What did Jurgen Klopp say about ‘insane’ Liverpool crowd during Merseyside derby win?
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has praised the Anfield crowd for their support during the 2-0 Merseyside derby win over Everton on Monday (February 13).
The Reds registered their first league win of the year, getting the better of their arch-rivals, courtesy of goals from Mohamed Salah and Cody Gakpo. Speaking after the game, Klopp thanked the home fans for spurring the team on. He added that the club's fans deserved the win after a tough couple of months.
The German said:
“Tonight was really important. It gave us all a sign that was us tonight, definitely. We have to make sure we are us from now on. I feel relieved. That’s it, that was the main feeling since the final whistle. Happy with the performance."
Klopp added:
“In a meeting today I told the boys everybody thought the training week was really good, but now we have to bring it on the pitch. We needed this game, we needed this performance, now we have it. Our people absolutely deserved it. I loved the atmosphere. Even before we scored, the people were there. It is insane what kind of atmosphere the people create here. Tonight we delivered, and our people deserved it.”
It was the Reds' first win in five games across competitions.
Liverpool move to ninth in Premier League
The Everton win came after Liverpool had lost thrice and drawn once in the Premier League this year.
Liverpool are now ninth in the standings with 32 points after 21 games, nine points behind fourth-placed Newcastle United. Praising his side after the Everton game, Klopp said:
“It was necessary that we played tonight the game we wanted to play and not the game Everton wanted to play. We can’t avoid that all the time. But they didn’t have an extremely high number of set-pieces."
He added:
“With all the aggressiveness you have to show, you have to make sure you don’t overdo it as each set-piece is a massive threat and something they want to have. I thought we did that really well. On top of that, we were super dominant, switched the sides, played the ball, kept them running, and both goals came from counter-attacks, that’s allowed as well obviously."
About the two goals, Klopp said:
“I loved both goals. I loved the involvement of everyone around for both goals. We had three options in the box when the pass came in. A lot of things were different tonight, and it was our best game in a while. That’s why we won.”
Liverpool next play fourth-placed Newcastle United on Saturday (February 18) in the Premier League.