PRESS CONFERENCE Jürgen Klopp on Brighton, Stefan Bajcetic, midfield options and more
Jürgen Klopp previewed the fourth round of the Emirates FA Cup on Friday at Brighton & Hove Albion with a press conference.
The Reds boss met with reporters at the AXA Training Center ahead of his team’s visit to Amex Stadium.
Read on to see what he had to say before the game below…
On what Liverpool want to do differently this time around after their last defeat at Brighton…
Everything. This is clearly the plan. We knew before the Wolves game it would be Brighton [in the next round] and we showed we really wanted to move forward. This is football. There is always a new opportunity and there is always room for improvement. This is what we will do. But Brighton are having a really good time, so that’s what it’s about [performing better].
On Stefan Bajcetic’s new contract and promising career start with the Reds…
It was pretty obvious from the beginning, but you never know how fast [his progress] goes. We were quite careful with him because of his age. He has now shown that he is ready and very useful for us with all his natural abilities. We haven’t shown this often enough in recent games; Aggressive, but good aggression, it’s not like he kicks players. He is also a good footballer, which of course is very important in the center of the park. I am very happy that he has signed his new contract. He deserves it and I think he’s really happy about it.
How he rates the game against Brighton as FA Cup holders…
As a cup holder, I don’t think that’s [a] big competitive advantage. We start all over again. We know how great the event is when you get to the finals, so that helps if you want it. It [the last game against Brighton] is still the worst game I have ever seen. Almost everything went wrong. We had to change our approach completely, not just against Brighton, but in general. We’ve done really well in spells during games [against Wolves and Chelsea]. I think the first half against Chelsea was very disciplined. Chelsea are a very good football club and we haven’t allowed them to play much, which is important. Of course, we also have to do it against Brighton. In the second half [against Chelsea] we built on the first half and started very well. We were a little too excited. We weren’t as compact and the pressing was uncoordinated, then Chelsea had two chances. This is what we want to work on and this is where we want to start. It would really help to be more compact than Brighton [in the first game]. For us, compact never means very deep – we can’t do that. But we have to be compact in the key areas and we have to defend them well. We respect them a lot for a good reason and we did that before the first game. We have to make it difficult for them and we will. We’ll see what we do with it.
If he will refer to the last game at Brighton with the players…
Not every day, but of course we talked a lot after the Brighton game. We had to change trains immediately, and we did. A few days later we played Wolves and it was obviously very different. After the game, I said it felt like two different sports. Now we’re not going to do the meeting where we’re going to show all the bad situations in Brighton otherwise it’s going to be a real horror show. We’ve seen it before: we’ve played it and seen it.
If there was anything good about that, it was that it was so bad that everyone was clear, it’s not about here and there [things need to change], it’s about general change and improvement of different things. You can lose a game, but if you don’t learn from it, it’s just a loss. If you learn from it, that’s also important. We intend to do such things.
That he used the same midfield trios as Thiago, Naby Keita and Stefan Bajcetic in the last two games…
Obviously, after Brighton, we had injuries or little problems, so it was clear that we had to change anyway. I liked the rhythm; I liked the mix of offensive stuff and defensive preparation – I liked that. It wasn’t the only three, because the only three can’t do anything, but the front lines did it very well, it’s very important for us. There are specific things that an opponent does, it’s not like every opponent offers absolutely everything and you have no idea what they’re doing. Sometimes it can happen, but less so with quality teams. It’s just with teams trying to survive that you don’t really know what you’re getting ready for, but it’s Brighton [and] a lot of things are obviously what they’re doing. You have to respect it and defend it.
If you don’t, you’re screwed, there’s no doubt about that. The midfield three worked well for these games. We’ll see who starts on Sunday. It is against nobody and nothing. It’s just the guys from the second train, not the midfielders, they’re all coming. Obviously everyone wants to play, so that’s fine. And then my job is to make the decision, let’s see how that works best and then we have five chances to change. For me, it’s exactly the same importance [between] how we start and how we finish a match. It’s exactly the same. Players can be something else… for me it is the same importance. So we have six [or] seven midfielders in top form. Perfect situation. You’re playing a system now, or have been playing for a while, [where] only three can start. But then you can’t go wrong, let’s put it this way, with the fittings. It’s good. This is actually a situation I want to be in again.
On the importance of his midfield position against Brighton in particular…
Yes. But especially against Brighton it’s extremely important how you defend the front row. That’s how good they are. [Moises] Caicedo and [Alexis] Mac Allister and then the middle two halves [are] calm… the goalkeeper – really calm. So they just pass the ball. If the top three don’t defend well, and that was our problem for example in Brighton, that’s how it started. The midfielder wanted to [press] but never got close enough. If you defend Brighton with seven… theoretically, if you defend Brighton with seven players, no chance. This is the situation. It’s not about the midfield, they’re good there, so we have to be good there. Yeah, that’s a part, it’s really about how we defend in general.