Klopp says why Liverpool improved after Mo Salah was subbed and names player who was 'really good'

Jurgen Klopp reckons that Liverpool’s substitutes made the difference as they moved back to the Premier League summit with a victory over Sheffield United.

The Reds battled to a 3-1 win to leapfrog Arsenal and restore a two-point advantage in the title race. Yet Liverpool were far from their best against the top flight’s basement side at Anfield.

The home side’s opening goal arrived in the 17th minute when Darwin Nunez charged down Ivo Grbic’s clearance and the ball rolled into the back of the net. However, Liverpool struggled to create any real clear-cut chances after that and United levelled in the 58th minute when Gustavo Hamer’s header ricocheted off Conor Bradley and squirmed through Reds goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher’s legs.

Just two minutes later, Klopp opted to withdraw talisman Mo Salah along with Ryan Gravenberch, with Harvey Elliott and Andy Robertson introduced. Then with the score still level. Curtis Jones and Cody Gakpo came on in place of Joe Gomez and Domink Szoboslai.

All four players from the bench made a difference. Robertson’s cross was cleared only as far as Alexis Mac Allister to lash home into the top corner with 14 minutes remaining. Then on 90 minutes, Robertson’s cross was headed into the far corner by Gakpo.

And Klopp believes that the changes added more acceleration and speed to Liverpool’s game. On the victory, the Reds boss said: “As a manager, you have to take it like you get it. I would prefer to be 5-0 up at that moment already but that's tricky. We scored one of my favourite goals ever, 1-0, because I think from time to time a striker needs that kind of thing. I ask him quite a lot to press the opponent and it's quite rare that you get really close enough to have this kind of block, but he did and then scores, 1-0. That's great. And then these kind of games are difficult. Low block, obviously learning that their set-pieces are really difficult after 20 seconds when they could have been 1-0 up, which would have been really funny again, and then in the next corner again the ball goes through and there is nobody at the far post – thank God, otherwise that would have been again a big chance.

“Then obviously we controlled the game but there are different ways to control a football game and the way we controlled it today was not the right one with not enough creating. I don't expect now that we have chance after chance after chance because they didn't even have counter-attacks if I'm right. If I would have asked the boys for the counter-press, it was not necessary because we won the ball back anyway, so it's like you don't even have these kind of moments. What you have to do, we saw that after 60 minutes. You have to accelerate, you have to speed up, you have to overlap, underlap – and that's what we did all of a sudden.

“The example, Robbo going down the line constantly, which was really helpful. That's the problem, the game was a difficult one to get rhythm but we should have had a better rhythm than we had. That's what we got after 60 or whatever. OK, we needed then Macca's wondergoal obviously to turn it properly around, but the third goal was exactly like it should have been before already, these kind of moments – Robbo full speed, wonderful cross, sensational header and then we won the game.

“In the end, all good. I don't know when we face next time a similar challenge, probably all the other games are now different, especially the next one. But super-positive the boys on, Curtis [Jones] back, Robbo trained now three days or so, really helpful, Harvey [Elliott]. Cody, not out but a really good game, which he needed as well. Really pleased and that helps obviously. Nobody got injured already as far as I know today, so recovery started already and now we recover and go again.”