Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp was underwhelmed with a point against Manchester United in last night's disappointing game.
The Man Utd boss sent his side out to stifle play and prevent Liverpool finding an early rhythm and he was successful. With at times a back line consisting of 6 players and midfielders dropping deep to 10 yards in front of the defence, he successfully squeezed Liverpool out of the final third.
For the first 30 minutes United stifled Liverpool's play although the reds did eventually get a foothold in the game - going on to dominate the match in terms of possession. The home side did manage to break through United's defensive unit on a couple of occasions but De Gea saved Can's shot and Valencia produced a fine tackle to prevent Firmino pulling the trigger.
Speaking after the game Klopp said that things could have started better for his team.
The game was, from the first second, very hectic and that was maybe a little bit what United wanted and what we didn’t want, so it was more to their advantage than ours.
But that can happen at the start - but then you have to find a way back to the way you usually want to play.
The Liverpool boss tried to reflect on the positives - it was the reds first clean sheet in 11 Premier League games stretching back to the beginning of last May.
The second half, maybe we would have deserved the win but in the end, the best news tonight is we have one point more and a clean sheet - nothing else. We can do much better, we have to do much better and you have to learn in a game like this - when an opponent creates an atmosphere on the pitch like this, you need to stay cool.
Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge was playing his 100th game for the reds last night and had an ineffective night, but Klopp did defend him:
Even when we had the first and second thirds of the pitch, in the last third we immediately lost patience. It was like ‘now give it to Daniel’ and of course, it was a really difficult game for a striker - the way we played today, it was not easy to enjoy for a striker.
There was one situation in the first half when Phil made a brilliant run and then he wanted to pass to Daniel in the box, but Millie was completely free and he could have made a cross from the touchline with three or four players in the box.
Situations like this are why I talk about why we could have done better, but in the end there was a really, really good attitude from my side.
We worked really hard and tried everything, but with the wrong tools tonight.
Klopp decided that he couldn't gamble Lallana from the start - the attacker came on for the final half hour and had an immediate impact on the team.
He trained for two days - maybe he could’ve started, I don’t know, he was really close. Thank you to the medical department, the fitness coaches, because they did a great job. After two days training, he could’ve played, but no-one knows for how long. When he came in he was really sharp, greedy, after 12 or 13 days, to feel the ball again.
Klopp was asked about Mourinho's tactics for the game.
They are a very physically strong team. We had a few players who tried to make the advantage on the ground - sometimes we were better, sometimes they were better. That’s all OK. I’m not interested in why Manchester United were here tonight. We had a few good moments but not enough to deserve the win.
Video: Klopp post-match reaction
