As the fallout from Liverpool’s third successive poor performance continues, we look at Jürgen Klopp’s post-match press conference following that defeat at Southampton.
Danny Ings’ early strike was enough to give The Saints all three points on Monday night and make it three games without a win for Klopp’s side.
This poor run of form has loosened Liverpool’s grip on first place in the Premier League. However, with the injuries and congested fixture list that The Reds have been dealt this season, it was probably inevitable at some stage that this would happen.
Speaking after the Southampton loss, Klopp could not hide his disappointment at the performance and result:
“Very frustrating, just because it’s so unnecessary but it still happens. We had a bad start in the game, we played completely into Southampton’s hands and gave the game away, we have to admit now, in the first few minutes because after that we were not calm enough to create the opportunities to turn it around. The first half was massively influenced by the start, but with the break it meant we could settle it a little bit. Then we were dominant in the right areas, had the moments but then the decision-making was not that good. The last pass, we missed the last pass. I heard now we only had one shot on target; we had a lot of shots next to the target which we did not finish, but even with them we probably did not have enough for the moments we had. Our fault, my responsibility and that’s it.”
Klopp was also asked if he gets ‘angry’ with his squad during such difficult periods or is it a case of first remembering how well they have done for so long:
“I know they are great guys, they are super boys, it’s a fantastic group of players. But anyway tonight they were not good. Yes, when I think they should have done better then I get angry – not long but I get angry. They know that and it was always like this. We cannot only be like this [pats his head] all the time just because we won something in the past. But we don’t have to make it bigger than it is, but it’s big. So we didn’t win the last game, the game before that, the last four games – I don’t know, is that right? And that’s all our fault – mainly my fault but the boys had a hand in as well. We have to change that. If you bring yourself in a situation like we did tonight against an opponent like Southampton, then you play with the fire, let me say it like this. Southampton is too good for that, Premier League teams are too good for that. And we don’t score late goals because we scored late goals in our past. You do that because you put the opponent under that much pressure that they cannot cope with it anymore. I think Southampton was tonight on the edge of it but they still could cope with it because we helped. That’s all. We were not good enough tonight.”
Friday night, Liverpool travel to Aston Villa for their FA Cup third-round clash. Villa Park was the scene for The Reds’ 7-2 hammering at the hands of Dean Smith’s side in the league back in early October.
Klopp will no doubt be making several changes for this cup game and then Liverpool return to Premier League action on January 17th against Manchester United at Anfield.
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