester City but the new manager insists it was far from flawless.

The Reds dismantled City 4-1 at the Etihad on Saturday in the best performance since Klopp arrived at Anfield last month, offering the perfect response to the 2-1 home defeat to Crystal Palace before the international break.

Numerous Liverpool players, including Daniel Sturridge, have commented on Klopp’s impact and his “intense” approach to training, but ahead of the Europa League clash with Bordeaux on Thursday night, the manager played down his side’s improvement while also telling his stars to keep talk of what happens on the training ground confined to Melwood.

Klopp said: “I don’t want players to speak about our training and what we do specially, because it’s our training.

“Of course, it’s always the same.

“I don’t know what’s different, I saw them playing some good games, we came with another idea of football and now we try to train on this. It’s up to the players if they want to do this or not.

“I want the players to understand why it is better to do more – but it isn’t always more, it’s just about the right thing at the right time.

“That’s what you saw at Man City. It worked. There were brilliant moments – but it was far, far, far from perfect.

“There are many things we can do better.”

One of the improvements Liverpool can still make is to address their patchy home form. The Reds have drawn half of their ten games at Anfield this season, but Klopp says he does not place great emphasis on the difference between playing in front of their home supporters or on the road.

He added: “What we have to develop in the first case is our performance. And that’s what we’ve been working on.

“There is not a big difference between home and away games, we’re usually on the way to playing better at home. Most goals we have conceded are set plays. It’s not easy to create chances against us.

“The intensity of this number of tournaments, it’s sometimes the price you have to pay – Palace was because of that. We have to learn how to handle this.

“We know what to do tomorrow.”

Sturridge is “getting closer” and Klopp says he will make a late decision on the striker’s involvement against the French outfit, while Martin Skrtel is a doubt due to being “a little bit ill”.