Jurgen Klopp on 'exceptional' Rangers, Liverpool's 'special problem' and Cristiano Ronaldo

Would you have expected a quicker turnaround in your form?

Quicker? Not sure. In one of the conversations that we had after the Napoli game, we realised this was a low point and we had to change things quickly. We didn’t play Wolves, played Ajax and then didn’t play Chelsea. That meant we couldn’t pick anything up and keep it from the Ajax game. Then we face Brighton in a very good moment, a very good team with a new manager and concede these early goals. In those situations, it is harmful but in other situations maybe less harmful than it was for us that day. Then we turn it around with a brilliant performance and proper fight, adapting to the situation, denying Brighton in the areas they wanted to play and all these types of things. Then you are 3-2 up and you concede. It’s not the first time that something like this happens when we were not controlling the game. We had our moments, we had chances. We had top moments where we couldn’t score a fourth goal and didn’t do that, so we leave the door open. As it always is in life when you spot a problem you think about it, you expect a solution to be instant. That in football is never the case. That wouldn’t have been the case even if we had won the game 3-2. Which would be a completely different feeling obviously. That’s why we just have to keep going. We have to improve, play better, defend better, attack better. Pretty much everything.

Are there comparisons to be drawn with the 2020 run?

I don’t want to talk too much about it but only two years ago we had a very similar situation for different reasons. We lose all our centre-backs and had to find solutions. We lost our game completely. Nobody could be recognised anymore. We wore the same shirts but couldn’t react as quickly as people would wish. But we found a way out because we worked on it and that is what we will do this time. Our general situation is important but not so much tomorrow because when you prepare for a game, you prepare for a game, independent of the situation you are in. Rangers do extremely well in general but in the Champions League, their results have not been as they would have wanted. So we expect a team fighting for a result. That’s what we have to prepare for.

Does your confidence levels make this game more dangerous?

Rangers would be dangerous in any situation. People ask ‘how can it happen that these players are not full of confidence’? Do you think Cristiano Ronaldo is on top of his confidence levels? That happens to all of us. Lionel Messi wasn’t exactly the same last season because these types of things are really important. You have to take the little things to take a step in the right direction and then in the moment, you are really ready when it’s back. We’re not without confidence but being 2-0 down is not good for confidence and being 3-2 up is usually really good but you could say with the first attack they had [Brighton] which we gave them pretty much after 3-2, it was like ‘oh, it’s still an open game’. That’s how it happens, especially collectively. In a team sport, we all have to do it together and that makes it a bit more complicated.

Are you worried about conceding similar goals?

You are right. We have conceded now similar goals like this where they go through the same gaps. The special problem that we have is that we have a very brave way of defending usually and when the timing in our defending is not perfect, we leave a gap open – that was always the case by the way. But the pressure remained on the boy on the ball no one really recognised it. We closed it with intensity. If you don’t do that, this gap is open for a short moment and Brighton used it quite often, they passed the ball through our gap in between the lines where they could turn and this kind of thing, that make it tricky. We have to make it more compact. We have to improve it in our mind. We know that. Defending is an art. It worked for us really well and when it is not working out, you realise step by step how much you have to go back to the basics so you defend solidly again.

Rangers Review (Image: Rangers Review)

Was it frustrating to not be able to build on the Ajax performance?

It is not too much of a concern. Specifically, I am not too much concerned about it. The game we played explained the situation. Against a lot of teams, we would have been good enough to win the game, but Brighton were extremely good. That’s it. I don’t say that all the time. But Brighton were really good. We had no clue what Roberto [De Zerbi] would do also. We needed to be 2-0 to solve that. We did not have this problem after that. And no, we had two and half weeks after the Ajax game where we did not play, that’s why we could not pick up from there. We have to take good things out of the last game. They were good things. The period when we were 3-2 up was not free-flowing football but it was the football we had to play on that day to break them down and that is what we did. Then we conceded an equaliser and that’s the last feeling you keep. It felt like a defeat. It wasn’t, but it felt again like this. Patience is not 100 per cent the right word, but we have to be patient and do the right thing again and again and again until it works out again and then we will be fine. On a different level, but fine. We always have to work hard. But that is what we have to do. We can’t always start anew, thinking completely new, thinking what can we do. But if we can help the boys with a way to defend differently we will do that. We have to be more solid, we have to be more compact, definitely. That is what we try to do.

How do you assess Rangers as an opponent?

