Klopp is keen to ensure his players concentrate from start to finish in future games
Despite a series of recent wins and performances that have had Liverpool fans purring, opposition fans cringing and the British media touting Liverpool as now being in the Premier League title running, Jurgen Klopp still has a big issue with his player’s lack of concentration.
On Wednesday evening, with barely 40 seconds on the clock, Liverpool conceded an early goal to Southampton and took almost 20 minutes to actually look like the team we’d come to recognise in recent months.
But once the levels of concentration kicked in the rest was history. However, the Liverpool manager is keen to drill it into these Liverpool players that concentration has to begin at the first whistle and continue until the last, particularly after seeing his side go behind early several times since taking over.
Speaking to the press at Melwood prior to the visit to Newcastle on Sunday (via Liverpoolfc.com), Klopp said: “I never have a problem with overconfidence. We expect it [to win] too – to be honest, we expect it all the time but it doesn’t work all the time and that’s the problem.
“We have the same thinking about this, but it doesn’t mean we don’t have respect.
“To be prepared for a game, you have to know as much as you can about the actual situation or moment at the [opposition] club because everything can be motivation.
“Confidence is something like a small flower. If you have it but somebody kicks it in the game, you see nothing. But if you don’t have it, you can get it easily back if the other team give you the opportunity to do this. That’s what we have to be prepared for.
“It’s not allowed to start a game like we did against Southampton, Chelsea and Crystal Palace.
“I told the lads if you do it once, you can ignore [it]. If you do it twice, you have to talk about it. If you do it three times, you have to change it immediately – and we did it three times.”
Having gone behind a number of times this season, the Reds have shown tremendous spirit and fight to turn the matches around. And not just to win the game, as demonstrated on Wednesday, but to overturn the result and make the victory very emphatic (Crystal Palace aside).
The Liverpool manager does not want to instill overconfidence or a lack of respect into his players though, only a level of concentration and confidence that sees his players start the game the way they’ve finished most recent matches. Starting at St. James’ Park on Sunday.
