Just to start with team news, Jürgen, will Sadio Mane be available?
How's Jordan Henderson, Divock Origi and Joe Gomez?
Yeah, we have to find out. Sadio will come [in] this morning for training
and I assume he will be in full training
and then we make a decision after that on how he feels and all that stuff.
He will probably still be emotionally high-flying,
but physically we have to see how intense the last few days were for him.
Hendo? Yes, he will definitely be back.
That's the plan, was the plan before the game and is still the plan now.
If nothing happens, he will play on Sunday.
The other two were not injured.
What I said, it didn't happen a lot that we have these quality players
and then they couldn't make the squad.
For Joe, it was the situation that we have to make the decision -
do we want to have a second centre-half on the bench or not?
Div is not too long back in training after his injury,
so that was the decision there. But both will train fully.
And I know you touched on it last night, but Luis Diaz,
we were expecting it would take a period of adjustment,
got the impression you thought that too,
so is it a surprise that he looks at home so early,
and what enabled him to make that adjustment relatively quickly?
His skillset, his character.
It was a first game and was probably one of the best I ever saw from a new player,
that’s true, because it looked completely natural.
But it's only a first game and we have to see how he will adapt to all the different stuff.
to the intensity and all these kind of things now in the Premier League.
There’s no rush in it still.
Last night was a very good opportunity to start him because of Sadio not being here yet
and Mo coming back from an incredibly intense tournament.
That was then a really good moment and, yeah, he showed up.
The fact you've got those options, Jürgen -
Luis has fitted in well, Mo and Sadio coming back,
Jota with 12 league goals this season -
those forward options...
And Bobby Firmino.
..so what confidence do those options give you
that there's a real chance of making up that nine-point gap,
particularly when you've got a game in hand on City and still to play them?
I had to find another way to ask this title race question today!
Wow.
You took a diversion.
I actually forgot what you wanted to ask - the forward options?
It’s good to have options with the quality the boys have. We have even more options now.
How I said, it’s the first time they are all fit.
Taki is obviously in a good moment.
Div, when he trains it looks always like: "Why is he not playing?"
Ox played up front, a really good part.
So we have now options, but that’s what we need.
I said last night and said it to the boys already,
we had times when we have this chat group
where we share all information around the team,
and in this chat group the players who are not available or not in the squad or whatever,
before the game they always send a message: "Good luck, boys."
We had times there were 13, 14 players texting,
it means they were not available for us. We have now a different situation.
But I said it before, it’s not so important who is playing.
It’s important who is playing, but it’s much more important how we play.
And especially in the second half last night, I thought we did really well,
kept the pressure high on Leicester and gave them a real job to do
and won absolutely deservedly,
could have scored more goals against a good Leicester side.
Just because of us in the second half, we were then really like it should have been.
Hi, Jürgen, good to see you.
Hi.
Just looking ahead to Burnley then, foot of the table but with games in hand,
in a real scrap to stay up. They're always a really tough side to play against
but again they've got a lot riding on this, haven't they?
Absolutely. So, I had the pleasure to watch their Tuesday night game,
Burnley against [Manchester] United.
And probably this situation explains the Premier League the best,
that Burnley is bottom of the table at the moment - even with games in hand, I know -
but the quality they produced that night was incredible, especially second half;
it was the highest intense game, they played pressing high up the pitch,
counter-pressing was there - there were a lot of things.
It really was a proper team performance.
Together with the stadium, that is obviously the thing they need to do and have to do -
they know that better than I do - to stay in the league.
And there is a massive chance, for me.
I know it always sounds like in February if you are bottom of the table
then nobody cares anymore about the games you have in hand.
It doesn’t make the situation easier,
but there’s a big possibility for them still to stay in [the league]
because of the power they can produce as a team.
We have to be ready, that will be a tough one, definitely.
And just thinking back to the game at Anfield earlier this season,
the Mane goal, still one of the best Liverpool have scored this season?
The team move and everything.
