Jurgen Klopp assesses the match ‘Very disappointing’ after Liverpool lost 1-0 to Bournemouth on Saturday
The Reds lost in the Premier League at the Vitality Stadium, where Philip Billing scored the hosts’ 28th-minute winner and Mohamed Salah missed a second-half penalty.
Below is a summary of Klopp’s comments on the defeat at his post-match press conference…
on his frustrations with the performance…
I am very disappointed The game was quite the opposite of what we wanted to show and did today, I think we played 95 minutes in the game that Bournemouth wanted to play. And maybe in a few minutes, there were a few moments, we actually did what we wanted to do in the first half I think our best 2 or 3 moments were similar: Find the half-space area, going from there behind the last line of defense. We scored a goal which didn’t give a goal for offside but even then it was a good situation, a good play, there were other situations in a similar way. There were big chances after set-pieces which we didn’t use, how you say it, it’s simple or whatever, positions where we had to score but we didn’t.
but in 1 situation; It’s not the only situation at Bournemouth it’s one of the many situations Bournemouth have, with going to the last line in our defense, finding half-spaces. And we didn’t protect each other well enough during these times, and for once, Ali couldn’t save us after that. I didn’t see it how the ball crossed the line, there were players between me. And such a situation, so I can’t see that.
Going 1-0 behind; 45, 50 of the time to fix it. I think we started OK in the second half, a little bit more clear in our situations, had penalties, missed penalties. Now of course it was hypothetical – to me it looked like if we scored there. Yes, it won’t make the game better compared to the first half but it will give us a good boost. But we couldn’t score from that and then you can see we pushed a little bit, we didn’t create enough chances, in counter moments Bournemouth fought a lot, with a lot of passion. Really, winning these balls and then the Bournemouth boys have really shown their quality, the way they keep the ball. We couldn’t defend them in the first position so we had to chase. And defend them there I don’t remember, maybe one big chance for them or a big finish, the rest we defend but it’s still difficult and then you have a long way to go back to that. Their penalty area, and so we lost the game. It’s very disappointing.
Wasn’t this defeat even more disappointing since it came after the victory? 7-0 last week…
Defeat is defeat but we are in a situation where we are due to setbacks, that’s how it is. And we are in the situation we are in because of a good performance too; We have not only defeats but we have many times too, that is clear. Today was a deserved defeat, there was no doubt about that. Now we’ll have to deal with it. and we will deal with it One of the things we’ve learned this season is dealing with setbacks. We’ll have to make sure we recover well because on Wednesday we’ll certainly have a big game as well. After that it’s the international break, I hope everyone comes back healthy. After that we will have a football week of every football week in terms of competitors. There are more games to go on but today is not the moment for me to talk about that. This game is a very important knockout. And the way it is with knocks, you have to take it, you have to look at how big the wounds are and then you go from there.
Could Liverpool’s absence from a penalty shoot-out in the Premier League since April affect Salah’s penalty miss?…
No, I think we should have had more penalties; Now I can’t really tell you when, but there are situations where it doesn’t matter where To Salah is fouled and not even a free-kick, so of course you can do everything. With Mo in the field, it’s like pulling. And something like this, then he didn’t get a foul. It has nothing to do with the result, it’s only you asking me about the penalties. We got a penalty, we missed it, it helped, if we deserved it, a team that normally dominates the game, and we were pretty much in the opponent’s box, it’s a strange thing that we Without it, we now have 1 hit and we missed it, so that’s the end of the story.
Is he concerned about the away records his side have had this season?…
Yes, I’m worried, I see it. I think with our home games it’s top four, if I’m right with away games we’re not even in Europe. There is always an explanation for the situation you are in. And of course our away record is one of them, at home we can have more points too – or maybe we should have away from home, of course as well. It was our strength over the years, it really made a difference in between, but that’s how it is when you succeed, when you do things the right way. Consistently, with the quality we have, we will have a good chance to win an away game or get an away result. This season is not often enough. It’s a clear point, to be honest.
