Jurgen Klopp hailed his side’s display after a completely assertive performance saw them roll over Leeds United at Elland Road.
A blitz at the end of the first half saw Liverpool lead by two going into half time, until a Konate mistake presented Luis Sinisterra with a chance to bring Leeds back into the game.
The Reds shook this off and added four without reply to rub salt in the wounds.
Klopp discussed big talking points in the game, including how happy he was, Diogo Jota’s return to goals, how changed Trent Alexander-Arnold has been in his new role, Luis Diaz’s return to action and more.
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Waxing lyrical on a fine evening
Liverpool seemed panicked at the start of proceedings, but after netting their opening two, a relaxed tone crept into their game as they completely dominated.
Klopp was understandably elated with the performance of his side, but he was extra-motivated by a piece of play in the final minute which led to the sixth goal.
Klopp said: “I think it was already five or six-one, we lose the ball and our players chase the poor, poor player from Leeds down in that moment. I think that's the basis for the whole game because that gave us stability. It was, from a counter-pressing point of view, definitely the best game we played this season, possession probably as well.”
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Following on from Arsenal
After coming from behind to draw level against Arsenal, Anfield was shaking and many were even left disappointed Liverpool couldn’t find the winner, but it showed something the Reds hadn’t shown in recent weeks, a fighting spirit.
This was taken to new levels against Leeds, and an organised Liverpool side gave their travelling fans something to hammer home about, which is what Klopp was delighted with.
“I think we agree it could have gone either way, we are two-nil down early, Arsenal is flying, and if they score three or four then there’s a real problem, but we reacted well and got a point, which we deserved at least, I would say.
“Coming here, we had to understand what we’ve got here, we’ve played a bad season, some things I can’t explain, but now when we put in good performances we can understand what's possible and that's really important for me.”
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Return of Diogo Jota scoring and Luis Diaz
Two players who have suffered from recent injuries are Jota and Diaz, but both are now fully back in action.
The Portuguese has been back for many weeks but struggled to get to grips with the tempo and he had a slow start to this game, but after slotting in a third, he was fully in his stride then and he now looks back to his best.
The latter was given his first minutes since October and now finally returns to Klopp’s squad, something which is a boost for Liverpool coming to the tail end of the season.
“Diogo was involved in a lot of top, top moments, won the ball back and set up Mo's first. Still, you can see there is space for improvement and he has some moments where you can see the rhythm maybe not 100 per cent. The front three played tonight - and we could've had a completely different front three - the way they defended tonight, that was an important part of it, because they all can play football, but we need to understand it starts there.
“Luis is back. He's now lacking rhythm and a bit of sharpness, which is normal as well, when in training sessions you can’y get there to the final degree of sharpness, so we now try to just help him step by step back really into the team by giving him minutes. It's just nice to see him play, to be honest. We missed him so long, so it's just nice to see him being involved again.“
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Pleased with individuals
Many stood out for Liverpool against Leeds, with a renewed energy and tempo coming into their game. The Reds were unchanged from the Arsenal clash, and they all repaid the faith in their manager by putting in a worthy contender for performance of the season.
“The counter-pressing by Curtis and Hendo, it was absolutely top how they chased pretty much everything on the pitch, that was super-important, I didn't remember a situation where Robbo was in a one-on-one situation or Trent was in a one-on-one situation because we were always moving to the ball. So many important things and I liked it a lot.
“Trent was impressive, the highlight was then the last assist where he had a few more from that position. Wherever Trent is, he can be decisive with his passes, he was very good for us, that's how it is, tonight was a great game, you could see that he enjoyed it.”
