The Liverpool FC players failed to live up to the expectations during their performance at St. Mary’s on Monday, admitted boss Jurgen Klopp as the Merseysiders fell to a 1-0 defeat to Southampton.
A second minute lobbed effort by Danny Ings secured all three points for the Saints against the forward’s former side, with Liverpool FC now looking at the daunting possibility of going further down the league table should both Manchester-based outfits come out on top in their games in hand.
Speaking to the club’s official website in the aftermath of his team’s defeat, Klopp admitted that the onus fell upon him and his players for their barren run of form in recent weeks, with Monday’s defeat to the Saints coming on the back of a two-game winless streak for the Premier League holders.
“I know they are great guys, they are super boys, it’s a fantastic group of players. But anyway tonight they were not good. Yes, when I think they should have done better then I get angry – not long but I get angry.
“They know that and it was always like this. We cannot only be like this [pats his head] all the time just because we won something in the past. But we don’t have to make it bigger than it is, but it’s big. So we didn’t win the last game, the game before that, the last four games – I don’t know, is that right? And that’s all our fault – mainly my fault but the boys had a hand in as well.
“We have to change that. If you bring yourself in a situation like we did tonight against an opponent like Southampton, then you play with the fire, let me say it like this. Southampton is too good for that, Premier League teams are too good for that. And we don’t score late goals because we scored late goals in our past. You do that because you put the opponent under that much pressure that they cannot cope with it anymore.
“I think Southampton was tonight on the edge of it but they still could cope with it because we helped. That’s all. We were not good enough tonight.”
Klopp’s side were unable to get the better of a resilient Southampton backline and despite controlling a lions share of possession during the St. Mary’s showdown, the Merseyside visitors managed just one shot on target, summing up yet another frustrating outing for them in top-flight action.
