There seemed to be a real determination in the team to make sure you got that clean sheet on Sunday. Is that something that is even more important in moments like this, to make sure you are solid first and foremost and then hopefully go and win the game from there?
Yeah. When you struggle during a period of time you need to go back to the basic stuff in football and defending, it was the main thing for us. So obviously celebrating the small things like winning challenges and winning duels, blocking shots, stopping crosses, was really important for us in that game against West Ham. It’s going to be massive again against Sunderland and not only ourselves but we really want and need the supporters to be on our side, celebrating those moments as well. [With] that we are going to make the team stronger for the game, not only for this game but for the rest of the games that we have.
The support from the away end was fantastic on Sunday. How important is it for Anfield to be really with you again on Wednesday and how much can the supporters help the team?
Well, I think in these times it’s difficult to be relaxed, to be calm and to bring energy from the supporters and even sometimes we don’t react in the best way from negative moments in the game – maybe conceding, maybe struggling with the performance. But they are massive for us. The supporters here, they are the reason why Liverpool is so successful in its history, so we need them, we need them for sure, and we want to show them that we really have the desire to change things.
Against West Ham was proof of that from the team and from the supporters, they showed again that they believe in us and that’s the feeling we want to feel: that they are with us, that they believe in us, they trust us and they can bring a lot of energy, as they always do. And at this time, it’s the time we need them most.