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Jurgen Klopp has explained why he did not hesitate to hand Thiago Alcantara his Liverpool debut at Chelsea after an injury to Jordan Henderson.
With the game scoreless at halftime but the Reds in control after Andreas Christensen was sent off, they took a hit when Henderson felt a strain on his thigh.
Klopp was forced to look at the bench and had no qualms about introducing a player whose move to the club from Bayern Munich was confirmed just two days earlier.
Asked about that call-up and a resounding 2-0 victory for his team, the German said: “It was a different match in the second half, obviously, but I already liked the whole first half.
“I liked the way we tried to find solutions, I liked the way we took a difficult match. I was fine by now and ready for a very positive part-time talk with some photos of what we could have done differently.
“We had to move faster, pass faster, pass more easily and things like that. So the red card happened and that obviously changed the game.
“We walked in and Hendo said he probably took a hit, but he wants to continue. I said, ‘No, we are not taking any risks.’
“So we had to make the decision and we decided on Thiago because, even without training against 10 men, he is practically the perfect player in that position, I would say.
“Everything he did today was completely natural. Not everything was perfect but it was natural, so the passes he tries to make are natural. That’s good, very good, good.
“Clean sheet, Ali saves a penalty, Thiago’s debut. If Hendo has absolutely nothing, this is the perfect day. “
Sadio Mané scored both goals for the champions, the second after chasing down a punt from goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga.
On that goal and the performance of his number 10, Klopp added: “I love it because we have many situations in these situations, that we chase the goalkeeper.
“I think in the first half Sadio came very close to blocking him there, but you just have to. I love when we get the rewards for these kinds of situations.
“The first goal was a good football game, everyone participated a lot. Firmino crosses and then Sadio gets ahead of his man, making it very difficult to defend. Good goal and it gave the game the right direction.
“That is exactly what we have to show all the time, that is what we wanted to show today. I saw us today, I saw us playing soccer today and I’m completely fine with it. I loved.”
