When Jurgen Klopp arrived at Melwood training ground in West Derby, Liverpool to take Brendan Rodgers’ place, it was immediately assumed that he would lay off some players especially the new recruits who were yet to blossom.
But the German had different plans; from the time of Rodgers to Klopp’s reign, nothing has changed in terms of how things are done behind the scenes especially how players are recruited – what is changing is the consistency of performance.
Take Divock Origi, the star of the show during EFL Cup collision with Tottenham; when Klopp was asked what he told Origi after substituting him, he gave a positive response.
“There is no discussion about the quality of Daniel Sturridge, Origi or Danny Ings, it’s only the situation and you cannot play with four strikers.
If you have an idea how we can do this plus defending, then come to me and tell me!” said Klopp
“But it’s all good – [Divock has] big potential, is a good player and Belgium is obviously a lucky country with this big number of strikers,” he added.
Origi is yet to start in the Premier League this season but hopes that his display against Spurs helped make a case Klopp.
“Of course, it’s been a while since I played 90 minutes, so you have to get in the game,” Origi told Sky Sports.
While describing teammate Daniel Sturridge as “a top striker”, following the 27-year-old’s two goals against Tottenham on Tuesday night, Origi recalled scenes of a match that saw the two of them ‘look for each other’ as the ball went into the net.
“We’re very happy that Daniel scored. He’s a top striker, we created the chances all together and it’s a good thing that we have a lot of options everywhere,” Origi told Liverpoolfc.com.
“We knew it would be intensive, but I think we showed big heart. It was a mix between young players and experienced players and we tried to enjoy the game and keep control of the game.
“At the beginning we had to find each other, we also changed the formation, but the coach told us just to play with our qualities and that he believed in us 100 per cent, and we have a lot of quality in the group. “Of course, it’s been a while since I played 90 minutes so you have to get in the game, but I enjoyed the game,” Origi added.
“As a team, the more the game went on the more we found each other and the more we had the automatism in the group. We tried to help each other and that’s a good thing.
“We’re here and we want to go until the end. It won’t be easy, but we showed a lot of character,” the 21-year-old Kenyan continued.
“We just have to play with a big heart every time and I’m sure that we have the quality to go until the end.”
