Jurgen Klopp makes 'unpredictable' Liverpool formation…

Jurgen Klopp makes 'unpredictable' Liverpool formation admission and issues Darwin Nunez warning

Jurgen Klopp refused to confirm whether Liverpool would be sticking with their new formation against Arsenal, after insisting it’s more important that his side stay unpredictable.

Having endured a below-par start to the season, the German named Mohamed Salah, Darwin Nunez, Diogo Jota and Luis Diaz in a four-man attack as the Reds returning to winning ways against Rangers on Tuesday, with Fabinho the man to make way in midfield as Klopp stepped away from his favoured 4-3-3 system.

Speaking about the change of formation, the Liverpool boss confirmed teams have worked out how to play against his team and taken advantage of their below-par performances. And while he refused to confirm if the new system would be staying for the foreseeable, he stressed the importance of being able to switch between different formations as a result.

“Teams worked out how you can play against us when we are not at our best,” Klopp said. “Other teams have worked out how to play against us for years. But it still didn’t work out for them because we were exceptional in the moment with the things we did.

“The moment you aren’t exceptional, then it looks like now they realise. In our best games, I could show you the parts where we could have had problems. But we didn’t because we put so much pressure on the opposition so they couldn’t find the spaces.

“That’s the risk you take. The moment you don’t play at your top level, the gaps are still there and they play the pass through. And it looks like, ‘now we know how to play against them’. No, it was always clear. And in whatever system we play.

“There is no system in the world without a weakness. It’s all about how we perform, what we did and the intensity we did it with. That changes everything.

“You fill the gaps with your movements and the gaps are not really existing, or they only exist for a second and you close them again. No system we can rely on and say, ‘now this is perfect’.

“We know how to play against other teams. You see how they play usually. That’s the problem with us, most of the time teams change system.

“Arsenal will not do that. They believe in what they are doing. 100% and rightly so so we know how to prepare for Arsenal, but in the end it’s how we execute it.”

Klopp continued: “It’s much more important that we become unpredictable again. We need different systems for that as well.

“It’s not the only system we can play. There are obviously different systems available for us and we have to choose what is the best for the next opponent or the best for us in the moment. We have to be more unpredictable, definitely.”

Meanwhile, Klopp was full of praise for forwards Darwin Nunez and Roberto Firmino as he backed the former to soon embark on a goalscoring run and reiterated the latter's importance to Liverpool, in what could be his final year at the club if a new contract is not agreed.

Klopp said: “It was down to his (Nunez’s) movement and the movement of the boys around him. One of the things he showed so far in all the games he played is he brings himself, quite frequently, into good finishing positions which is actually the most important thing for a striker. Everybody should be very optimistic about what’s coming from him in the future.

“(Firmino scores two) And then I take him out of the line-up! Bobby, the goals he scored against Brighton were absolutely outstanding. For the game, after the weekend we thought it didn’t make sense to play like this and we play a lot of games.

“Bobby is an incredibly important player to me and to us especially. I’m happy with his goalscoring record so far. Hopefully he can put in a few more.”

READ NEXT:

Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.

Already a member? Sign in here