Jurgen Klopp has claimed that he told his Liverpool players at half-time that ‘we have to play better’ during their thrashing of Manchester United on Sunday, as he told Sky Sports.
Liverpool battered their bitter rivals 5-0 at Old Trafford, including being 4-0 up during the break, in one of the most remarkable scorelines in the history of these two fierce rivals.
Many knew that the Reds went into yesterday’s game, at the top of their game and with one of the finest forwards in Mo Salah at their disposal.
But not many expected, even the most ambitious of Liverpool supporters, that they will be leaving Manchester with five goals to their name, a hat-trick to Mo Salah and, of course, all three points.
The game was gone inside the first 20 minutes, that’s how ruthless Klopp’s side were, and it was turning into an embarrassment by the time the half-time whilst blew.
But even though the Reds were so dominant, Klopp shared the surprise message he sent out to his players at half-time.
“Did I expect that? No,” said Klopp. “But what we did in the last third today was absolutely insane.
“In the first half, how we pressed them high. How we won ball. Get the balls in the right areas. Played from there and scored some wonderful goals.
“Actually at half-time, I really told the boys ‘we have to play better because we gave, not in the last third, but all the rest, it was like we started incredibly well. And then stopped playing football’.
“We are chipping these balls. Making no sense for that. Long ball there, then what do we do with that? It’s only because we don’t show up and don’t want to play.”
That perhaps sums up Klopp and how he wants perfection, even in such a dominant position.
This win, and the manner in which they have produced it, is a really strong message to their title rivals.
Before a ball was kicked this season, not many were talking about Liverpool, for the title, like they were talking up both Manchester club and Chelsea.
Well, all of that is quickly changing because Klopp now has the best player on the plant in Salah at his disposal.
And a team that isn’t just winning, but well and truly smoking teams out of existence.
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