Liverpool were held to an underwhelming draw in their Premier League opener against Fulham on Saturday, and Jurgen Klopp admitted his side “played a really bad game.”
Here are three key points from the boss after Liverpools’ 2-2 draw at Craven Cottage:
“Best news is the result”
Sounds crazy, doesn’t it? But every Liverpool fan will know where Jurgen is coming from here.
This wasn’t what we expected from the Reds at all, especially after that Community Shield win against Man City last weekend.
A 2-2 draw against a newly-promoted team isn’t a good result, but given the performance, things really could have been a lot worse.
“We started in exactly the opposite way to what we wanted,” Klopp told reporters.
“We are used to more dominance but we never could get that because we just played not good enough, not quick enough, not precise enough.
“The best news about this game is the result, I’m really fine with the point.
“I’m happy for the punishment we got with losing two points if you want.”
“Crazy” Nunez impact
Darwin to the rescue yet again. The Uruguayan was Liverpool’s game-changer from the bench, just as he was in the Community Shield win against Man City last week.
Surely he starts in the Reds’ next league encounter against Crystal Palace?
“Great goal. Could have scored another one as well, maybe two? Crazy,” the boss said.
“So he is involved in a lot of goalscoring situations, that’s really cool and that’s where we have to bring him up.
“Now imagine if we’d have played good, how often we could set him up then! Because that was obviously our main problem, that our delivery was most of the time not good enough.”
“A transfer must make sense”
Thiago added to Liverpool’s ever-increasing injury list after limping off with a suspected hamstring injury in the second half at Craven Cottage.
Fellow midfielders Naby Keita, Curtis Jones and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain are also currently sidelined, with some fans keen to see the Reds add to their ranks in the centre of the park before the end of the transfer window.
Klopp, for now, is remaining calm, and points out that any deal must make sense both in the short and long-term.
“Look, a transfer must make sense now and in the long-term; we have midfielders, we have still enough midfielders. It is not that we lack midfielders, but it’s just some of them are injured,” he said.
“This is not a good situation, I don’t like it at all, but we have to see how we react on that – but for sure not panicking.”
