Jurgen Klopp admits Liverpool player 'who looks really good in training' struggled in Tottenham win

Jurgen Klopp admitted that his Liverpool substitutions backfired in the victory over Tottenham Hotspur.

The Reds bounced back to winning ways as they claimed a 4-2 triumph over the north London outfit at Anfield. Liverpool were rampant for the first hour, with Mo Salah and Andy Robertson scoring before half-time and then Cody Gakpo and Harvey Elliott notching in the second period.

With the Reds in cruise control, Klopp decided to withdraw Andy Robertson and Wataru Endo, with Joe Gomez and Stefan Bajcetic introduced. Bajcetic was handed his first league appearance since March 2023 after lengthy injury issues.

The 19-year-old struggled to quickly adapt and Tottenham gave Klopp’s men a scare when Richarlison bagged before Son Heung-min set up somewhat of a nervy finish. However, Liverpool regained their composure to deliver a triumph.

Speaking to BBC Sport, Klopp said: “Being 4-0, the changes we made, would I do exactly the same again? I’m not sure.

“But Macca [Alexis Mac Allister] played all the time, going up and down, up and down; [with] Wataru, you have Stefan who looks really good in training. But today obviously you saw, he comes on and it’s like you arrive on the motorway with your bicycle. It takes then time again to adapt to it, first ball not great, then you go down [a goal], all of a sudden organisation was gone.

“That’s not helpful then they were then flying. We had that game before [in last season’s 4-3], a similar game before, they are just really good. But we controlled them for so long, that’s obviously most important. Somebody else can sort that next season!”