JURGEN KLOPP claimed he could have defended better than his players after watching his Liverpool team hammered by Tottenham at Wembley.
The Liverpool manager laughed nervously at the “bad, bad, bad defending” that enabled Harry Kane, twice, Heung-Min Son and Dele Alli to keep up the pressure on Manchester City despite Mo Salah’s first-half strike.
But while he insisted it was “100 per cent my responsibility”, Klopp suggested that the first goal at least would not have been conceded after just four minutes if he had got his boots on instead of standing by the touchline.
“The first goal would not happen if I was on the pitch but I’m the middle of the technical area in trainers,” he said.
“Harry cannot get the ball but it was an open ball. We had more players there than them.
“Do we need to be prepared for a situation like this? Yes – we are usually. Each job is clear but we did not do it. I cannot fix it here.
“If I’m involved in this situation on the pitch, then Harry cannot get the ball.”
He further criticised his players by saying, “in the decisive moments their desire was bigger than ours,” and challenged players such as £20million Dejan Lovren, substituted after just 31 minutes, to prove their worth after conceding 29 goals in the first nine games of the season – the worst Liverpool start for 53 years.
“We have to prove we are better defenders than we showed,” he said. “We have three unbelievably big score-sheets – Watford, City and today, 12 goals conceded – that’s crazy.
“You don’t have to talk about quality. Without quality, they wouldn’t be involved at Liverpool, 100 per cent. They had a plan but the only way to fix it is to stay strong and work on it.”
The win for Spurs keeps them within five of Manchester City and Mauricio Pochettino, who said he was “emotional” after meeting Argentina legend Diego Maradona before the game, has Pep Guardiola’s side firmly in his sights.
“It is the third season that we are trying to catch someone,” said Pochettino.
“Manchester City are doing very well, they have an amazing squad and one of the best managers in the world.
“We see what happens, we believe, we will try to catch them. We are focused every day.”
Source:www.express.co.uk