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Jurgen Klopp explains Mohamed Salah substitution after Liverpool lose to Chelsea

The Reds managed a single shot on target through the 90 minutes

Karl Matchett
Friday 05 March 2021 00:11 GMT
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Mohamed Salah walks past Jurgen Klopp after being substituted
Mohamed Salah walks past Jurgen Klopp after being substituted (Getty)

Jurgen Klopp says Liverpool fc must be “more decisive” in matches after their struggles in scoring continued against Chelsea in a 1-0 defeat on Thursday night.

The Reds have lost five of their last six Premier League games, scoring just four times in that period, and the manager raised eyebrows by subbing off top scorer Mohamed Salah after an hour of the match at Anfield.

Klopp says it was a decision based on his forward’s energy levels, while those who came on were due to having a good influence on the training pitch.

READ MORE: Premier League fixtures and table - all matches by date and kick-off time

“In that moment he looked like he felt the intensity tonight and I didn’t want to risk it. It is all fine, I make decisions that I think are right in the moment,” he said after the game.

“Just bringing fresh legs, it’s not often with Mo, he played a lot of games. I could’ve taken off Sadio [Mane], Bobby [Firmino], at this moment it looked like Mo, the most.

“Milly [James Milner] trains really good, we lost a grip in that moment. That’s why we bring Milly, wake them up again. It was to keep them in the game, we needed one situation, but if we let them run through one more, we are done and don’t have to think about it anymore.”

On the match itself, Klopp felt that it followed a recent pattern where Liverpool had failed to find the right touch in the final third and challenged his side to solve their issues in future.

“We conceded one goal. We need, with all the possession we had, we need more chances. Too many situations, everything was really good until the final pass.

“We cannot say it’s only at home. We lost a lot of games now. It’s not about Anfield, it happens in general, too often.

“In the decisive moments we have to improve. We have to show our quality in the moments, we don’t do that enough.”

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