10 December 2023 , 22:30
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Back in September, Jurgen Klopp felt it was too early to herald the return of Liverpool's 'mentality monsters', but Alisson Becker's comments after Saturday's win at Crystal Palace suggest they're getting closer.
A double-change from Klopp 20 minutes from time helped his team mount a late comeback. Curtis Jones laid on Mohamed Salah's equaliser - the Egyptian's 200th goal for the club - before Jones' fellow sub Harvey Elliott scored a last-minute winner.
The victory, combined with Arsenal's defeat at Aston Villa in the evening, ensured Liverpool ended the day top of the league. Liverpool have claimed 18 points from losing positions this season, at least six more than any other team in the Premier League, and parallels are starting to emerge with the never-say-die attitude from earlier iterations of Klopp's squad.
"A winning team needs that kind of mentality to keep on coming from behind," said goalkeeper Alisson, who was back after the injury which kept him out of his team's last three Premier League and Europa League games. A big first-half save from the Brazilian kept an under-par Liverpool in the game at 0-0, while he needed to produce a big stop to keep out Joachim Andersen's header deep into stoppage-time.
"Of course we want to do the things better early but sometimes the things you plan, they don’t come out," he added. "We didn’t perform today in our best way but in the last 20 minutes we improved with the ball."
Jurgen Klopp defends Mohamed Salah and explains Liverpool scoring drought
Alisson was also full of praise for Salah, who equalised via a Nathaniel Clyne deflection to bring up 200 goals since arriving on Merseyside in 2017. "Mo is an amazing player," he said. "He’s so important for us and he is always happy when he breaks records and his own records.
"He’s a guy who goes for everything that he can achieve. So consistent and always performing well and even when he’s not, he’s scoring anyway. He’s that kind of guy to make the difference like he did today."
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Alisson made a big late save to deny Joachim Andersen (AFP via Getty Images)Liverpool came from behind in four of their first six games this season in all competitions - three in the league and once away to LASK in Europe. It was after the latter that Klopp was quizzed on the return of the 'mentality monsters', a phrase he has used in the past, but the manager kept his feet on the ground.
“It’s too early to say the mentality monsters are back, yes!” he said. “When I said that phrase at that time (during the title-winning season), it was not that I planned that way.
“I just remember watching a game and thinking, ‘Oh my God, how did they come back’ Now it is just that we have changed a few things and turned game's around. Mentality? That is something we will create. What we have now is a mood. This is a spirit we have created because the boys really like playing with each other. It is a close group.”
Liverpool's starting midfield at Palace was comprised entirely of summer signings, with Ryan Gravenberch, Wataru Endo and Dominik Szoboszlai starting together. None of the three were on at full-time, though, emphasising Klopp's need to use his whole squad during a packed schedule.
Klopp's side will play five times between December 14 and Boxing Day, with that run including Premier League games against Manchester United and Arsenal. While they might prefer to make things easy for themselves, Liverpool at least know they can turn things around when they need to.