Jürgen Klopp met with the media after Liverpool's 1-1 draw with Aston Villa. The boss discussed the emotional day at Anfield, the match as a whole, and the Europa League qualification.
There is an old adage in America that says, “There is no crying in baseball”. I'm sure that is true, but I am sure there were more than a few tears shed around Anfield with 4 players suiting up for the final time in front of the home fans.
“Definitely, definitely [feeling emotional],” Klopp said. “So, the two boys who came on obviously showed today immediately what we will miss. It's Millie's (James Milner's) mentality; I don't want to underestimate really his football – because he played really good football here and today again – but the way he comes in a game, oh my God, whoever will do that for us in the next few years, that is a high, high bar because how many games he won for us in this way is insane. Then Bobby (Firmino) comes on, plays top football, is between the lines and scores a fantastic goal. Wonderful story well deserved the story.”
With emotions running high, Klopp was understanding that the club did not play at their best in the first half, but he says it is no excuse for the performance.
“We were too much in a rush in both departments, with the ball, without the ball,” he said “Our pressing was not good, you could see we wanted but the timing was wow, ‘Who is where?' That was not helpful. We played in their cards, they had moments in the game and they are a good football team obviously. They get a penalty, score their goal.
“It was clear in the second half we have to calm down; increase the pressure but calm down in the right areas, and that's what we did. And then you could see the whole game was for Aston Villa super-intense as well, they were really done in the second half, cramps here and there and all these kinds of things. So we could create our moments. We scored a goal which was disallowed and scored a goal which was allowed, and so it's a draw and that's OK.”
With Liverpool's chances at the Champions League nearly gone, Klopp took the time to tell the media he was pleased with the club's qualification to the Europa League next season.
“I think the whole season is rather a season where we qualify for Europa League than for Champions League. We were for too long not good enough or ourselves,” Klopp said. “I think we made it pretty exciting. I didn't think that was possible seven weeks ago, the boys did really well in that period. I think our people enjoyed it as well, you could see today they are not angry with us, they are looking forward to a new Premier League season and Europa League season.”
Like I said in the match report, today was a good day for Liverpool and it sounds like Klopp agrees with me. With all the emotions swirling around Anfield today, a draw is not a bad result. Yes, that means a Europa League season next year, but to hear some pundits talk, you would think the Reds just got relegated. As Klopp said, considering the season we have had, European qualification is a big accomplishment.
You can view the entire press conference by clicking here. The tribute to the departing players can be seen here.
