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The boss breaks down the Chelsea game in more detail and talks about the title race.
The final whistle came as something of a relief for Liverpool this weekend, which was quite a surprise given how promising the first 60-ish minutes of the game were. That said, a Liverpool win at Stamford Bridge is nothing to be scoffed at no matter how nervy the finish, and the Boss is proud of the team and looking towards the season ahead.
“We expect it from ourselves that we fight for everything,” Klopp said in his post-match conference. “We have a big job to do in a really difficult league. Everybody thinks we should be first or second — but we have to play the football for it. We don’t think about these things, we just have to play to try to win football games. That’s what we did. The boys did really well, they fought really hard and yes, all good. I don’t think there is any other way to win here. As I said, it was a big one, really.”
Liverpool are still sitting at the top of the league with five points between them and Manchester City, but City’s 8-0 thrashing of Watford says something about just how much things are heating up in the league.
“I said it before, I really think [City] are the best team in the world,” Klopp said when asked about the Reds’ rivals. “They are brilliant in moments. We are not bad as well. But this kind of football, not a lot of teams play in the kind [of way] they play. In the end, you need to get the points, that’s what we try. There is no competition really in tactical things or whatever, it is about points. I still don’t see it that in the end it is only two teams [fighting for the title]. I still don’t see that. In the moment, we don’t have to think about it. It is matchday six, we talk about the championship with 32 games to go — that’s a bit early I would say.”
And with 32 games to go, three points are three points, especially when they come against N’golo Kante in all his tiny brilliance. Hopefully, the majority of the players get a rest this week (rotation is our friend!) and come back fresh to take on Sheffield United on Saturday.
