LONDON • Liverpool are inching towards a first league title in 29 years, but Jurgen Klopp has called on his team to bask in the journey with their supporters and not be consumed by the "Holy Grail" of lifting the Premier League crown.
The Reds' 2-0 victory at relegation-threatened Cardiff on Sunday restored their two-point lead over champions Manchester City (86 points), who will play their game in hand against cross-town rivals Manchester United tomorrow.
While Pep Guardiola's men will return to the top of the table should they win at Old Trafford, it has still been a season to cherish for Klopp and his players, with just three league matches left.
He said: "If you are only motivated to win the (league title), then something is wrong with you. We want to win football games because we enjoy the ride with the fans.
"In the end, we will see how many points we have and then we get what we get."
Georginio Wijnaldum's second-half opener - a cleverly worked corner routine which resulted in Trent Alexander-Arnold's cutback - and James Milner's late penalty secured a ninth consecutive win in all competitions for Klopp's men, a result he called "really massive".
The German said: "We spoke a lot about this game, how special it is, how special the situation is for the opponent. It was not a game for playing around. It was a battle of will, who wants it more."
Â
BONE HARD
Dry pitches are dangerous for the players injury-wise... the ball doesn't roll that quick and it's difficult for the fluency of the game.
JURGEN KLOPP, Liverpool manager, is not happy with the pitch at Cardiff.
He also revealed that Wijnaldum's strike was from "not from the training ground, but from the dressing room at half-time when the boys decided to do that".
He said: "We put a lot of emphasis on set pieces. We know Cardiff are outstandingly strong on offensive set pieces but, from time to time, they have problems with defensive set pieces. Some of the boys obviously found that out.
"A brilliant goal, I loved it."
He blasted the playing surface, which was not watered despite the baking temperatures and was "bone hard".
He said: "The ball didn't roll like normal. Everybody saw it. Dry pitches are dangerous for the players injury-wise and you know why people leave the pitch dry.
"The ball doesn't roll that quick and it's difficult for the fluency of the game."
Cardiff boss Neil Warnock denied he had ordered his groundsmen not to water the pitch and did some finger pointing of his own - at Mohamed Salah, who won Milner's spot kick. He accused the forward of going down too easily and that he could not have "got much higher off the diving board".
Klopp insisted it was a penalty because Cardiff captain Sean Morrison "used the hand four or five times".
He started the mind games ahead of City's tricky trip to United, who were routed 4-0 at Everton on Sunday, saying he is not counting his chickens yet.
"Even if United get a point or something, we still have to play games after that. We just have to stay focused on our things," said Klopp, whose team host Huddersfield on Friday.
"Some people up in Liverpool might ask us if we're thinking about Barcelona in the Champions League semi-finals (on May 1).
"We'll be completely focused on Huddersfield."
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS, THE GUARDIAN
European football governing body UEFA said Friday that the correct anti-racism protocol had not been followed during the Italian league game between Inter Milan and Napoli midweek amid repeated abuse of Senegalese defender Kalidou Koulibaly. Napoli's French-born Koulibaly was targeted by monkey
UEFA says anti-racism protocol not followed in Koulibaly case
Football: 'Adulting' Ikhsan finds his footing in Norway, Football News & Top Stories May 22, 2019 John Football 0 SINGAPORE - He may still be some way off his ultimate ambition of playing in a top European league, but Singapore striker Ikhsan Fandi is definitely making progress in the right direction, after scoring his first two goals in
Watch: Singapore striker Ikhsan Fandi scores first goal for
Gareth Bale is "100 per cent" committed to Real Madrid, according to his agent. Jonathan Barnett was responding to reports that Real manager Zinedine Zidane had raised doubts over the Welshman's
Bale '100 percent' committed to Real claims agent
Thomas Muller now has more time for family after 'negative surprise' of Germany axe Bayern Munich forward and teammates Jerome Boateng and Mats Hummels were informed by Joachim Low that they would
Soccer Football - Premier League - Huddersfield Town v Arsenal - John Smith's Stadium, Huddersfield, Britain - February 9, 2019 Huddersfield Town's Karlan Ahearne-Grant in action with Arsenal's Bernd
Iwobi, Lacazette lead Arsenal to win at Huddersfield - Egypt
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer warned that some Manchester United players will not represent the club again after admitting they deserve to be in the Europa League next season and are miles adrift of the country's top clubs.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer admits playing in Europa League is right
Court rules Rafinha must use Adidas equipment, Football News
Hard to keep Hazard: Sarri LONDON • Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri has accepted it will be hard to deny Eden Hazard a move to Real Madrid this summer, even if a reported £100 million (S$176.7 million) move is "too cheap" for the Belgium captain.
Hard to keep hold of Hazard, admits Sarri | The Daily Star
How to live stream Tottenham vs Liverpool from outside your country. Further down this page, we have details on the Champions League final viewing options in the likes of the US, Canada, Australia
Champions League final 2019: The best outdoor screenings and
Teenage sensation Moise Kean scored the winner to put Juventus one step away from an eighth consecutive Serie A title on Saturday as a 2-1 comeback win over AC Milan pushed the champions 21 points clear at the top. Kean -- the victim of racist abuse earlier this week in Cagliari -- came on as a
Now into its third year in Singapore, the International Champions Cup (ICC) is set for its most exciting edition yet with Serie A heavyweights Juventus and Inter Milan, and English Premier League (EPL) giants Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur confirming their participation yesterday.
Man United, Spurs, Juventus, & Inter To Play Friendlies In S
@europeanreform It is true that the ITQ system added a lot of wealth to the Icelandic economy.
iceland ireland italy: Topics by Science.gov
Sigurdur Ragnar Eyjolfsson will insist that it is possible to taste success as he throws his name into the hat for the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) technical director position, which is
Football: New FAS technical director Joseph Palatsides
Things Singapore does better than anywhere else Source: Things Singapore does better than anywhere else - CNN.com
The Project Gutenberg eBook, Where the Pavement Ends, by John
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar