Jurgen Klopp admitted that Liverpool’s poor performances and results against teams in the lower half of the Premier League table is happening far too often.
Liverpool returned from a 16-day break with a hapless display at the King Power Stadium as they fell 3-1 to Leicester City on Monday night.
Two goals from Jamie Vardy and a wonderful strike from Danny Drinkwater gave a manager-less Leicester a vital three points in their quest for Premier League survival, while Liverpool’s hopes of securing Champions League football suffered a massive blow.
Klopp’s side have lost five times in the Premier League this season — losing to Burnley, Bournemouth, Swansea City, Hull City and now Leicester.
“It was not good enough in the beginning, it was not good enough in the middle and it was not good enough in the end,” Klopp told a news conference after the Leicester defeat. “I think it was 100 percent clear what happens here tonight from the Leicester side — back to the roots, the line up was clear.
“It was clear how emotional the game will be because if Leicester doesn’t show emotion tonight then that would have been really strange.
“It was not that intense but we were not even ready for this. We tried to be absolutely ready for the first second but, obviously, we tried not enough, with the wrong tools or whatever. The first goal looked like a friendly game — a player down, a throw in, a header and one pass.”
The Liverpool manager added: “For us, it’s very important to say we cannot blame anybody else for this performance — it’s only our responsibility.
“The job we have to do is react again on it and react and react and react because what happened tonight has happened too often this season already.
“Everybody who follows us the whole year knows how good we can be, so that makes even worse to accept.”
Klopp was then asked whether some of his players were not as good as he initially thought, with Liverpool seemingly going from title contenders to a side struggling to finish in the top four within a matter of months.
The Reds boss dismissed that idea, but did say that everybody at the club is always fighting for their futures.
“We all play, myself involved, for our futures,” he said. “We get judged everyday, especially on matchdays.
“Of course performances have influence on these things — that’s how it is. I don’t think they are not as good as I thought they are but I think they need my help more to show it every week.
“When we lose, I feel responsible because I am responsible. All what I say now, I hope I used the word ‘we’ and not ‘they’ or ‘the players.’ I’m involved in this.
“It’s not the moment to make assessments like this, especially not in public. But to say the truth — and I try to say it as often as possible — bad performances doesn’t help anybody. That’s clear.”
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