Harry Diamond
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has discussed his side’s defending after they conceded another late goal in the win over Arsenal.
The European champions had the best defensive record in the Premier League last season, but despite having a 100% record they have failed to keep a clean sheet in the opening three fixtures of the new campaign.
Despite Lucas Torreira’s late consolation for the visitors on Saturday evening, Klopp insists he has been pleased with the defensive aspects his side have displayed and singled out the performance of Joel Matip for praise.
“It was all around a really good performance and Joel, for sure it was his best game of the season,” Klopp told Liverpoolfc.com.
“People spoke about our defending. We work on our defending but not in the way people probably expected. It’s not about the last line; it’s a common thing, defending in the Premier League doesn’t work if you talk to [each individual player] and tell him, ‘We have to do this and that differently.’
“We worked really hard now on that, of course, like we always do but this week we had the time to do it. From a defending point of view, it was for sure the best game, against an incredible threat.
“One chip in behind, like the chance [for Pepe in the first half] was pretty much – it was not even a good pass, Hendo missed the ball – then they had the big chance and we needed Adrian to save us, very good again.
“But apart from that, we really defended really well. The goal happened when everybody was in the box, that’s nothing to do with defending. As we say in Germany, it was ‘I have him, you can take him’ but at the end nobody has the guy.
“I’m really overly happy.”
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