Liverpool manager, Jurgen Klopp, has said that his team used their intensity, to break Arsenal down physically, in their 3-1 win on Saturday.
Klopp admitted that the Reds had been searching for their true form in the opening few games of the season, so he sent them out with a clear message on Saturday.
“The intention was to be us – just be us,” he said.
“Our identity is intensity, and the intensity we put into the game was really incredible.
“An opponent of the quality of Arsenal, you have to break somehow. Break them physically, yes.
“And we did. I said at half-time to the boys ‘how do you think they feel?’ It was such an intense first half there was no time to breathe.”
Joel Matip opened scoring with a bullet header before Mohammed Salah added a brace.
Lucas Torreira grabbed a late consolation for the Gunners.
Klopp was right. Arsenal, who gained a late consolation goal from Lucas Torreira, were never allowed to breathe. They were dispossessed in their own defensive third eight times in the first half. That’s the most by any team this season, and the most for Arsenal in a decade.
One of the best passing teams in Europe was effectively transformed into a long-ball minnow because of that claustrophobic pressure.
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