Jurgen Klopp has admitted he saw Liverpool’s 0-0 draw with Manchester United in December as the first sign that his side could compete for the Premier League title this season.
Prior to that game, Liverpool were still picking up impressive results but there had been a handful of results – draws with Luton and Brighton, a defeat to Tottenham and a chaotic 4-3 win over Fulham – that suggested Klopp’s side were not strong enough to lift the trophy.
Since then, 2024 has seen Liverpool on a tear. The Carabao Cup winners have dropped points just twice so far this calendar year and find themselves leading the title race. They currently sit second in the standings but, having played one game fewer than Arsenal, can reclaim top spot with a win over Sheffield United on Thursday.
Ahead of that game, Klopp explained why he felt Liverpool‘s season changed with a goalless draw with United.
“I said after the United match that I loved the game,” Klopp said. “We didn’t win, it was 0-0, but that was the game when our full counter-press mentality kicked in again.
“It was something that I was asking for before that game. I said everything is good so far, we are new together, we have to find a way, you cannot ask for counter-press when you play with ten men or nine men. You have to get through games in different ways.
“But before United we spoke specifically about that. I was really happy about the outcome, we were dominant in a different way, and that is what we have asked of ourselves ever since then.
“You cannot just take the ball and fire directly at goal, but if you win it back high up the pitch then it is pretty likely you will find a finish. That, for me, is definitely the explanation [for the number of shots] and since then the season changed into the way we wanted to play.
“Like I said, it was a really strange first part of the season where we got results but I am pretty sure I heard it once or twice that ‘Liverpool is not convincing yet, they get results but it is not fully convincing’.
“That was not our feeling but I remember United like it was yesterday. There was the meeting before the game and the boys delivered and since then, we have done that again.”
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