DAILY MIRROR 26.08.2019
(^4) mirror.co.uk/sport/football
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BY DAVID MADDOCK
JURGEN KLOPP answered
criticism of Liverpool’s
failure to keep a clean
sheet this season by saying
that defending is not like
riding a bike.
The Liverpool boss was
pleased with an emphatic
victory over Arsenal, and
with the contribution of
Trent Alexander-Arnold,
who has taken flak for his
defensive work of late.
The full-back (right)
delivered for Joel Matip’s
opening goal, and then
helped Mo Salah score two.
Klopp said: “Look it’s
absolutely no problem to be
criticised – that’s part of
the deal. Yes, Trent had to
improve, and he has.
“So it’s not a criticism in
the sense that ‘you lost
it, you will never be a
good defender again,’ it’s
just that they all had an
exceptional campaign last
season and then had to
deal with a three-week
holiday and then come
back again.
“It’s not like riding a
bike. You lose it, you lose
what you had before.”
Liverpool had 20 clean
sheets in 38 Premier
League matches last term.
Klopp explained: “As a
team you can lose it, you
can lose the art of
defending. You have to
come back and start
again, and we are doing
that. Against Arsenal it
was good, really
aggressive.”
BRAKES ARE OFF
FOR TRENT NOW
Klopp salutes table-toppers: We had to
break Arsenal physically... and we did
BY DAVID MADDOCK
“OUR identity is intensity. We
had to impose that on Arsenal
and that’s exactly what the
boys did.”
In one exquisite phrase, Jurgen
Klopp provided the perfect sum-
mary of this enthralling contest
and the key to Liverpool’s
dominance. His side had to break
Arsenal, he said.
Break them physically. And they
did in such a compelling, complete
manner that it sends out a warning
to the whole of the Premier League,
not just their demoralised visitors.
Klopp admitted that Liverpool
had been searching for their true
form in the opening few games of
Unai Emery’s side packing their
penalty box and conceding space
on unpatrolled flanks to Trent
Alexander-Arnold and Andy
Robertson. Yep, two of the best
crossers in world football. What
did Emery think would happen?
It was like a training drill, with
Klopp exaggerating only slightly
when he suggested his side had
“crossed 500 times.” Liverpool’s
first two goals came from Alex-
ander-Arnold crosses, the third
started by him in space on the
right.
Arsenal had two chances
when still in the game. Nicolas
Pepe, starting in a position he’s
never played before, shot at
Adrian in the Liverpool goal
and striker Pierre-Emerick
Aubameyang lifted wide of
an open goal after the
keeper’s mistake.
Had either
gone in, then
the season, so he sent them out
with a clear message on Saturday.
“The intention was to be us –
just be us,” he said. “Our identity is
intensity, and the intensity we put
into the game was really incredible.
“An opponent of the quality of
Arsenal, you have to break some-
how. Break them physically, yes.
“And we did. I said at half-time to
the boys ‘how do you think they
feel?’ It was such an intense first
half there was no time to breathe.”
Klopp was right. Arsenal, who
gained a late consolation goal from
Lucas Torreira, were never allowed
to breathe. They were dispossessed
in their own defensive third eight
times in the first half. That’s the
most by any team this season, and
the most for Arsenal in a decade.
One of the best passing teams in
Europe was effectively transformed
into a long-ball minnow because of
that claustrophobic pressure.
It led to the truly bizarre sight of
DO THE RIGHT THING
Jurgen Klopp delivers his trademark
punch after Mo Salah’s second makes
it 3-0 and puts Liverpool in charge
LIVERPOOL 3
Matip 41, Salah 49 pen, 59
ARSENAL 1
Torreira 85
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