Liverpool 4-0 Wolves: Jürgen Klopp’s reaction

The Reds held their first game at Anfield with supporters in attendance since March by beating the Wolves.

Mohamed Salah’s clinical effort opened the scoring midway through the first half and the hosts clinched three Premier League points after the break thanks to Georginio Wijnaldum, Joel Matip and an own goal by Nelson Semedo.

Klopp passionately recognized the importance of the occasion full-time and, during his post-match press conference, detailed how his team and crowd were at the highest level.

Read a transcript of his verdict on victory below …

On the thrills of having fans back at the stadium …

To have all that back without a soccer game would have been great by now, to be honest, but luckily we had a soccer game. When we went out to warm up we had no idea what we should or can expect. When we went out we all had goose bumps, it was incredible. When people saw the first player, it obviously got pretty loud. The rest who were still inside thought, ‘My God, that sounds so strong.’ Then you go out and see not the real face but the group of people. It was very emotional, to be honest, after 10 months without it. It’s a wonderful, wonderful sign. It’s a bit like the news of smart people who invented a vaccine. Like, ‘Oh finally! Okay, we’ll only get it in a few months, but we know it’s ready so now we can get started. ‘ These kinds of signals. Having people in the stadium is another very good sign. Hopefully everything goes well and we can build on that as a society, not just as a football society. That is very nice. And people were on top of that, not just in the stadium, but in top shape. That was very, very nice. If none of my players tell me, or the medical department tells me that someone is injured, then it was a perfect night.

About the level of performance and how much the fans contributed to that …

With the fans, of course, it is different. We played a great game against Arsenal, we played a great game at Chelsea. We already played some really good games this season. But tonight we only got to play this game and it was an excellent performance against a really good team that couldn’t really get into tonight’s game. I think it was primarily because of the way my boys played. It was very difficult against us tonight. It was a very, very good and high-level performance.

Meeting 2,000 Liverpool fans …

Are [a part of us]. It’s good that we can give them back a little. Look, playing without fans is difficult, but watching football knowing that you would normally be there is also difficult, so we are absolutely in the same boat. It was very nice to have that common experience tonight. Yes, I understand, 100 percent, that I felt like it was the first time because I felt the same for us. To be honest, I had no idea what to expect. Before the game, I told the boys that today we have fans in the stadium; everyone knew it, but I forgot it during the week, to be honest. To talk about that, what would be different and things like this, I didn’t know what would happen, but if it’s good, then use it. If it’s not good, we have to ignore it. It was outstanding, it was outstanding. Coming out of the dressing room for the warm-up was a good time to get goose bumps. It was really emotional, during the game it was exciting, it was exceptional. It was so nice to hear You will never Walk alone again. Like I said, if no one gets hurt it was a perfect night.

On what he liked the most about tonight in the country …

I don’t have a favorite moment on the field because the game was good for that. You prepare for the Wolves, which is difficult anyway, and you don’t know what system they will play on. You see the lineup and we still don’t know what system they will play in because Dendoncker usually played against us, I think in the last game, on the last line, [but] today he played in the midfield. We are not too obsessed with the details, but we are in the details. You think, ‘Okay, what can I say to the players? Get ready for five in the back? and then there are four in the back and things like that. Not many things changed for us, but some things actually changed, so the guys adapted exceptionally well and used our training in a very good way, they played in the space that we had to play, that’s what I enjoyed the most.

[There were] Lots of sensational individual performances, from the young guys it was really cool. Neco Williams, we only took off because obviously the Wolves’ plan was to bring Traore down the left wing and maybe Neco fouls one more and then maybe get the second yellow and things like that. That was the only reason; he played very, very well. Sadio had a few moments where he controlled and I still don’t understand how he can do that, this kind of thing. Lots of good performances and that’s why you can win a soccer game.