Jurgen Klopp has had a nightmare week as Liverpool boss (Picture: Getty Images)
Jurgen Klopp feels his teams over the last 20 years have been reliable in the press and counter press, but Liverpool did nothing in those respects in the first half of the defeat to Crystal Palace on Sunday.
The Reds’ Premier League title chances were badly bruised at Anfield by a 1-0 loss to the Eagles which came thanks to a first half Eberechi Eze goal.
The home team had a string of excellent chances, with the likes of Darwin Nunez, Curtis Jones and Diogo Jota all missing wonderful opportunities, but they were not alone, with Palace’s goal living something of a charmed life.
However, the visiting team did also have a number of chances to score again on an entertaining afternoon for the neutral, but a very frustrating one for Klopp and his team.
The German knows that his teams are well known for their press and counter pressing abilities, but he admitted his side showed no sign of it in the first half on Sunday.
‘In more than 20 years when you watch my teams, the press and counter press is pretty good, some days it is outstanding. In the first half, it was nothing and then we were 1-0 down,’ Klopp told the BBC.
‘Second half, we tried to change the formation and dynamic that wasn’t tricky for Crystal Palace. You could stand here on another day and see the same balls go in and we’re talking about a 4-1 win, but football doesn’t work like that.’
Curtis Jones missed a golden chance in the second half at Anfield (Picture: Getty Images)
Klopp added, speaking to Sky Sports: ‘If you would look to my teams over the years, I think you could say our pressing is usually good. Counterpress is there. The first half we were open like “how can that happen?”
‘Curtis [Jones] was the only one really chasing, really getting out and from time to time broke their rhythm. Beside that they [Palace] could just play through. They [Liverpool] were horrible to watch.’
Mohamed Salah had a very frustrating afternoon against Crystal Palace (Picture: Getty Images)
It has been a nightmare week for Liverpool after a 3-0 defeat to Atalanta at Anfield in the Europa League on Thursday night and Klopp reckons Sunday was a symptom of three days earlier.
‘Was this a hangover? Yes,’ he said. ‘That’s how humans react sometimes. It’s not great but it happens. The conviction wasn’t there. We were much too far apart from each other. Last line too deep, the midfield wasn’t really there, first line didn’t start the press. So that’s all true.’
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