Jürgen Klopp Says Liverpool Were Sharp Against Norwich City But Needed More Control

Photo by Chloe Knott - Danehouse/Getty Images

The Liverpool manager was happy with his team’s opening day performance and sad about Alisson’s troubling injury.

Before the tired legs kicked in, Liverpool were cruising against Norwich City. It wasn’t always pretty football but Jürgen Klopp’s team were feeling confident on opening night at Anfield.

The second half eventually ushered in lengthy periods of sloppy play and slow reactions that created a nice environment for Norwich to strike back. Liverpool’s defense had been offering tastings of their 18-yard box to the Canaries all game long. It was maybe just a matter of time until Norwich bought a bottle.

More than one of Klopp’s players would be complicit in conceding the opportunity but if Andy Robertson had moved to level up with the defensive line Teemu Pukki would have have been offside.

Still, it was a solid performance to start the season and Liverpool grabbed the all-important three points. After the match, Klopp was happy with his side’s efforts against a lively Norwich team.

“For 60 minutes we were very sharp,” said Klopp. “That’s what you want to see. But then we have to control the game a little bit more than we did.

“But Norwich, they earned my respect. They stayed cheeky, they weren’t worried about the result. they enjoyed their football.”

The Canaries certainly enjoyed the open spaces that Liverpool were leaving for them but Klopp never felt that his team would lose control of the match. With Roberto Firmino on fire and Mohamed Salah looking energetic on the right, the Reds kept up what intensity they could as the minutes ticked towards the final whistle.

“When we started the second half we could have immediately scored number five or maybe six,” Klopp said. “We didn’t and then they scored their goal. We were never in danger, really, but we had to work a lot to keep the result like it was.

“Everything was good apart from Ali’s situation. It’s just madness but that’s how it is.”

Alisson left the match in pain after doing something bad to his calf muscle. It didn’t look good and the manager’s post-match reaction was laced with worry. Tomorrow should shed light on the extent of the damage done and the injury layoff Alisson should expect.

Source: liverpooloffside.sbnation.com