Coach Jurgen Klopp said his comments about demanding a replay against Tottenham were misunderstood and Liverpool have put the VAR team's mistakes behind them.
At a press conference before the match against Union SG in the second round of Group E of the Europa League, Klopp affirmed that he was not interested in the recording of the conversation between the referees. He considered the only way to correct the mistake of denying Luiz Diaz a valid goal was to let Liverpool and Tottenham play a replay of the seventh round of the Premier League.
This statement by the German coach immediately attracted attention and created a great controversy. Former defender Gary Neville mocked Klopp, and the British media considered that the replay, if it happened, would become a bad precedent because other Premier League clubs would request the same when receiving an unfavorable decision from the referee. The British media also recalled that Liverpool had benefited when VAR did not have the right angle, so it denied Wolves a valid goal in the 2-2 draw in the third round of the FA Cup earlier this year.
At the press conference after the Union SG match, Klopp said his statement was misunderstood. "I knew it would be difficult when I spoke yesterday about the match against Tottenham," the German coach said. "And the reactions afterwards showed me what this world is like. I think everyone here heard what I said, but understood something else."
Klopp applauds fans at Anfield after the 2-0 win over Union SG in the second round of Group E of the Europa League on October 5. Photo: liverpoolfc.com
Klopp stressed that the Liverpool team had put aside the VAR team's mistakes in the defeat to Tottenham, and no longer wanted to mention this issue. He said: "If yesterday's statements made people think I was still bitter about the Tottenham match, it was not. We have moved on from that. We are not children. The team just had a few questions to answer and we did that."
At Anfield yesterday, Liverpool dominated with 74% possession, 19 shots with 9 on target - compared to 6 and 2 for Union SG. But the "Reds" wasted their chances and only scored twice at the end of each half thanks to Ryan Gravenberch's rebound and Diogo Jota's cross.
According to Klopp, Liverpool did not play well in the first half, need to take advantage of the opportunity to win more but satisfied with three important points. The 56-year-old coach sees the Europa League group stage matches as an opportunity to rotate, so he changed nine positions compared to the starting lineup against Tottenham, including giving opportunities to young players and reserves such as Jarell Quansah, Kostas Tsimikas, Wataru Endo or Harvey Elliott.
Meanwhile, Gravenberch was happy to score his first goal for Liverpool and received a standing ovation from the Anfield fans when he was replaced by Dominik Szoboszlai in the 79th minute. When asked what has changed at Liverpool, the Dutch midfielder replied: "I think it's playing time. When you're on the pitch, you feel more confident. Liverpool have a strong squad with a lot of young players with potential. I like that. I think Liverpool have done a great job of buying such good players."
Hong Duy
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