Football
Glenn Price, Liverpool correspondent 6y

Jurgen Klopp happy to see Liverpool 'strike back' after Tottenham defeat

LONDON -- Jurgen Klopp believes Liverpool's three victories within the space of a week show they have managed to "strike back" from their humiliating defeat at Tottenham Hotspur last month.

Liverpool moved level on points with fourth-placed Chelsea in the Premier League after beating West Ham United 4-1 on Saturday evening to back up recent wins over Huddersfield Town and Maribor.

Mohamed Salah broke the deadlock in the 22nd minute at the London Stadium off a rapid counterattack from a West Ham corner before Joel Matip doubled the Reds' lead two minutes later.

In the second half, Danny Lanzini pulled the hosts back into the game, but Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain scored 57 seconds later, with Salah then scoring his second goal of the game 14 minutes from time.

On his side's response to the 4-1 loss to Spurs at Wembley on Oct. 22, Klopp said: "It's a fantastic week.

"I'm not sure how far Wembley is away from here, but I felt quite different. Now we've responded from that really well.

"We knew after that game at Tottenham that we were bad. Tottenham is always good, but we were the main reason for this result. We wanted to strike back and the boys did that with really nice results."

After returning to full training on Thursday following his hamstring injury, Sadio Mane was a surprise starter for Liverpool and went on to record two assists during his 77-minute performance.

"I decided after one [training] session, but he had another yesterday," Klopp said of his call to play the forward. "Sadio is a naturally fit player -- he's a little machine.

"When we trained after Maribor -- the first session on Thursday -- he was a little bit stiff in the beginning and then you could see how he starts enjoying the intensity. That's why we decided we should try it.

"I said in the press conference yesterday that he's ready for 25 minutes. Obviously he was ready for 25-plus. Good for us."

Meanwhile, Georginio Wijnaldum was not expected to play at West Ham because of an ankle injury, but recovered in time to replace Jordan Henderson, who sat out the match with a thigh issue.

"The day didn't start well," Klopp said. "We did all the tactical things yesterday, which we did with the new system, with Jordan as the No. 6.

"He told me: 'I can play.' Unfortunately, the medical department saw it a little bit differently. After a week like this, it's normal that players feel a little bit with their muscles.

"Jordan felt different obviously. I had to make this decision. He was not in the squad. If you cannot start then you cannot bring him in and after 10 minutes you have to make another change. Maybe he could have [played], but he's injured.

"Gini Wijnaldum tried [to play] yesterday and after training we said: 'No chance.' Overnight he improved and we took with us, but only to be close to the doctor. He had no boots with him!

"This morning [the medical department] told me it improved a lot and that we could try and only have to organise boots. I'm not sure where we got them from, to be honest. At least he had some."

Salah continued his excellent start to his Liverpool career by netting his 11th and 12th goal of the season on Saturday, with Klopp praising the summer decision to spend a club-record transfer fee on the Egyptian winger.

"We watched Salah so often, saw him so often," he said. "The scouting department was really behind me, and wanted to do it even earlier.

"He was a decision of all of us. We are glad to have him in our team. He's a real goal threat, an offensive midfield player who plays more as a second striker. Today he had a different position, but he liked it."

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