Jurgen Klopp vows to ‘delete bad things’ from Liverpool draw against Tottenham

Klopp’s title hopefuls visit Villa Park on Tuesday night

Carl Markham
Tuesday 10 May 2022 07:52 BST
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp expects improvements from his side against Aston Villa (Peter Byrne/PA)
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp expects improvements from his side against Aston Villa (Peter Byrne/PA) (PA Wire)

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Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp insists his side will “delete the bad things” from Saturday’s draw with Tottenham and focus on what they did well.

The Reds came from behind to secure a point at home to Spurs – the first time they had not won at Anfield in the Premier League since October – but a lot of their attacking play was far from what Klopp wanted to see.

His side swung in 46 crosses in the game, which is way above their normal number, as they chased the win which would have maintained the pressure on league leaders Manchester City.

Klopp was unhappy with the way his players deviated from their tried-and-trusted methods but believes they will have no problem hitting the reset switch for Tuesday’s trip to Aston Villa.

“The crosses you can read easy,” he said. “They are not useful in a game like this with the profile of players they have in the box. That makes no sense.

“You have to keep going to find the momentum, to pile through the gaps, get to the touchline and square it from there.

“The main challenge in a game like this is that you are constantly in a creating mood, knowing each missed pass is a massive problem (as it leaves them open to a counter-attack).

“It is really difficult to stay calm in these moments and do exactly the right thing. Now we have to use the good things, delete the bad things and go from here.”

It was suggested to Klopp that nothing was actually ‘broken’ with his side and it was just a result of the high-stakes games they are playing in currently.

“That is how I see it,” the German added. “That is how I saw the game. So we keep going.

“If we win 3-1, you would not have counted crosses. You would not have asked me about that.

“It was not a perfect game but the general approach, the counter press was completely on a different level.

“We win it and we talk about that – ‘Wow the counter press of Liverpool’ – we don’t win it and we just forget it. I don’t because that keeps us going.

“We didn’t score from a set-piece but we could have because everything was nearly perfect. We have to accept that.”

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