Jurgen Klopp defends making 6 changes vs. Atalanta – “I would do it again”

With Liverpool faltering to a first loss at Anfield in 14 months, beaten 3-0 by Atalanta, Jurgen Klopp has defended his decision to make six changes.

When the teamsheet was released just over an hour before kickoff in the first leg of Liverpool’s Europa League quarter-final, it was a much-changed side.

Six players dropped out from Sunday’s 2-2 draw at Man United, with Joe Gomez, Ibrahima Konate, Kostas Tsimikas, Curtis Jones, Harvey Elliott and Cody Gakpo coming in.

Only Caoimhin Kelleher, Virgil van Dijk, Wataru Endo, Alexis Mac Allister and Darwin Nunez were retained, and unfortunately, it led to a disjointed display.

Liverpool were outplayed in the first half, prompting Klopp to withdraw Tsimikas, Jones and Elliott and send on Andy Robertson, Dominik Szoboszlai and Mohamed Salah.

But there was little change in the performance, with the manager asked in his post-match press conference whether he regretted making so many changes.

“That’s how it is, eh? When you lose a Game, then your changes are questionable,” he laughed.

“I get that, 100 percent. For the reasons I did it, I would do it exactly the same way again.

“If we want to be good in the rest of the season, we have to make changes. We have to.

“Who did we change [at half-time]? Harvey was alright, it was not Harvey [who was to blame].

“We didn’t take off the three worst players; that’s probably what people make of it, that’s what the boys looked [like] at half-time.

“Curtis came back from injury, you could see, good moments and then, again, [dropped off]. So it was the most important training session he had now since he’s back, 45 minutes, going over the point constantly.

“Harvey was alright, Kosty not a lot of rhythm, so then you think, ‘OK, come on, give the Game a chance’.

“By the way, we lost the second half 2-0 and the first half 1-0, so I don’t know which one was now better.

“It’s just how it is. It’s absolutely fine. I am responsible for this result first and foremost, I know that, but the decision, anyway, I would probably make the same.”