Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp likes to hug players says Emre can

Emre can has stated that Liverpool’s Jurgen Klopp is a very energetic and emotional manager.

The 22-year-old was asked bout his boss during a question and answers session on Liverpool’s twitter page.

Can was asked how his experience working under the dormer Dortmund manager was.

“He is very very emotional. He likes to hug players and jump on the sidelines, thats Jurgen Klopp.” Can stated.

Klopp was appointed as Liverpool manager early on in the season in place of Brendan Rodgers following a slow start to the season.

The 22-year-old midfielder is currently out of action following an ankle injury he sustained during Liverpool’s 4-3 win over Borussia Dortmund in the quarter final’s of the Europa League.

The injury is Can’s first major one since joining Liverpool from Bayer Leverkusen at the beginning of last season. The 22-year-old was a major part of Klopp’s starting line-up. Can had cemented a place in Liverpool’s first eleven prior to his injury.

Liverpool take on the Spanish outfit Villareal in the Europa League semi finals next week.

Aldo: I know Emre Can's best position for Liverpool FC in years to come

When you have a great result like the one against Crystal Palace you can usually look at the spine of the team to where it was won.

Simon Mignolet has had plenty of stick but he’s made one mistake in three games now and he was faultless at Selhurst Park.

Dejan Lovren had one of his best games for Liverpool, maybe even his best game of all, at centre back.

And in midfield, Emre Can was excellent. He’s better when he does the simple things and doesn’t try to run with the ball too much.

I know some people disagree but I think he can develop into a really quality sittiing midfielder in years to come.

For me he’s played in a three at centre back so there’s no reason he couldn’t hold in midfield.

James Milner was excellent in the week against Man City and he’ll know he made an error of judgement against Palace.

There were other sendings off too, like the Mata one for United which was pathetic and Kevin Mirallas for United - they were so stupid.

Jordan Henderson got a yellow card after 10 minutes too but he knew not to get himself into a situation to get sent off.

With 11 men we wouldn’t have won anyway, so it worked out well for Liverpool in the end.

John Aldridge: This is Emre Can’s best position for Liverpool

John Aldridge believes Emre Can is capable of developing into a quality holding midfielder for Liverpool.

John Aldridge believes Emre Can’s best position for Liverpool is playing as a sitting midfielder.

The Germany international produced another dominant performance in the heart of Jurgen Klopp’s side at Selhurst Park on Sunday afternoon.

Can anchored the Liverpool midfield as the Merseyside outfit came from 1-0 down with 10 men to secure a vital 2-1 victory over Crystal Palace.

The 22-year-old has been deployed in a wide variety of positions since he moved to the Reds from Bayer Leverkusen in 2014, including centre-half, right-back and centre-midfielder.

However, former Liverpool striker Aldridge believes Can’s future lies as a holding midfielder.

“Emre Can was excellent. He’s better when he does the simple things and doesn’t try to run with the ball too much,” Aldridge wrote in his Liverpool Echo column.

“I know some people disagree but I think he can develop into a really quality sitting midfielder in years to come.

“For me he’s played in a three at centre back so there’s no reason he couldn’t hold in midfield.”

Can has scored one goal in 27 Premier League appearances for the Merseyside outfit so far this season.

The former Bayern Munich midfielder moved to Liverpool in a £6.75m deal from Bayer Leverkusen under Klopp’s predecessor,Brendan Rodgers.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp vote of confidence for Simon Mignolet

Jurgen Klopp denied the goals Liverpool conceded against West Brom showed they have a problem defending set-pieces.

The Reds needed a very late Divock Origi strike to salvage a 2-2 stalemate at Anfield last weekend after Craig Dawson and Jonas Olsson had both scored from corners for Albion.

Klopp was quick to defend goalkeeper Simon Mignolet, who missed his punch to allow Dawson to head in, and protested Olsson's goal should have been disallowed.

The German insisted no pattern could be discerned from the goals, saying: "They are all different. Of course it's a situation. Maybe it could be the next misunderstanding.

"Simon came out of his goal and wanted to reach the ball and that's how I work. You can say that if the goalkeeper comes out he has to take the ball, and he didn't. But he came out because I said he should.

"Not in this situation but in general. Because I think as a goalkeeper you have to try to help in the six-yard box as much as you can. That's what he tried and if you try sometimes you miss, that's all. It's not about quality, or something else, it's only this situation.

"The second goal, nobody spoke about things like this after the game because we defend bad set-plays, but it was a foul and it was offside.

"Everybody spoke about Jurgen Klopp, Tony Pulis, celebrating with fans, whatever, nobody spoke about this. If it's a foul and it's offside, how can I tell my team to defend it better? We have to defend so that nobody can easily make a goal. That's it.

"We know about this but in this special game, they were two different situations to all the other things. Usually we are more stable in situations like this.

"We cannot be taller but we saw all the situations, we saw that some teams change their formations against us because of our kind of defending. We try to change now again something to be better prepared for situations like this."

On Sunday, Liverpool travel to Watford, who have been one of the surprise packages of the season and went into the weekend in seventh place in the Premier League table.

But Klopp does not think it should be too much of a shock how well Quique Sanchez Flores' side are doing.

He said: "I don't think it's a big surprise, it's how football is.

"If you have a good team, of course you need good players, but if these players together are a really good team, if you have a good plan like they have and if you play football like they do, then it's not easy but it's possible to be more successful than everybody expects. And if the expectations are not too high, then it's easier to go over them.

