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
Game of many returns for Gunners LONDON • Arsenal manager Unai Emery will face a familiar foe when the Gunners look to move a step closer to Europa League glory at Rennes today. French midfielder Hatem Ben Arfa endured an unhappy two years under Emery at Paris Saint-Germain where he was frozen out for an entire season and made to train with
Gunners boosted by return of four players | Arseblog News
WOLFSBURG, Germany (REUTERS) - Germany's new-look team made a promising return to the international stage with a 1-1 draw against Serbia in a friendly on Wednesday (March 20), showing signs of improvement following a disastrous 2018.
New-look Germany make promising start with Serbia draw
Tampines Rovers FC is currently on the 4 place in the S.League table. Last game played with Young Lions, which ended with result: Win Tampines Rovers FC 4:0.Players Tampines Rovers FC in all leagues with the highest number of goals: Jordan Webb 4 goals, Zehrudin Mehmedovic 4 goals, Khairul Amri 3 goals, Irwan Shah 2 goals, Shahdan Sulaiman 2 goals, Taufik Suparno 2 goals, Yasir Hanapi 1 goals
Singapore table S.League league results fixtures 2019, top
A Spanish court on Wednesday acquitted former Barcelona president Sandro Rosell, who spent nearly two years in pre-trial custody, of money laundering. Rosell, his wife and four others, were accused of "large-scale money laundering" of close to EUR 20 million (USD 23 million) since 2006, relating to television rights and sponsorship deals in
Spain court acquits former Barcelona president of money
The French goalkeeper has been a hero between the sticks for Spurs, the team with the best defensive record in the division. He believes that Spurs need to believe in order to achieve.
BELIEVE | MATCH PROMO | AJAX V SPURS (UEFA Champions League
It will be ironic if Chelsea supporter's stubbornness and unwillingness to embrace change might prove to be the undoing of a manager who is stubborn and unwilling to change. But ultimately whether Sarri gets the time he needs to make this work will, as ever, depend on the patience, or lack of it, from the man at the top; Roman Abramovich.
Gonzalo Higuain flops on PL debut as Chelsea fans boo Sarri
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer should be favourite to be named Manchester United manager next season because he has restored the club's "culture and identity" after being put in caretaker charge
Football: Ole Gunnar Solskjaer gives stars 'licence to
The Times says that English football's experiment with VAR "descended into chaos" during the Spurs-Rochdale clash. if you can't explain a new law or procedure in a sentence, or quicker
Mic up Premier League referees - f*ck the swearing - Football365
Now in its 12th edition, all eyes are fixed on Virat Kohli to lift the trophy. Known as Proteas, South Africa are considered as chokers in the tournament history.
Women's World Cup: 10 Big Stars to Keep an Eye Out for in
Paris (AFP) - Olivier Giroud scored a hat-trick as Chelsea cruised into the Europa League quarter-finals with an 8-0 aggregate thrashing of Dynamo Kiev on Thursday, while Napoli also booked a last-eight spot.
Chelsea cruise into Europa League q/finals, Giroud records
What do adders look like and can they kill? The only venomous snakes native to the UK - here's all you need to know While the adder's bite can be very painful and the venom does have the
Bargain Shopping at Torrevieja Markets - Spain Holiday
"Neymar Jr will travel to Aspetar (sports clinic) in Qatar for the next 3 days as scheduled in the initial recovery plan," the club wrote on its Twitter account. "He will undertake a complete assessment after six weeks of his injury. He will be accompanied by a medical team from PSG."
Football: Neymar heads to Qatar for medical assessment
President Anil Murthy (right) is seem welcoming midfielder Francis Coquelin to the club both better going forward than defending but Valencia play with such a well-drilled 4-4-2 that the
Valencia CF Official webpage - Valencia Club de Fútbol
en.valenciacf.com
Página web oficial del Valencia CF. Toda la información del Club. Noticias, calendario, venta de entradas, fotos, vídeos y servicios a los aficionados. Amunt Valencia
Valencia CF - Wikipedia
Arsenal star Aaron Ramsey set to cash in with Juventus move: Reports Description: Aaron Ramsey is already free to sign a pre-contract agreement with foreign clubs and had been courted by a number of big names with Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, PSG and Inter Milan also reportedly interested.
Ramsey set to cash in with Juventus move | The Guardian
What is another word for high-stakes gambler? Need synonyms for high-stakes gambler?Here's a list of similar words from our thesaurus that you can use instead.
Gambler's stakes -- Crossword clue | Crossword Nexus
0 comments:
Post a Comment