Premier League: Klopp compares third-placed finish with 19-20 title-winning campaign- Liverpool head coach Jurgen Klopp has made a bold statement following his team’s 2-0 win against Burnley over the weekend. The German tactician went on to claim how the Reds’ 3rd place finish last season was an achievement at the same levels of their title-winning campaign.
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— Liverpool FC (@LFC) August 23, 2021
The 54-year-old manager explained why finishing third last season was ‘just as big’ as their 3-decade wait for the domestic league title sharing how the team was playing ‘with no defense’ because of injuries.
The BILD has quoted Klopp saying: ‘The biggest problem was that we had to play without a defense. Van Dijk, Matip and Gomez are out. It took us until we could deal with it. Our structure was just gone. We couldn’t play what was normal for us before. Third place is just as high as the championship title the year before.’
The Merseyside outfit had a long injury list last season with key players forced to spend most of their time on the sidelines. Long-term injuries to Virgil van Dijk, Joel Matip, and Joe Gomez saw the Merseyside outfits’ three first-choice center backs miss major parts of the previous Premier League season.
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The Reds faulted without a proper defense with questions surrounding their ability to feature in the Champions League next season. However, Jurgen Klopp’s men somehow managed to battle the injury crisis to finish third behind Manchester United and reigning Premier League champions Manchester City.
Following the injury crisis at the heart of the clubs’ defense, Liverpool brought in defensive options by acquiring the services of Ibrahima Konate. The 22-year-old Frenchman made the switch from RB Leipzig for £36million and is considered to be a valuable asset in the future.
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Yet to play this season, Konate will be eager to partner up with Van Dijk and Gomez as the duo has returned from injury. The Reds will be hopeful of seeing all their key players return back to full fitness and challenge Man City for the Premier League title once again.
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