'Thank God that there were two halves' - Jurgen Klopp thankful for break in Liverpool draw with Manchester City
ByTNT Sports
Updated 03/10/2021 at 22:57 GMT+1
"Our biggest problem in the first half was we didn’t play football, that doesn’t help," Jurgen Klopp said. "You meet for a football game, people come into a stadium and you don’t play football – that sounds wrong and is wrong. So we needed to start playing football in the second half, we did that immediately."
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Following a thrilling 2-2 draw with Manchester City, Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp said he was delighted football has half-time breaks.
City completely dominated the first half, despite the opening 45 minutes finishing goalless.
After the break, Liverpool were far more aggressive and twice took the lead through Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah. City earned a draw thanks to goals from Phil Foden and Kevin De Bruyne, and Klopp felt a point apiece was the correct outcome.
“Thank God that there were two halves today because the first half was obviously exactly like you shouldn’t do it against City and the second half was exactly like you should do it against City,” Klopp said. “Four goals obviously happened in the second half but in the first half I can’t remember a chance from us, if I’m right.
"So I was really happy about the half-time whistle so that we could adjust a few things. And actually we didn’t change anything, we just told the boys again what we actually wanted to or should have said already in the first half.
Our biggest problem in the first half was we didn’t play football, that doesn’t help. You meet for a football game, people come into a stadium and you don’t play football – that sounds wrong and is wrong. So we needed to start playing football in the second half, we did that immediately.
“If we would have played only the second half, I actually would have liked to win the game. But together with the first half I am not that cheeky, I think the point is fine.”
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All four goals were of extremely high quality, albeit De Bruyne's finish took a deflection, but the standout was Salah’s effort as he left a string of City players trailing in his slipstream before slamming a shot beyond Emerson.
Klopp was in awe, and feels it will be talked about for years to come.
“The second goal, only the best players in the world score goals like this,” Klopp said. “The first touch, the first challenge he wins, then going there, putting it on the right foot and then finishing the situation off like he did, absolutely exceptional.
“Because this club never forgets anything, people will talk about this goal for a long, long time and in 50 or 60 years when they remember this game. It was a really good one.”
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