Jurgen Klopp was critical of his team’s defending after Liverpool was defeated 4-3 by Bayern Munich in a friendly in Singapore on Wednesday.
After Liverpool’s defeat to Bayern Munich, Jurgen Klopp takes aim at his own defence.
The Reds were ahead 2-0 early on with to goals from Cody Gakpo and Virgil van Dijk, then retook the lead at 3-2 through Luis Diaz before falling 4-3 in the pre-season game.
The outcome is unimportant, but Klopp was unhappy with his defenders and was prepared to call them out by name after the game. After Liverpool’s defeat to Bayern Munich, Jurgen Klopp takes aim at his own defence.
‘Trent [Alexander-Arnold] and Joel [Matip] need to respond better in the first goal we conceded,’ stated Klopp. ‘They were both standing on both feet. I don’t believe we could have averted the pass.
‘We were about a half-hour into the game and already feeling the intensity. Joe Gomez and Ibou Konate had a similar moment in the second half.
‘It’s not about speed, it’s about alertness, check the situation, there are no breaks in football.’
Klopp subsequently softened and stated that he will quickly forgive these mistakes as long as they are not repeated when the Premier League kicks off later this month.
Liverpool’s season opener is against Chelsea on Sunday, August 13th, and Klopp wants to see a healthier, more focused team there.
‘We won’t be as exhausted as we were today during the season,’ he remarked. ‘However, there will be times when you feel the intensity and must make the appropriate decisions. When you don’t do that, you get penalised. That’s all part of the pre-season routine.
‘Give me another hour, and I’ll look back and view it as a really useful lesson, and I’ll be even happier that we made the mistakes today rather than in 10 days (against Chelsea).’
