Klopp praises Norwich and discusses not parading Champions League trophy

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp praised Norwich City's display on Friday and explained why the Champions League trophy was not paraded at Anfield.

Published : Aug 10, 2019 10:42 IST

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp branded Norwich City "cheeky like hell" and expects them to cause teams problems in the Premier League.

Despite falling to a 4-1 defeat at Anfield on the opening day of the new season, Daniel Farke's side gave a solid account of itself in its first match since winning the Championship.

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Teemu Pukki and Marco Stiepermann missed first-half chances and Liverpool punished them, with Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Divock Origi adding to Grant Hanley's seventh-minute own goal.

Norwich refused to lay down and got the goal its performance deserved when Pukki slid a cool finish past substitute goalkeeper Adrian – a first-half replacement for the injured Alisson – in the 64th minute.

"A long part of the game really good, the first 60 minutes we were pretty impressive. If you are surprised that Norwich uses little moments for being dangerous, I'm not. That's how they are," Klopp told a post-match news conference.

"For 60 minutes we did what we had to do. We could've scored more, especially after half-time. Maybe then the opponent impressed a bit more as they were not really fussed about the result.

"They stayed cheeky, they stayed lively, they did what they wanted to do, they played, they changed offensively. I have the biggest respect for what Daniel's doing there with the boys. A very interesting and exciting team they have there.

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"They had their pretty risky formation and used that, but we were not really in danger, they were just good in a couple good moments.

"We played against an opponent who will cause a lot of teams problems. With the way they play, that's really good. They are cheeky like hell and do what they do no matter what happens around [them].

"They caused us problems in some moments but I'm not surprised about that, it's completely normal," he said.

- 'Enough celebration' - Klopp focused on new season -

Jurgen Klopp insisted there was no reason for Liverpool to parade the Champions League trophy ahead of its win over Norwich City, saying it was time to move on.

Liverpool secured its sixth European Cup with a win over Tottenham in the final in Madrid in June.

But it opted not to parade the trophy on Friday, when it opened its Premier League campaign with a 4-1 victory over Norwich at Anfield.

READ| Liverpool 4-1 Norwich City: Klopp's side makes flying start

Asked about that decision, Klopp was seemingly unaware of the possibility, but said he would not have done it anyway.

"Nobody told me I have to. Is that what you do usually? I touched the Euro cup on the matchday there, the day after, and since then not," he told a news conference.

"No reason for it, I know how it feels. And people know how it looks.

"If somebody expected that then somebody should've told me. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have done it anyway, because we are now in the new season. Enough celebration.

"Nobody has to congratulate me anymore, but still everybody's doing it. I'm really fine with all the things I heard about it, now let's play the new season."

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