Liverpool were criticised for leaking goals earlier on in the season, but have now kept three consecutive clean sheets in all competitions.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has said he was never worried about his side’s defence after the side came in for some criticism for leaking goals earlier on in the season, the told his pre-match press conference, as shown by This is Anfield on YouTube.
The Reds are now on a run of three successive clean sheets in all competitions but there was a lot of focus on their defending – especially in the league – when their first Premier League clean sheet didn’t arrive until October.
Liverpool were praised going forward as they were the league’s leading goalscorers, but there were several who suggested that their defence might let them down over the course of the campaign.
Sunderland’s Steven Pienaar in action with Liverpool’s Loris Karius
Klopp told reporters, at his pre-match press conference (from 9:40): “How many goals did we concede until now? 14 in the league? Five of them in the first two games.
“Since then I was never worried about defence, performance, strength, skills – respect 100% you all have to speak about a few things – when we score a lot and concede a few then it’s something you have to talk about. We have to think more about it from a logical point of view – you can not play football without conceding goals all of the time. It’s part of the game – you make a mistake and the other team is doing well and you concede a goal.”
Klopp placed the emphasis on working together as a team, and picked out that in analysis of games that certain individuals are criticised from a defensive point of view when it comes to conceding goals – but the Liverpool boss stressed things are more complicated that just one man making an error.
Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp
He went on to say that the team needs to make it hard for their opponents to create chances against them, and if they do then you might need some luck or individual quality on your side.
He added: “It is a team game and it’s teamwork and it’s defending together and it’s having together the luck in the right situation. Sometimes you are unlucky like Chelsea was when Hendo scored – it was not the defender I would say.”
Liverpool will go in search of their fourth consecutive clean sheet this weekend when they travel to the south coast to take on Bournemouth. A win could take the Reds to the top of the Premier League on Sunday, depending on the result between Manchester City and Chelsea. Liverpool will know the importance of taking three points from this fixture, on a weekend when two of their title rivals are facing each other.
Southampton’s Nathan Redmond in action with Liverpool’s Dejan Lovren
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