Jurgen Klopp hailed the performance of Coutinho as Liverpool romped to a 3-1 win over Everton in the Merseyside derby at Anfield.
Liverpool extended their unbeaten run in the Merseyside derby at Anfield by securing a 3-1 win over Everton on Saturday, thanks to goals from Sadio Mane, Coutinho and Divock Origi while Matthew Pennington scored for the Toffees.
Jurgen Klopp was visibly upbeat and pleased with the result as he spoke to the reporters in the post-match conference. The manager highlighted Coutinho’s performance on the night while also thanking the Brazilian national team staff, for returning Coutinho and Firmino in such good shape and such zealous mood.
“ I have to say thank you to the whole staff of the Brazil national team because they gave us both boys back in a fantastic mood. It was a world-class goal, another fantastic finish and he made the pass for Div’s goal. He had a really, really good game.”
The Merseyside derby, or any derby, for that matter, is known to get feisty. And, as tempers soared on the football pitch with challenges flying in, Klopp was visibly animated on the touchline on each foul by the opposition, trying to get into the ears of the referee.
The boss was asked as to how he thinks his side handled the game mentally and whether he was happy with the temperament shown.
“I thought in all three derbies we’ve played until now, we were exactly like this. I thought we did really well, again with the importance of the game, not to show anybody that we would do everything for this derby – we had to play football and use the football to do it.”
“We want to be hard, yes, but against ourselves and we want all the players to leave the pitch without injuries. You cannot avoid injuries in football, as we all know, but a few of them you can. ”
Klopp also responded to Koeman’s comments, where the former Barcelona player said that while the Everton dugout was silent, the Liverpool dugout was animated on each foul and was trying to influence the referee.
“I know a few people – especially from other clubs – think I am crazy because I look like I look, I’m sorry for this but I am really emotional. ”
The win sees Liverpool climb to third on the table and with a seemingly comfortable run-in towards the end of the season, the Reds are now primed to secure a top-four place this campaign.
