Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has stressed his job is to get the best out of the players and that it is not all about the system.
Klopp has preferred a 4-2-3-1 system often this season and has moved away from last season’s 4-3-3 set-up, as the German has used Roberto Firmino in a withdrawn number 10 role to allow Mohamed Salah to play as a centre-forward.
The former Borussia Dortmund coach insisted that while it is good to have flexible tactics, his role is to get the best out of the players in the set-up.
“Our system, when we play with all three up front, is something like a diamond; it can be a 4-5-1, it can be a 4-3-3”, Klopp was quoted as saying by Liverpool’s official website.
“Of course, 4-2-3-1 – 4-4-1-1 I’d prefer in most situations to name it – is a good system.
“But it’s never about the system, it’s all about the players.
“My job is to bring the players into the best position where they can help the team most with the things they can do.
“If I can do it with the system, I do it, but it’s not that we go through the week and be very creative with things like that because, in the end, the players need to play [on instinct].”
Liverpool are still unbeaten in the Premier League and beat Fulham 2-0 on Sunday to climb above Chelsea and to second in the Premier League table ahead of the international break.
The Reds will take on Watford away from home in the Premier League before facing Paris Saint-Germain in a crunch Champions League game when club football resumes.
