Jurgen Klopp was posed with an assertion that a change of tactic had been used and that Ibou Konate had been tasked with a man marking role.
As the 54-year-old spoke with the media after the 3-1 win over Benfica, he responded with: “You saw us man-marking? Then we played really bad.
“You saw us man marking a player? It is possible that Everton was always around Konate because they are in the same space.
“If he did it, I have to watch the game back, if he did it then I have to make sure it doesn’t happen again because we play against the ball, not Everton or the other boys.
“It happens in the box or during set plays that you have to man mark but all other situations not.
“It was not part of the game plan, not at all. I will watch the game back and if we man-marked him I will tell you before the second game. It’s not the plan, no”.
Think you can call that being put in your place by the boss and he certainly took no messing when he provided his answer.
Seeing as the German very rarely alters his tactics, with all due respect, it’s unlikely he would have picked the Portuguese side as the team to make a change against.
You can watch Klopp’s reaction to the man-marking accusation via our Twitter account @empireofthekop:
🗣️"If he [Konate] did it, I have to make sure that it will never happen again because we play against the ball."
Klopp on his defensive tactical setup 🇫🇷 #LFC pic.twitter.com/aR1UVoMtuK
— Empire of the Kop (@empireofthekop) April 5, 2022
#Ep42 of The Empire of the Kop Podcast: Is Jota underappreciated? FA failing fans… and more!