Jurgen Klopp happy with second-half performance of Liverpool against RB Leipzig
Jurgen Klopp had mixed feelings after Liverpool beat RB Leipzig 5-0 at the Red Bull Arena during the pre-season friendly in Germany. Mohamed Salah scored the first goal of the game, with Darwin Nunez scoring the rest.
The Reds were underwhelming in the two previous pre-season friendlies. We lost against Manchester United in Thailand in the first game. The result against Crystal Palace was better, but the performance wasn’t up to the mark.
Klopp, speaking after the game in Leipzig via Liverpool Echo, was happy with the final result but felt the first-half showing could’ve been better. These games are important for the side to get used to playing the full 90 minutes.
“I would have bought it [off you] actually! And it’s really nice. In the first half, some good moments, some less good moments, not enough movement and we need to get used to how it is to play 60, 70 or 90 minutes. The human body is like this but we’ll get used to it again.”
The pre-season is meant to get the players back into shape after their holidays. It’s natural that the team is a bit rusty on the pitch. The lack of match fitness has that effect, which is something Klopp would understand very well.
After a long season in the previous campaign where the Merseysiders were gunning for all four titles till the very end, a rest was essential for physical and mental reasons.
Klopp felt the second half was much better after bringing on the substitutes. Jordan Henderson and James Milner brought energy and creativity to the half, which saw Liverpool score four goals.
“So after a 15-minute break [at half time] we played football again and I wanted us to be a bit harder on ourselves, it’s pre-season, but [I wanted them to] move more and second half Hendo (Jordan Henderson) and Millie (James Milner) came on and they were lively like hell. Then we created chances.”
Going into next season, expectations will once again be high for this Liverpool side to compete for the quadruple. We came close, only missing out on the final day of the Premier League and losing the final in the Champions League.
But it’s encouraging to see players getting back to their best slowly. Fans were significantly relieved to see Nunez open his account during the pre-season after the pressure put on him.
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While the Reds were better against Leipzig, there’s still a lot of work to be done. We face RB Salzburg next before going to the King Power Stadium to face Manchester City in the FA Community Shield.