"But we go there not to clap our hands because of their season because we want to fight for the points."

James Milner will miss the trip to Vicarage Road due to a calf complaint but defender Dejan Lovren is recovering quicker than expected from the knee injury he picked up against West Brom and could return on Boxing Day.

Flores will go head-to-head with Klopp for the first time in his managerial career, but the Watford boss says his attentions will be on the Liverpool team rather than their charismatic manager.

"He's a very positive manager and he's always thinking about good, offensive football," Sanchez added.

"He wants to learn about the Premier League and it is new for him.

"But I'm not thinking too much about the coach, I'm thinking about Adam Lallana, James Milner, Emre Can, Christian Benteke. That's more important than the thoughts of Jurgen Klopp."

Flores has no fresh injury concerns but midfielder Valon Behrami and defender Sebastian Prodl could both make their returns from injury.

Liverpool fans react to Emre Can's performance against Southampton

Sturridge scored twice in the 6-1 trouncing of Southampton in the Capital One Cup quarter-final but was taken off after an hour of his first start under Klopp.

Klopp is not the only man to manager Liverpool with with mystical powers, who could forget Rafael Benitez also had mystical powers too.

Klopp will be looking towards top scorers Christian Benteke and Philippe Coutinho to provide goals, and whilst the latter is still struggling with a hamstring problem, Benteke is a tempting 7/2 to score first at St James'.

"We knew coming into this game that Liverpool are full of confidence and their offensive threat that they carry".

"I know Steve McClaren and I know about his quality and experience". Maybe he can be even better. It somebody can tell me he's available for the next game, then he plays, no problem.

Johnny Giles watched Liverpool demolish Southampton 6-1 last night and seems deeply enamoured with the way Jurgen Klopp has Liverpool playing this early in his tenure as Reds' boss.

Clyne backs Klopp to inspire title bid

Liverpool defender Nathaniel Clyne says Jurgen Klopp's vibrant personality has infused his side with the belief they can win the Premier League this season.

Klopp's side are 11 points behind leaders Leicester City in ninth place as they prepare to face Watford at Vicarage Road on Sunday.

But England right-back Clyne believes Klopp has already made such a positive impression since replacing Brendan Rodgers as Reds boss in October that a title challenge is still a distinct possibility.

Liverpool are without a win in their last three matches in all competitions, yet morale remains high after they recovered to rescue a 2-2 draw against West Bromwich Albion last weekend thanks to Divock Origi's strike deep into stoppage time.

Klopp celebrated Origi's equaliser by leading his players over to the famous Kop end of Anfield to take a bow in front of the fans and it is that kind of spontaneous enthusiasm which has convinced Clyne that Liverpool's manager has the club on the verge of something special.

"The manager said it was the best crowd since he has been at the club and he was giving something back to them," Clyne told the Daily Telegraph.

"We didn't know it was going to happen and it took me by surprise.

"What we did there showed we could get the crowd more motivated by doing that salute. Liverpool has a big atmosphere and we know if we get that crowd going it makes us play better.

"We were under the cosh and in the last minute we equalised. It was a good moment for us."

VULNERABILITY

With Chelsea in crisis, Leicester unlikely to sustain their remarkable run and Arsenal, Manchester City and Manchester United all showing signs of vulnerability, Clyne sees no reason why Liverpool can't get involved in the title race, or at least finish in the top four.

"Can we win the title? Yeah, it's a possibility. Our target is definitely to get into the top four and we are in all the cup competitions," he added.

"We are doing really well. The league is unpredictable. It keeps everyone excited, not knowing what is going to happen."

James Milner will be sidelined on Sunday after the Liverpool midfielder felt discomfort in his calf during training, while injured duo Dejan Lovren and Daniel Sturridge are also ruled out.

Although Watford have enjoyed an impressive first season back in the top flight, they have yet to claim the scalp of one of the big guns after matches against Manchester City, Arsenal and Manchester United all ended in defeat.

In their first meeting with Liverpool in almost nine years, Quique Sanchez Flores' side believe they can put the record straight with a first victory over the Reds since Tommy Mooney secured a shock 1-0 success at Anfield in 1999.

The Hornets, who boast a stingy defence and the goal power of Nigeria striker Odion Ighalo, sit two places above Liverpool in seventh after reeling off three successive wins and Sanchez Flores made it clear he and his players won't be intimidated by their more illustrious visitors.

"Klopp is a very positive manager and he's always thinking about good, offensive football," the Spaniard said.

"He wants to learn about the Premier League and it is new for him.

"But I'm not thinking too much about the coach, I'm thinking about Adam Lallana, Emre Can, Christian Benteke. That's more important than thoughts of Jurgen Klopp."

Pre-Watford Overnight Open Thread

Five questions to pass the time as we wait for kick off from Vicarage Road.

1) Will Mamadou Sakho return to the starting line-up, or do we have another day of Martin Skrtel and Kolo Toure?

2) Lucas? Emre Can? Joe Allen? Who?

3) What does Liverpool's attacking threat look like?

4) With nearly a week between fixtures, will we see any of the super youths on Sunday?

5) Final score?

Bonus: Vicarage Road is a proper English-sounding stadium name. What's your favourite non-Anfield stadium name? (Shout out to Craven Cottage!)