“I Am Not The Pope Of Football” Jurgen Klopp
Written By Jacobs Dunga
Liverpool put two goals past Burnley at a packed Anfield, the first time the home team is witnessing such atmosphere after 18 months due to corona virus pandemic.
More Details…
Liverpool welcomed their fans back to Anfield for the first time in a long while and it was against the opponents they could mostly have wished for, Burnley last season halted Liverpool’s run of unbeaten record at home after 68 games.
The Reds welcomed the clarets back to Anfield for the first time since that defeat with the presence of the fans, Virgil Van Dijk and Joel Matip back in the side as against last season.
Read Also: Charlotte Wardlaw Joins Liverpool On Loan From Chelsea
Goals from Diogo Jota and Sadio Mane ensured victory on an early Saturday kickoff and Klopp was full of praise for the fans’ presence at Anfield.
“Everybody was really looking forward to this football festival, to this game, and I think nobody leaves this place today with any kind of disappointment because I think all of our dreams were fulfilled today, atmosphere-wise.
That was, for sure, the best 12.30pm atmosphere we had. It was pretty special, really special. How the game was as well, pretty special, because Burnley are Burnley – and Burnley cause you problems. And Burnley caused us problems.
Obviously, the new idea about football, let the game flow more or whatever, I think we will talk about that quite frequently over the year, but we won the game.”
Klopp refused to be drawn on the talk of officiating as he doesn’t want to start talking about referee decisions so early in the season.
I am not the Pope of football or whatever or any kind of priest who wants to tell the people what to do, really not. You might remember it, when we started to talk about the elbow in the challenge, all of a sudden all challenges in the air, we heard the whistle.
It happened then that players started feeling something in the face even when nothing touched them because it helped always to do this… now there is a message, like a headline, ‘let the game flow’.
It started with the penalties, ‘no soft penalties anymore’, which is absolutely fine. But we cannot forget that we have to protect the players as well and the challenges in the air… I don’t say they are all fouls, for sure not, most of the time it is a clear challenge but if you do these kind of things constantly…
There are different ways to play football, obviously, that’s all fine, there were just a few harsh situations. We are early in the season and I don’t want to open already the box of Pandora.”
Both of Liverpool’s fullbacks provided an assist each with Kostas being named as the man of the match and Klopp is aware of the importance of his wide players.
“Both full-backs had a good game. Both spectacular, if you want, with two nice [assists] – Kostas with the cross and Trent with the little cheeky curve ball or whatever for Sadio. It was a good game. I think everybody thinks both full-backs played a good game and in this situation that means they were defensively really good as well in a really difficult game from a defensive point of view.”
“the full-backs were really good, which helped us to win the game.” He added.
LATEST POSTS
- Jurgen Klopp High on Real Madrid’s Managerial List
- Juventus To Step Up Their Pursuit Of Chiesa After The Recent Statement From Luciano Spalletti
- How Milan Missed Out On The Signing Of Former EPL Star Currently Lighting Up The Serie A With Napoli
- Euro 2025 Stars Dominate EA FC 26 Team of the Year Honors
- NWSL Unveils 2026 Season Schedule as 16-Team Era Takes Shape
Klopp handed 18 year old Harvey Elliot a start in the game and the youngster did not disappoint as he put up a decent performance in front of the home fans.
“Everybody wants to talk to me about Harvey and I understand absolutely – when an 18-year-old boy plays such a mature game I can understand why everyone was asking, but I was not surprised he played like this. That is exactly how he has trained now for six or seven weeks since we are back, since he is back from loan. Yes, it was good.”
Meanwhile…
Captain of the side Jordan Henderson says it’s not the performance they wanted as they went off in some situations during the game but he did acknowledge the result is a one they’d cherish.
“It was the result! No, I think the performance was good at times. There’s still places where we can improve of course, but overall we’re delighted – the fans are back, it was great to have them back, they gave us a lift. And we got the result in the end, so that’s the most important thing.”
He hopes the return of the fans help propel Liverpool into making Anfield a fortress again and having a go at the title they lost to City last season.
“Yeah, always. Always Anfield people will not like to play, I’m telling you now. Without a crowd it’s a totally different game, football was totally different last season with no crowd – not only at Anfield but in general. Now we’ve got the fans back it’s a different ball game.
And hopefully we can keep our fortress, if you like, and teams won’t like coming here. We’ve got to make it difficult every time they do.”
Do you have a story tip?
Kindly Email: keepup@bettitude.com
You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube
About Author
