Klopp Talk: The First Half Was So Bad That The Second Half Had To Be Good

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The Reds came from behind to beat Wolves 3-1 and climb to the top of the league table.  

When all else fails, attack.

That is starting to become the mantra for Liverpool, responding to going a goal down against Wolves by unleashing wave after wave of attacking pressure until their opponents relented to the tune of 3-1.

The Reds had come out sluggish in the first half following the international break as is their wont—they had only won three of the last six lunchtime kickoffs following the league restart coming into today. Alexis Mac Allister, a surprise start considering his grueling travel schedule with the Argentina national team, was particularly off the boil, as Jurgen Klopp’s men were outworked and outplayed in the first period.

The hosts plundered an early goal through Hwang Hee-Chan and a boisterous home crowd at the Molineux would’ve felt rightly aggrieved that their side did not go into the halftime break up by more.

“The good thing about the first half was that it was so bad that I didn’t think we could play a second half like that,” Klopp said speaking to TNT Sport post-match.

“We had low energy levels, you could just see that the players were struggling.

However, the Reds boss made a series of changes at the break, bringing on Luis Diaz in place of Mac Allister and throwing the full backs forward in what at time resembled a 2-2-6 formation when on the ball.

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The pressure finally broke the tiring Wolves and goals from Cody Gakpo, captain on the day Andy Robertson and an own goal Hugo Bueno secured the three points for the Reds.

“We couldn’t make five substitutions at half time so we thought we would change the system to give us a bit more speed up front, natural speed,” Klopp explained.

“We had to control the game better. We changed pretty much everything in half time and it worked out pretty well.

“The first half was really bad and second half was really good. Do I want to see that every week? No. But today I will take it. Massive three points.”

It was a third come from behind win in five league matches so far this term, following dramatic victories over Newcastle and Bournemouth, with the Reds giving evidence that the mentality monster mindset is alive and well even in this newest generation of the squad.

The Reds are next in action on Thursday taking on LASK in their first match of Europa League group play.