Wolves 0-1 Liverpool: Tired but satisfied, that was the face of Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp after his side’s 0-1 win at Wolverhampton Wanderers in the FA Cup third round replay. The first triumph of 2023 did the German’s mind good, he agreed afterwards.
It was a replay match in the third round of the FA Cup, the first leg at Anfield ended in 2-2. That was also Gakpo’s debut in the service of his new club. Since then it hasn’t exactly gone crescendo. Liverpool have fallen back to the middle of the Premier League and lost 3-0 to Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday. Manager Klopp made many changes to his starting eleven for this match.
Klopp’s relief
“Yes, I really enjoyed this. It’s a rare feeling. It seems like an eternity since we won and played well. Yes, it’s hard work, that’s part of this tournament. We played very good football for a long period of time, and defended with passion. That’s very important. That’s the response we expected from ourselves, and the lads delivered,” Klopp told the BBC. With two defeats and a draw against Wolves, his team had a bad start to the year.
Match winner Harvey Elliott was named Man of the Match, partly due to his beautiful goal, but Klopp wanted to distinguish even more players. “Harvey got a tap on his ankle, but he fought on. The goal was exceptional, but I still had some Man of the Match candidates. The first half was very good, and the second at times too. At the end it’s pure passion: putting a body part in the way and blocking the shots. A cup match, great,” he concluded his praises.
Did he recognize his team a little more tonight? “In the passion, yes. I have to help the boys, that’s my job. I have to come up with a formation that they feel good about, but then on the field they have to bring the intensity. We did that well in midfield today. They quickly started playing long balls on Adama Traoré, but we defended that well. I enjoyed tonight,” said the coach who won the oldest cup tournament in the world with Liverpool in May last year
