The Reds boss is a master at harnessing fury and Liverpool need to follow their manager's lead at Crystal Palace and against Manchester United
A month into his Liverpool tenure, Jurgen Klopp suffered his first defeat in his seventh fixture in charge. He had been informed of Crystal Palace’s reputation of ripping up the club’s script, but at Anfield on November 8, he experienced it.
Scott Dann’s header on 82 minutes handed the visitors a 2-1 win, and for weeks afterwards, the German admitted he couldn’t “get the f**king loss to Palace” out of his mind.
In Sunday’s early kick off at Selhurst Park, Klopp expects his side to avenge that result. “I didn't forget the first game. We should not have lost it,” he said. “We have to take points back.”
Those who know the manager best say it is not victories he holds on to, but failure. It teaches and triggers him more. He harnesses fury well and used it expertly to fire up his players at Borussia Dortmund. It is clear that he is now looking to do the same at Liverpool.
In midweek, Klopp made sure the Reds used their League Cup final shoot-out heartache against Manchester City at Wembley to punish them in the Premier League three days later.
They bossed every aspect of the encounter against Manuel Pellegrini’s men at Anfield and did not offer them an inch in a near-faultless 3-0 win.
Klopp wants Liverpool to replicate the anger and aggression they showed that night on Sunday afternoon. They have plenty of suffering at the hands of Palace to work with: it was the 3-3 draw at Selhurst Park which effectively ended the Reds' title tilt in 2014, with eight players who featured in the nine-minute collapse two years ago still at the club.
The Eagles have won all three league meetings since, one of those was Steven Gerrard’s Anfield farewell last May and the former captain was in the stands when they ruined Klopp’s unbeaten record as he marked a month in the job.
Liverpool owe Palace plenty and they are desperate to secure a third successive league win for the first time since March 2015. They would do well to transmit their manager’s burning desire for retribution.
“Anger in a sport is good,” he said. “Against Crystal Palace, there is a reason to strike back. There are a lot of reasons to be angry. Crystal Palace are a really physical side. They will give you, in the first two minutes, 500 reasons to be angry.”
Like Klopp, Liverpool have to use vexation to their advantage and ensure Alan Pardew’s team are still winless in the league for 2016 come late Sunday afternoon. Then the focus will switch to the Europa League last-16 test against Manchester United.
The two-legged tie offers yet another opportunity for revenge: Louis van Gaal’s men have done the double over their arch-rivals this season with Wayne Rooney’s late winner at Anfield in January coming completely against the run of play.
Klopp admitted he was desperate to draw United in the tournament to “clear something.” He explained: “We had a good game when I was here when we played against them, but we lost 1-0. It was not what we deserved on that day, but we got it.
“Life gives us the chance to make it better and that’s what we have to do, and what we’ll try.”
Klopp has ordered Liverpool to “stay angry” in both competitions for the rest of the season and they should listen. Success, after all, is the best revenge.
- Goal