Speaking on the BBC Radio Five Live Football Daily Podcast, Jonathan Woodgate has been discussing Jurgen Klopp and his antics on the touchline against Aston Villa on Tuesday.
Aston Villa vs Liverpool was a very techy game, Villa went 1-0 up early on only for Liverpool to walk away as 2-1 victors in what was an incredibly close contest.
Understandably, with the title in the balance, Jurgen Klopp was rather animated during the match, and according to Woodgate, even Virgil van Dijk wasn’t spared from the wrath of Klopp.
According to the pundit, the German went crazy at Virgil van Dijk during the game as he demanded more and more effort from his team.
What’s been said?
Woodgate spoke about Klopp and van Dijk.
“That’s what top managers do, they always demand more from their players, even the top players, they can always squeeze a bit more out of them, more energy or more desire. You could see Klopp getting irate and he wanted more from his team. I noticed that as well. Even with van Dijk, he was going crazy at van Dijk, it was the only time I’ve seen van Dijk flustered when Klopp was having a go at him,” Woodgate said.
High standards
Virgil van Dijk was one of the top performers on the pitch against Villa, but with the Reds struggling to overcome Villa, he was asked to reach another level.
To be fair to the centre-back, he obliged, putting in yet another top-notch performance on Tuesday and rightfully earning plenty of plaudits for his showing.
As Woodgate says, Klopp’s demands are exactly what you would expect from a top manager and if any player is playing at less than their highest level, they quickly find out about it from Klopp.
The German is making sure his team’s standards are high, and that’s why the quadruple is still within reach for the Merseyside club.
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