Jurgen Klopp highlighted the tactical change for Darwin Nunez as the inspiration behind Liverpool’s 4-0 win over Bournemouth.
And the Reds boss also reserved a word for Alexis Mac Allister’s “exceptional performance” in midfield as the visitors went five points clear at the top of the Premier League at the Vitality Stadium on Sunday.
After a drab first half Diogo Jota scored twice in between a brace from Nunez as the Reds swatted aside their hosts in what was their first Premier League game since Mohamed Salah flew out to be part of Egypt’s Africa Cup of Nations squad in the Ivory Coast.
Nunez initially started on the left with Jota central and Luis Diaz completing the front three on the right side before the Uruguay international moved inside for the second half to score his ninth and 10th goals of the campaign.
“Look in the situation we are in, without Mo, we have to find a way and we have players who can play on the right wing and they can all play there but it is about which is the best position and how do we set up the rest around,” Klopp said.
“Darwin can obviously play on the left wing, he has done it before but he played there, Joey (Gomez) was a bit deeper and protecting, so we were waiting too long for balls in behind and were not involved much.
“Lucho (Diaz) struggled slightly on the right wing and Diogo had an OK game [first half], but we decided to bring Darwin into his 1A position and asked Diogo to do the job there [on the left].
“Diogo has played that right wing before and is a pretty smart player, but in general we just started playing better. In midfield as well, and that’s important. I am not 100% sure which goal we scored after we won the ball back but that wouldn’t have happened in the first half because we didn’t push up.
“These half-time periods, they are important and you can ask why we didn’t start well, that is absolutely right and you see it from the outside but it is difficult to change on the pitch because we spoke about it before about where the half spaces are. In the end it was a super deserved win.”
On Mac Allister’s performance, Klopp added: “Thank you for mentioning that because after we scored the goals I thought some people might forget but it was an absolutely exceptional performance. I am so happy for us, obviously, but for him as well. He is a really good footballer, let me say it like this.
“Defensively he does a job and offensively he is a super important player for us. He is calm on the ball, all the good things in the first half already happened with him, so yes, I am really happy.”
