Jurgen Klopp reveals Liverpool's special plan to beat Cardiff after returning to top of Premier League

David Lynch22 April 2019

Jurgen Klopp has revealed that Liverpool trained on dry, uncut grass at Melwood in preparation for playing in difficult conditions at Cardiff on Sunday.

The Reds moved back to the top of the Premier League as they claimed a 2-0 win in the Welsh capital, with Gini Wijnaldum and James Milner netting the goals.

Klopp’s men were made to work for their win, however, with the hosts’ defensive discipline and a tricky playing surface making things far from straightforward.

But the German had spent the build-up to today’s game ensuring his players were ready for such an eventuality.

"Yesterday we didn’t cut the grass at Melwood, and didn't water it,” he told Sky Sports.

EPA

"That was clear it would happen. It’s just how people do it. It helped, it’s so difficult, if we were surprised by it when we came here that wouldn’t have helped.

"So yesterday we trained one hour and 10 minutes after the pitch had been watered.

"It’s more about making sure you are not frustrated. Things don’t happen easily, you have to be 100 per cent serious, the boys were that and we deserved the three points."

With slick interchanges difficult on a sticky surface, it was perhaps inevitable that the opener would come from a set-piece.

And it was a well-worked routine that brought Wijnaldum into enough space from a corner to thrash home a right-footed shot.

In Pictures | Cardiff vs Liverpool | 21/04/2019

1/25

On the move, Klopp added: “We put a lot of effort into set-pieces. We were not bad first half.

“We knew Cardiff were outstandingly strong at offensive set-pieces, but from time to time they have some problems with defensive set-pieces.

“The boys obviously found out [how to work the corner]. If you make all of these runs and you’re on the pitch, no camera angle is as good as your own view, so they decided to play that flat ball and Gini could make the run.

“With all the blocks, it was man-marking and if three players are man-marked and then you bring a fourth or a fifth one, then he is free.

“Obviously Gini was free during that moment, but still you have the hit the ball like this. A brilliant goal, I loved it.”

The visitors suffered a setback in the 75th minute as substitute Fabinho was forced off with a head injury just four minutes after coming on.

But Klopp doesn’t expect the Brazilian to suffer any long-term effects and told the club’s official website: “It was very unlucky.

“Fabinho is okay but he had a bit of shaky legs and that’s of course not a good sign in the moment.

“It’s a 100 per cent ‘yes’ or go off; if it’s 95 per cent in that game in that position, we cannot make that decision [to stay on]. It’s all good.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in