Jurgen Klopp discusses how Trent Alexander-Arnold’s positional shift when Joe Gomez was introduced and how it inspired Liverpool to defeat Fulham.

Jurgen Klopp has detailed how his team’s victory over Fulham was made possible by switching up their tactics during the match.

Alexis Mac Allister’s goal and Bernd Leno’s own goal gave Liverpool two first-half leads, but before the half, Harry Wilson and Kenny Tete pulled one back for Liverpool. Bobby Decordova-Headwards’ header in the 80th minute looked to have sealed an improbable victory for the Cottagers.

However, in the closing moments of an intense match, goals from Wataru Endo and Trent Alexander-Arnold would see the Reds reclaim all three points.

After substituting Cody Gakpo and Joe Gomez in the 65th minute, Klopp pushed Alexander-Arnold into midfield as Liverpool switched to a double-pivot midfield formation. Later, the team dropped its inverted full-back.

The German also discussed the reasoning for the alterations and how Liverpool was able to steal a late victory as a result of them.

“There was a reason for that, it was Trent in the middle,” Reds boss Klopp told reporters after the final whistle. “We saw this game is for the six when the eights are not that compact.

“I didn’t like, I didn’t like how we defended with the front line. Coming back, and our defensive press was not outstanding in the first half. That makes it really intense for midfielders, but especially for the six.

“We change the system in that moment as well. We brought on Joey (Gomez), we needed the width as well. We needed the wing, finally again, because that didn’t work out too well.

“It worked out very well but there are days when it’s not happening. When you see Mo (Mohamed Salah) gets on the ball and in the first half it was really good, when Dom (Dominik Szoboszlai) could underlap and then we arrive there in the very important area.

“But now we had Joey out there which helped. And we had two midfielders, the double six we played with Ryan and Trent next to each other. With Joey again in possession, first going inside then, with the next change, staying wide.

“So with all the things you try to do in these moments, if it works out it’s because it’s tricky for the opponent as well. They get used to different things.

“I think Tom Cairney pretty much played man-marking against Trent in moments when he was just in the middle. That’s why it was really helpful that we had the wing.

“I’m not sure how many crosses Joey fired in in the end but there were a few really good balls. All of a sudden they had to adapt again and that didn’t work out for them and that’s why we could win the game.

“In these moments, it becomes a bit of chess. You just try to change something to improve yourself and to make it a bit more tricky for the opponent as well. That’s how it went today, it worked out.”

Even though Leno’s own goal ultimately disregarded the England international’s free kick, the manager expressed his belief that the player should have scored a brace. With four goal contributions from his past three games, Alexander-Arnold has been playing both in midfield and as an inverted right-back throughout this stretch. Additionally, Klopp disclosed a significant shift he has noticed in the Reds vice captain.

“Nobody is in doubt about how highly I think about Trent,” he said. “Played here since I’m here, longer of course but with the first team since I’m here, and the development is crazy.

“His shooting skills we knew before. He scored with a free-kick, it would not be bad if he could do that more but for that we need more fouls around that area and we don’t have that a lot.

“Today he was a real leader on the pitch. That’s probably the biggest improvement if you want. It was super intense, but he got another push when we put him a bit more inside in that moment.

“He is so often in these changes, it is no change really. He is very often in half-spaces in the centre. It was just really good and he was a real leader on the pitch, that was most important.”