Trent Alexander-Arnold has revealed the Jurgen Klopp half-time team talk that inspired Liverpool to victory against Arsenal.
The Reds’ boss had the first-half recorded and produced highlights to his side in the dressing room at Anfield to highlight potential weaknesses in the Gunners’ side.
It was suggested that Arsenal arrived for their clash with Liverpool expected to be bombarded with crosses throughout the game and were slightly prepared for that.
Alexander-Arnold highlighted that Klopp saw the potential for his side to stretch Arsenal defensively if his side played the ball into the feet of Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino, or Sadio Mane.
“The gaffer showed us a bit of [footage] at half-time and we could stretch them, with Mo, Bobby and Sadio [Mane], and get it into feet,” he said, as quoted by the Express.
OPINION
The quick thinking and use of initiative from Klopp sets him apart as one of the best in the world. The Liverpool boss has created such a great environment at Anfield on and off the pitch and his side consistently continues to react to that in a positive manner and produce results for him. Getting the ball into the feet of the front-three clearly worked as well, with Alexander-Arnold himself finding Firmino in the box who laid it off the Salah who won and then dispatched a penalty to put his side further in control. Liverpool struggled in the first half to deal with Arsenal’s pace on the break at times and needed a late first-half goal from Joel Matip to go into the break leading. The tactical tweak saw the Reds continue their reign of dominance over Arsenal – now being unbeaten in nine games against them, scoring 26 goals in the process. Klopp will have been delighted that it was his slight tweak that was the major factor in his side picking up all three points.
