Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp gave his assessment of the match against Derby County last night to the club’s official website. The German said that although he was pleased with certain aspects of the performance in the EFL cup tie, there are two areas where he expects improvement from his players.
The Reds went in 1-0 up at half time after a goal from Ragnar Klavan but Klopp was hoping for better decision making in the final third. Once his side went 3-0 up in the second half, Klopp believes they could have capitalised on more counter attacks:
“Could we have done better? Yes, a lot. Is it important tonight? No, because that’s what you want to have. You need to be 100 per cent professional, be really serious and take games like these like they are. They could be difficult but it wasn’t difficult because of us.”
“The opponent was ready for each opportunity but we didn’t give them [any]. So it was good. First half, we could have been a little bit better in the last pass. Second half, we could have been better in the counter-attack.”
Seeking perfection is the hallmark of any top class manager, and no doubt the German will be working hard with his players on the training pitch this week as they prepare for Hull at home on Saturday. Practising counter attacks may not be needed against the Tigers who will likely sit all eleven players behind the ball but making the right pass in the final third will be crucial to open up a packed defence.
