Klopp Talk: “We Have To Show A Reaction”

Like most of us, Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp struggled to make sense of his side’s 3-2 home loss to Swansea on Saturday. In the immediate aftermath the German struggled to find the right words. Eventually, Klopp started putting some cogent thoughts together and shared some of them in his post-match press conference.

First, he talked about how big of a setback the loss to Swansea was vis a vis Liverpool’s title and Top 4 hopes:

“If this result has influence (on our future performances), then it will be. I've said before that when we lose, especially in the Premier League, it has to feel really bad. And that's what it does. I don't need this feeling. But now we have to use it, as always. We have to show a reaction. It's not like we're in a situation where things are really going well. We are really fighting at this moment. But it's our mistake. Nobody else made a mistake, it's only ours.”

On the relatively sedate atmosphere at Anfield and whether that affected the team’s play:

“In the first half, you could hear in the stadium it wasn't the most entertaining game but we had a job to do. If you want to have a real spectacular on the pitch then you need two sides to do it, and first half only we played. They defended. You need to play around and create, have a look where the best space is and pass through. We had these situations. We had some moments of brilliant play. I could ask for us to be spot on and 100% every game but it isn't like that. We had four or five really good moments when we did really well, and that's what you need to do in games like this. You have to take the lead, that changes the game. But it wasn't a big problem. It was 0-0. It was very, very quiet in the stadium. You need to play like this sometimes. You cannot always go with the head through the wall.”

Finally, as for why Joël Matip wasn’t in the Starting XI despite late clearance from FIFA:

“The okay for Matip to play came too late for us to include him (as a starter). There was no chance. We have had three sessions since the last game and we had to focus on the players we knew could play.”

So there you have it. There’s not much else you can say after such a demoralizing response, but the boss— as well as the captain— are doing the best they can. The message is clear: get it out of your heads and start preparing for Southampton. Get angry, get to work, get better.