Redeemed: After four games without a win, Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp was able to enjoy a sense of achievement again in the Premier League
Quelle: Getty Images/Michael Regan
Liverpool FC manages the long-awaited liberation. In the derby against Everton, the team celebrates its first win of the new year. Trainer Jürgen Klopp officiates. His measures are finally taking effect again.
Dhe relief was palpable. To see a smile again, the fist triumphantly catapulted up into the Liverpool night sky and then whipped downwards, the players not consoling, but appreciatively hugged – Jürgen Klopp was obviously a happy coach after this game.
Not surprising, his Liverpool FC celebrated their first win of the year in the Premier League. After the last four unsuccessful games, the troubled team won the derby against Everton, who were threatened with relegation, 2-0 (1-0) and thus achieved the long-awaited liberation.
Mohamed Salah (36th minute) and Winter access Cody Gakpo (49th) with his debut goal in England each scored after a counterattack. The win saw Liverpool move up from tenth to ninth place in the table, beating future Champions League opponents Chelsea FC but still seven points adrift of a place in Europe. Everton remain in relegation place 18.
“I’m really happy,” said Klopp, “it was necessary that we played the game we wanted to play and not what Everton had planned to play.” Too often in the past few weeks and months that has been the case Fall, Liverpool had to follow the dictates of the opponent. There were seven defeats this season after 21 games, last season there were just two after the end of the season.
“It felt like us, it looked like us,” says Klopp
“We were super dominant,” Klopp summed up, “a lot of things were different that night, so it was the best game for a while. We needed a game like that, we needed a performance like that, now we have it. We absolutely deserved it, we delivered that night. It was very, very important.”
Because there was a lot at stake. The free fall in the table had to be stopped in order not to lose sight of the European Cup places any further. They are now seven points behind fifth-placed Tottenham, who have played two games more.
But in a way it was also about Klopp, his ability to give the staggering team support again. That had recently been questioned. Everton, on the other hand, came with the reference that they had just surprisingly defeated leaders Arsenal 1-0. In new coach Sean Dyche’s first game, by the way, which added to the exhilaration at the club. So Klopp’s unsettled star ensemble met a team that had gained self-confidence. But it passed the endurance test, Klopp’s measures finally took effect again.
“It felt like us, it looked like us,” said the 55-year-old afterwards: “The entire performance was extremely important for us because we had to make a statement. Everyone starts to believe in themselves a little more after this game.”
Before the local derby, he had emphasized that he definitely wanted to fulfill his contract with Liverpool, which runs until 2026, despite the current crisis. It’s not just in the league that things haven’t been going as planned for quite some time, the defending champion has also been eliminated from the FA Cup and the League Cup. “I won’t and I can’t go,” Klopp clarified. An early departure from Anfield is out of the question for him. “I’m responsible and I want to do it. I’m 100 percent committed. I have enough experience to know that you can get out of a situation like this,” he said.
Another ray of hope: Klopp were available for the game against Everton after injuries for the first time again defensive boss Virgil van Dijk and the offensive players Roberto Firmino and Diogo Jota. Diogo Jota and Firmino came on in the second half. Liverpool have to play fourth-placed Newcastle United next Saturday (6.30 p.m., in the WELT sports ticker). A real endurance test, there will be shown whether the doubts about Klopp and his team were not hastily contained.
