The Bournemouth boss was full of praise for the Reds after Sunday’s 4-0 Premier League defeat.
Andoni Iraola admitted his Bournemouth side could not cope with Liverpool’s “impressive” second-half performance as the Reds moved five points clear at the top of the Premier League.
Darwin Nunes and Diogo Jota scored twice after the break to give Jurgen Klopp’s team a 4-0 victory at the Vitality Stadium on Sunday afternoon. Liverpool, back from the winter break, struggled for a long time in the first half to make a significant impact.
But the Reds proved too strong in the end and Iraola highlighted why the Reds are in contention for the title.
“Liverpool were really calm,” said the Cherries manager. “Especially their first goal was difficult to defend because it was a very good combination. In the other goals, I think we could have done more, defended better and reacted faster to the second goal.
“Liverpool are very physical, they have such a high intensity for 100 minutes, they win a lot of duels in midfield and if you get a bit weak and don’t come too early and leave them space, then that’s going to happen. . . it gets really bad.” The difficulty is that every time they come, they take a chance – and their results are very, very good.
“If you look at Liverpool’s numbers in the second half, they were phenomenal. They usually perform well in the first half, but their performance in the second half was amazing.
“We know that against a high level opponent we have to be at our best and be inspired like they were with their first goal. We didn’t find it.
“Even when we’re at our best, in the (League) Cup (Liverpool won 2-1 in November) we couldn’t beat Liverpool, there’s a reason they only lost one game and that was with nine players. They scored four goals, all of which were of great quality. ”
Bournemouth and Liverpool are the two Premier League clubs going into this game and have 22 points from a possible 30.
Speaking about the game, Iraola added: “We kept a high level in the first 45 minutes, but after their first goal we started doing things we hadn’t done before, too fast, tactically. Not so disciplined either. Yes, we played worse in the second half.
“We had opportunities, we had a lot of set pieces, we could have had more shots, but we are trying to find better positions. With this level of resistance, sometimes you just have to try to get things done.
“I am satisfied with the beginning of the first half and the end of the first half. In the last 10 minutes of the first half, we had a lot of momentum and got what we wanted. But their first goal was decisive. From that point on, they gained confidence and became more aggressive in the media, and we were less clear about what we were doing. ”
