We tried to bring as many players as possible that have trained over the last 12 or 13 days.
Advertisement
City, looking to weld themselves to the top of the Barclays Premier League before Christmas and New Year, were dismantled by Jurgen Klopp’s insatiable Liverpool side.
But actions speak louder than words, and Pellegrini’s half-time decision to haul off under-performing stand-in-skipper Yaya Toure as Liverpool ran riot at the Etihad on Saturday night said it all.
Pellegrini added: “It is hard to understand why we should play so badly – not just one name but a complete team in defending or attacking possession”. In Liverpool’s past two away games they have scored just as many goals as they managed in their eleven previous outings and Klopp says the good news is that they haven’t even been ideal.
James Milner expects Manchester City to shake off their surprise 4-1 home defeat to Liverpool, dismissing the result as a blip. “I will not explain the starting XI”, he said.
Manuel Pellegrini looked exhausted and utterly out of ideas.
“We’ll put this behind us and then look to answer in the next games”. Essentially the Liverpool manager admitted that he had to convince his players they were good enough to win a game of this magnitude. Most reassuring for Jürgen Klopp, given the inauguration address of two months ago, where there was doubt there is now belief – soaring, uncontainable belief.
With the majority of teams dropping a lot of points this season, it is very possible for Liverpool to make up the points difference in very short time, but they have to find a few consistency. Firmino swept a lovely ball into Coutinho’s path for Liverpool’s second, before the roles were reversed as Coutinho’s neat, selfless layoff took Joe Hart out of the game and allowed Firmino to convert into an empty net for the third.
“For us it is important we can see and feel there is a development in our game”.
“We need to turn the page as soon as we can. We’re very pleased with the result – we can move forward and try to do the same things next week”.
“It is normal in football if you have quality – and we have quality – you can be in the lead”.
With Daniel Sturridge not deemed fit enough to start, Klopp named a side without a recognised striker as he also left Christian Benteke on the bench.
Advertisement
Firmino enjoyed his best performance in a red shirt since joining the club from German side Hoffenheim for a reported fee of 29 million pounds ($45.8 million). “We press in different ways depending on who we’re against and how we play“.
