The goals were the only shots Burnley mustered on target during the match, but Liverpool failed to find a response despite dominating possession and Dyche feels the result justified his tactics.
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“We had counter-attacks for the first and second goals but even at half-time I still thought there was something in the game for us”, Klopp said.
Klopp told reporters after the match: “We saw the situations coming around the goals. I don’t think many teams keep the ball like Liverpool but possession doesn’t win games”.
“We could finish the analysis pretty quickly and say “okay, we lost 2-0 so why would we want to talk about it?”
But he accepted that Burnley, and in particular their two strikers Vokes and Gray – both of whom found the back of the net – “did really well” as “physically strong guys” while the rest of the team “defended with big heart”. In England you use the word “clinical” – in a lot of situations I saw we were clinical but even then we didn’t score. I really respect this.
“There’s life here, but it takes time. But our timing and decision making really was not good”.
“In the last moment we were not where we should have been – that was the problem”.
“I said to Steven at half-time “welcome to the Premier League”.
The defender started his career in the youth ranks at Manchester United, but had spells away from the club on loan at Leicester City, Derby County and Blackburn Rovers, before joining Burnley, initially on loan, in 2014.
“When we conceded the first goal, we had a lot of time to win the game”, said Klopp.
The hosts launched a quick counter-attack in the 37th minute, with Gray collecting the ball out wide on the right before cutting inside on his left and firing a low shot into the left corner from just outside the box.
“As coaches, you want to plan tactically how games work out, and it doesn’t always pan out, but it worked very well”.
“Not many teams will get the ball as often as Liverpool, because they have so many bodies in midfield, at times Firmino goes in there as well, so it takes concentration and focus from players to see through that and realise they’re not hurting us too much”.
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“To have the diligence to do that, have breakaways.home advantage is different this season, some really powerful teams”.
