Milner and Firmino were also in the field yesterday - the Brazilian really hit a spot kick after Tommy Smith grabbed his shirt - but he was still Salah who was responsible for putting Liverpool ahead.
Klopp was able to joke about the situation given the final result but a change could still be in the offing with the Reds manager even suggesting Daniel Sturridge could have been an option to step up.
“I thought it made sense after the Egypt penalty – obviously the pressure is bigger in Liverpool than in Egypt to qualify for the World Cup!” he joked.
Asked if Salah is now the penalty taker, Klopp added: “I’m not sure that he is anymore… I think Daniel would have been a safe number in this group of players.”
Salah’s first half miss was just part of an insipid opening 45 minutes which left the Reds leaving the pitch to a small smattering of boos at half-time but Klopp played down any criticism from the stands.
“I would not make a big deal out of it (the booing). I have heard bigger atmospheres in my life when you know ‘something is wrong here’. It was not nice to watch (the first half), it was just work. When you go to watch football you do not only want to see work – that’s how it is.”
Klopp felt his players were too cautious in their approach in the first half, wanting to avoid counter attacks by not committing enough players forward, something he put down to the chastening defeat at Spurs last weekend.
“It was clear after the really harsh criticism after the last game that you can’t go like this (clicks fingers) and say, ‘it was not that bad’. It was bad! Games like this always have influence. It was very important that we reacted.“We had Dejan (Lovren) out one second before the game, Phil (Coutinho) was not there and we missed a penalty in the first half. Oooof! The atmosphere was obviously not too optimistic at half time so to come out and do what we did, it was really nice.
“I have no clue what you wrote last week but I’m not silly so I can imagine. I know that the players read. So the pressure was there. Dealing with a pressure like this, it helped us a lot.
“Now, Maribor – next West Ham. At this moment it feels good: clean sheet, scored three, reacting to a missed penalty. I’m officially happy today.”
0 Comments