Jurgen Klopp has revealed what he told his Liverpool players at halftime as they came from a goal down to earn a point against Manchester City on Saturday.
Erling Haaland gave the hosts a deserved lead in the 27th minute after a quiet start to the game at the Etihad, but Trent Alexander-Arnold drilled home the equaliser late in the second half.
The game finished one apiece to see Man City drop points at home in the Premier League for the first time in 2023, but Klopp admitted his side were slow to the races – a point he made clear to his squad at the interval.
“It’s a really good moment,” the Liverpool boss told Sky Sports. “It’s a tough place to come – it’s no coincidence that they win that many home games. You’d need more time to prepare for the game properly, especially in these kind of circumstances.
“We’re still in a process. If we’d played really well today, we could have won – we didn’t. We played okay. We caused them problems as well, but our good moments didn’t feel that good to us [in the first half]. We had to stretch ourselves again [in the second half]. We adapted our positioning slightly. Unfortunately we lost Diogo [Jota], with Ali we’ll have to see.
“I told the boys at half-time, imagine what it would be like if we were playing well. We had to settle a little bit. Putting Trent in a different position defensively, plus Dom [Szoboszlai] and Mo [Salah] closing that gap in the second half gave us much more stability. From there we could play football ourselves.
“We had good moments. I wish we could have had more. For the moment we’re in, we should take the point as a success. I have nothing to complain about there.
“Trent made a difference today. Before we start talking about positioning, I think it helps us having him on the right wing from time to time.”
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