Jurgen Klopp has explained why Liverpool play the sort of attacking football that is leading their title charge.
The Reds secured a 4-2 victory over Crystal Palace on Saturday, keeping them third in the table and behind Manchester City and Arsenal on goal difference alone.
It was Liverpool’s seventh win in ten league games, and Klopp’s side have now scored 24 goals – the most in the league alongside leaders City.
The style of football has attracted praise from a number of onlookers, but the manager says that Liverpool only play this way because “this kind of football helps us”.
“I don’t think about it, actually,” he said, when asked why the Reds play such expansive football. “We don’t do it because we want to show something, we do it because this kind of football helps us, because we think the best kind of defending is keeping the ball.
“In our world, that’s how it is. As long as we have the ball, it’s quite logical, so it’s not about entertaining.
“Yes (it’s the most effective way). When you have these boys it makes sense. That’s how it is. They are able to do it and that’s all what we think about.
“I know all questions will lead in the same direction: yes I’m happy today, not more, but happy. Especially happy with the reaction of the second part in the second half, when we came back to play football again, even when we were really tired by then, because the first half killed us a little bit.”
The German added that the mentality of the players does not guarantee success, and that they have to “react” at times to the situation.
“It is no guarantee for anything, so you need to start new in each game always, there are different things to do,” Klopp said. “At Crystal Palace, it was completely different to West Brom last week, even when a few things of course were similar.
“You have to react and use another space, and then stay in the game and stay really kind of angry when you feel really good.
“That’s another challenge, that was in the first 15 minutes which I didn’t really like, playing bam-bam-bam like this, making all these moves and not shooting or finishing, it makes not too much sense.
“We only do it because we think it helps.”