They are a good football team, well-coached. Exceptional European season last year obviously. Qualifying for the Champions League is a big, big, big achievement obviously. I saw the last game against Hearts, I have seen more games but obviously the last one, and they are a really good football team. That is what we have to prepare for. They are a team that has had results they didn’t want and that is what they want to change definitely. So we expect a proper fight, a real fight to be honest, and that is what we prepare for.

Is Darwin Nunez still adapting to the way this team plays?

He is good. Of course, he is still adapting. Our players always adapt. New players come in and everybody talks about them and wants them to shine immediately and that happens from time to time and sometimes not. Only yesterday we had a long talk with Pep Lijnders because my Spanish or Portuguese is still not better and we just told him ‘we are completely calm’. It is really important in our situation when he is not starting that he is not looking like he is worried about the result. Why didn’t he start this game? He comes from international duty and, how do you say it, he had doms in his hamstring. When you get this information from the medical team they give you some kind of minutes – how long is he allowed to play? Don’t start anybody who is allowed to play 20 minutes or 15. It is this kind of discussion. Of course, the three-game suspension didn’t help him to settle, that is clear. That is pretty much all. The team is not flying, which makes it not easy for a striker, especially not for a finisher. It is not that we don’t create chances, it is that everything is not clicking and we put everything on one player and he finishes the whole situation. That is not our situation at the moment as much as I wish it would be. And that is all.

Liverpool v Rangers – does the rarity value make it so special?

“I heard that it is 42 years that there is no games. So, yes, that is pretty special. Unfortunately, apart from that I cannot say too much about the relationship, about what that means exactly. Nobody gave me a historical update. I know a few things obviously and that it might be very special for sure. But apart from that it is a normal Champions League game. But it is very nice. I actually think that it is very nice that we don’t play the same teams all the time. It is refreshing, it is great for Rangers, there will be a great atmosphere here, there will be a great atmosphere. Definitely, people should enjoy that and I hope they will be able to enjoy that.”

Also, Florentino Perez says Europe’s biggest clubs need to be playing more for the game to be better?

I have no opinion about that, didn’t think about it for a second, not interested too much about it at the moment as you can imagine. He said ‘to improve football’? I think we should play less games to improve football to be honest. Give the people more time to train, that would improve football. Yeah, how’s that? Didn’t think about it. No opinion.

Is there a quick fix to the defence?

No, we don’t have the time. Yes, we can improve, we can play exactly the same and do better. That is already a fix. If we can do something we will do that as well. That will make it easier for the boys, that is it. That is actually the job, it is the same job as when you win 10, 12 times in a row. It doesn’t happen very often, but you have to stay on top of it, work on details. That is what we do now with a different confidence level. So that’s how it is. Usually, at a time when you win a lot of games, not everything is going your way in a game, but it doesn’t have the same impact.

What can Ben Davies bring to Rangers?

He was out for seven weeks so the season is not much longer. He’s a new player coming into a new club. I watched the last three games so I’ve only seen him play 60 minutes. He’s a really good footballer. Good build-up, good footballer. In our situation, it didn’t work out for him here but that doesn’t make him a bad player, not at all. Ben is a good boy and that’s what Rangers wanted and that’s what they got. They were looking for a left-footed centre half and they got it. He can play different systems, which is important, as Rangers have played one and a half games using five at the back in the Champions League. Usually, they don’t but he can play both formations which makes him a really valuable option for a squad so I think they’re happy, but obviously not that he had been injured.

What do you think of the Scottish game?

It’s increased a lot. Rangers and Celtic are obviously the stand-out teams in the league, that’s not news, but how do they do in Europe and Rangers’ run in Europe last year was exceptional. The Dortmund game was just really good. Especially the home game you saw how the atmosphere can give you the edge in the game so it was really impressive. Celtic are doing really well and the Scotland game is full of talent. We have another Scottish boy in Calvin [Ramsay] and another big talent in the under-18s (Ben Doak), so it’s a cool place to scout again. That’s a good sign for Scottish football. They may be a bit disappointed they’re not still in Scotland as if a player is really developing, it’s not unlikely that he at least give it a try in the Premier League. But it’s for sure a much better moment than four or five years ago and that’s down to the players.

Have you spoken to Steven Gerrard about the game?

When he was there, yes, but since then not anymore. When Stevie was there I followed it closely and at least had a look at the results at the weekend. He enjoyed the job a lot there and was very successful. It was a big career move when he went there from Liverpool and now he’s at Villa, that’s it.