Jurgen Klopp says there was little to read into his decision to replace Alexis McAllister in the 4-3 win over Fulham.
Red had to go deep into Marco Silva’s half and Bobby de Córdoba-Reid headed home 10 minutes from time after the first half ended 2-2.
Excellent goals from Wataru Endo and Trent Alexander-Arnold were enough to pull the win back from the brink of defeat, leaving Liverpool just a point behind leaders Arsenal.
Mac Allister was substituted just after the hour mark as part of a midfield change, but Klopp insisted the change was not performance-related.
Asked about his motivation for walking out on the World Cup winners in the second half, he said: “No, no, I don’t want to do anything.”
“If it doesn’t fit, is it a bad thing tactically?” Does that mean it’s not good enough? You usually do that, right? “It’s not enough if someone is replaced tactically.
It’s like he ran out of fuel and we changed because we had different players on the bench.”Mac Allister restored Liverpool’s lead in the first half with a superb strike from 30 yards that flew into the top corner of Bernd Leno’s goal.
The Argentine has made 13 Premier League appearances so far this season and missed the 3-0 home win against Brentford last month due to suspension.
He spent most of his time on Merseyside as a defensive midfielder, establishing himself as one of the first names on the manager’s squad list.
Klopp was quick to dismiss the idea that his substitution was a miracle, explaining instead that Liverpool needed fresh legs to turn the game around.
The Reds are heading into a busy festive period and the manager will need to use his entire squad to put some much needed points on the board.