Yeah, for sure, but it was in general probably the best game we played against Burnley
since I’m here, it was a really good game from our side.
Yeah, the goal was obviously one to remember.
And Turf Moor, it has been a bit of a fortress for them this season,
they've only lost twice, I think the last was in September,
and they're the draw specialists as well,
that result against Man United, they know what they need to do to eke out these points.
Yeah, unfortunately for us, we know [that]. That’s how it is.
I’m now six-and-a-half years here, I don’t know how often I was at Burnley playing there
and it was always uncomfortable,
there was not one game where you thought, "OK, we have them early" or whatever.
It never happened, because they stay in the game, the mentality they have.
You cannot praise enough how Burnley did it, how Sean Dyche did it in the last few years,
it’s just incredible.
This league is incredibly competitive
and they stayed comfortably in the league all the time.
This year, for different reasons, it looks like it’s more difficult, but again,
because it’s Burnley there’s a massive chance. That’s the situation we will face.
But we are ready; we have our own targets,
we have our own aims, we will go for everything.
We will bring our supporters,
at least the number of people we are allowed to bring there,
they will create an atmosphere as well.
So, if we are ready for a proper fight, if we can match the intensity of Burnley,
or even go over it, then we have a good chance there.
But if not, then rightly so we will get nothing. That’s football.
Hi, Jürgen. Given the quality you've spoken about, particularly on the bench last night,
we tend to get caught up in the media about the starting XI,
but for you is it just about picking any 11 players from that quality,
because they know each other so well,
and given the amount of games you've got coming up?
I prefer to talk about a wider squad rather than a tiny squad,
because then you have real problems,
but of course it's a situation we never had before, that's the truth.
These players we have now, they were here in December and November last year,
only Luis Diaz was added on.
But we never had the squad available. Now we have it available
and of course these players were all here for a while already playing together,
we have so many top individual developments.
Just as an example, Taki Minamino, played more than 50 games for Liverpool now
and is getting better every day pretty much.
But the situation is not easy, to be a starter in the team,
and the boys have to deal with that,
it's not allowed that it costs you confidence if you might play today but not tomorrow.
We just have to make sure that we as a group can use that situation
in the best possible way, and long may it continue,
because I said it before, I hate talking about it just for one reason:
the reason is I could talk today about it
then tomorrow we have a completely different situation.
I have four, five messages on my phone and I think, "Oh, my God, it starts again."
For the moment, we have to use it; in other situations, we have to sort it.
- Hi, Jürgen. - Hi, Carl.
Just give you time to drink your tea there.
Just on Burnley, the way they approach the game,
does it require a different physical and mental approach from you?
Yes!
Yeah, good observation from your side.
So, they obviously brought in a new striker;
yes, they lost [Chris] Wood but they brought in [Wout] Weghorst.
If you saw the game on Tuesday night then you saw he’s a pretty lively boy.
He was pretty much everywhere up front, he fulfils the role of Wood for sure
with deflecting balls and stuff like this,
but was really very, very active all over the pitch.
Not sure [about] the players around, if it will be [Ashley] Barnes or [Jay] Rodriguez,
I think [Matej] Vydra is still not fit but I don’t know.
Then [Maxwel] Cornet and [Dwight] McNeil - that’s pure quality.
Centre midfield I always liked a lot anyway,
whoever is playing there they have really good footballers there.
And a very experienced last line, plus a top goalie.
That’s the team we will face.
And, yes, Burnley ask for all physicality you can put in a game,
because you cannot have the ball all the time and in the moments when they have the ball
they do exactly what they want to do, and they are good at that.
So, they play the channel balls, they follow up the situation.
They don’t play that only, but if they play them,
they are already difficult to defend.
And then they have on top of that, footballers really everywhere.
So, if Cornet and McNeil play, and [Jack] Cork, [Josh] Brownhill, whoever in midfield -
if you let them play, they play. That’s the situation.
And on top of that, they're a set-piece threat for sure.
So, you have just to be aware and really focused and really concentrated,
and that’s how we prepare the game.