Klopp Talk: “We Have to Defend These Situations Better”

It ended up being a bitterly frustrating day for Liverpool against Manchester United, as Marcus Rashford was able to score two goals from the left channel and José Mourinho’s side were all but home and dry within half an hour. While Eric Bailly’s own goal gifted Liverpool a way back into the match, and the visitors perhaps deserved a penalty late on, there weren’t a lot of positives to take from the day’s events.

Jürgen Klopp seemed to see the game similarly, voicing his disappointment at the performance but questioning the refereeing decisions.

“We have to defend these situations better”, the Liverpool manager told Sky Sports after the game. “You can always lose a header or a challenge with Romelu Lukaku of course but there is a gap in behind and we need to close that. The two goals [conceded] made the game not easy. [We] had a lot of OK moments, two good moments in the first half where we could finish better. We didn’t score before half time and then in the second half we chased the game. It is really difficult to do against a team like Manchester United.”

While he was open about the defensive frailties of his side, Klopp nonetheless voiced his frustration at the referee’s refusal to give his side what he felt they deserved, believing it “was a clear penalty with Fellaini on Mané”, and that “in situations like this you need the right decision”.

“It is all about the result and we lost.”

While the penalty incident is sure to be discussed for some time after such an important game, it’s hard to argue with Klopp’s final assessment.