Here’s what Jurgen Klopp said in the dressing room after Van Dijk and Quansah rift
previews Liverpool’s clash against Newcastle United at Anfield on New Year’s Day
NEWCASTLE, ENGLAND – AUGUST 27: Jurgen Klopp, Manager of Liverpool on the bench before the Premier League match between Newcastle United and Liverpool FC at St. James’ Park on August 27, 2023 in Newcastle, England. (Photo by Richard Sellers/Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty Images)
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp during his side’s dramatic win at Newcastle United earlier this season
If Liverpool are to make a success of their Premier League season, their two games with Newcastle will represent key junctures.
The Reds had started to look like yesterday’s men at St James’ Park on August 27 as an enthusiastic home support roared on those in the black-and-white shirts while they zipped about their visitors with intent on August 27.
Jurgen Klopp’s side were already trailing to Anthony Gordon’s opener when captain Virgil van Dijk was sent off before the half-hour mark and it looked like it would be a chastening away day for a club still in flux from the summer’s whirlwind where a number of legendary figures had left and three new recruits, at the time, had joined.
After regaining a measure of composure, the entrance of Darwin Nunez for the 10 men was the catalyst for a shock and memorable win as the Uruguay striker struck two almost identical goals late on.
“I said after that game that if we can defend with 10 like this, who has a problem to do it with 11?” Klopp says. “So if we do that it makes it even more difficult for the opponent and something was really important and I don’t have numbers in my mind.
“It is not that I tell them the last year we conceded X, Y and Z goals but it is just clear that is the basis for everything and if we do that, then the offensive potential of these boys will come out and it was for sure a special day and a very important one.”
It was a victory that showcased the mental strength within the ranks at Anfield and the Reds welcome the Magpies to Merseyside on New Year’s Day for the corresponding fixture having lost just one of their last 30 Premier League games, dating back exactly nine months.
That one defeat during that time came at Tottenham on September 30 when Klopp’s men conceded a stoppage-time own goal after seeing two men sent off and a shocking VAR-related gaffe involving what should have been a legitimate Luis Diaz goal.
Quite how much reverence that 2-1 win up in the North East is given in the future depends on what happens in the second half of this campaign. But with the Reds embroiled in a fight for the Premier League title itself, a season that was meant to be about stabilising and rebuilding has suddenly become much more exciting for supporters after a December run that saw them take 14 points from a possible 18.
Another three points against Eddie Howe’s men and it will take them three points clear at the summit of English football and give ample belief to those already convinced a sustained push can emerge in the coming months.
In the increasingly unpredictable Premier League, however, Klopp is taking nothing for granted as an exciting 2024 also involving Arsenal, Manchester City and an emerging Aston Villa takes shape.
Klopp says: “It is just the quality of the Premier League. It is difficult to win games when you are not at your best. And you can be at your best and still draw or lose games.
“That is how it is. It is all pretty normal besides that. Okay, Man City are not 15 points ahead like they were one season or they are usually a few points ahead and there is a bigger gap to the other teams and then in January, February and March they go full throttle and (the media) say: ‘okay, that’s it’. It can still happen, you never know but I’m not interested in that.
“Villa have improved massively, Tottenham are back, Arsenal improved massively, we are kind of back, and City is City, Newcastle recently have had the problems we talked about. It is just new and completely different.
“It has nothing to to do with coaching anymore. It is about recovery, meetings, recovery, meetings that is how it is. It is just that everybody has improved and you can win football games. That’s why Villa beat City and Arsenal because they are just good. And they have a good idea and then you have a problem.
“It was always the case that you could go somewhere like Bournemouth and lose there because they are good as well – especially this year. Since matchday 10 they have been incredible.
“That is the Premier League at its best and probably how it should look and now it does. I would prefer a different situation but that is not possible so we have to take it like that and onwards.”
Liverpool’s malaise last term was punished by the emergence of Howe’s Newcastle as they finished inside the Champions League spots for the first time in 20 years while the Reds ended with their lowest-ever position under Klopp for a full season in fifth.
The increased demands on Newcastle’s squad, however, sees them pitch up at Anfield with an injury-hit team who have won just one of their last eight across all competitions. As a result they find themselves some 13 points behind their hosts.
Liverpool can go three clear of second-placed Aston Villa on Monday night and five ahead of City and Arsenal but Klopp is refusing to get too ahead of himself with any sustained talk inside the camp of winning league crown No.20.
Klopp says: “Usually I don’t prepare these kinds of [messages]. I think before the near-quadruple season [in 2022] we were quite a distance behind Manchester City at the half-way point. We were quite far away but had games in hand if I am right?
“And then I said: ‘For a second let’s think we have won these games in hand and then the gap is only seven points’ or something like that. We still have to play them and then it is four points and then it is not out of reach anymore because at one point it looked as though it was all done and dusted.
“We ended up one point behind (City). I don’t know if I will find something to say, I didn’t really think about it. I didn’t think on Thursday night (when West Ham United won 2-0 at Arsenal) when I saw the result: ‘Okay, now is the moment to send a message out’.
“I never say the obvious thing or it is pretty rare (that I do). Obviously it was a rather surprising matchday (Arsenal losing at home to West Ham) and all good.
“Now they all play before for and we play on January 1 which gives us three days to build up to and I am much more concerned that we use that time properly. Fresh legs and a good idea of what we have to do and then go for it.”
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