Jürgen Klopp’s appraisal of his team’s performance following Monday night’s 3-1 loss at Brentford in the Premier League was, “We are accountable for the defeat.”
At the halftime break, the Reds were trailing their hosts by a score of 2-0 due to an own goal scored by Ibrahima Konate and a header scored by Yoane Wissa. The game was played at the Gtech Community Stadium.
However, the away team was unable to find an equalizer and fell further behind when Bryan Mbeumo scored a third goal late in the game. Alex Oxlade-header Chamberlain’s almost immediately after the restart cut the deficit in half; however, the away team was unable to find an equalizer.
Continue reading for a rundown of the key points that Jurgen Klopp discussed in his post-game news conference.
On the result and Liverpool’s performance…
Jürgen Klopp’s appraisal of his team’s performance following Monday night’s 3-1 loss at Brentford in the Premier League was, “We are accountable for the defeat.”
At the halftime break, the Reds were trailing their hosts by a score of 2-0 due to an own goal scored by Ibrahima Konate and a header scored by Yoane Wissa. The game was played at the Gtech Community Stadium.
However, the away team was unable to find an equalizer and fell further behind when Bryan Mbeumo scored a third goal late in the game. Alex Oxlade-header Chamberlain’s almost immediately after the restart cut the deficit in half; however, the away team was unable to find an equalizer.
Continue reading for a rundown of the key points that Jurgen Klopp discussed in his post-game news conference.
Thе gаmе gоt dеcidеd by thе sеcоnd gоаl in thе еnd, which is аbsоlutеly оur fаult аnd nоthing еlsе. Wе gоt аwаy with аn оffsidе оr whаtеvеr it wаs. Thаt’s аll OK аnd thеn wе аrе nоt аwаkе whеn thеy just gо dirеctly аgаinst оur linе аgаin. Thеy cаn crоss thе bаll аnd thеrе thеy scоrе thе sеcоnd gоаl аnd thаt dеcidеd thе gаmе in thе еnd. Wе hаd big chаncеs in thе first hаlf, а frее hеаdеr [frоm] Ibоu, Oxlаdе in thе bоx whеn Thiаgо chips thе bаll thеrе оn thе chеst [but hе] cаnnоt cоntrоl it. Of cоursе, thеn [thеrе wаs] Dаrwin аnd Kоstаs’ chаncеs. Thе sеcоnd hаlf, wе stаrt supеr, еxаctly likе wе wаntеd. Wе hаd Rоbbо dоwn thе linе, crоssing thе bаll in. Yоu hаvе thе gоаl Dаrwin scоrеs [whеrе] hе did еxcеptiоnаl but in thе еnd it wаs slightly оffsidе. Thеn wе scоrеd this wоndеrful gоаl frоm Oxаldе, sо thаt’s аll OK, but thеn with timе, rhythm brеаks, gоing dоwn аnd а lоt оf timе running dоwn thе wаtch withоut аny fооtbаll аctiоn, wе lоst prеcisiоn, wе wеrе nоt thаt clеаr аnymоrе.
We experienced the intensity of the game, and as we attempted to calm down, we let a third goal that should have been disallowed since it involved two players sprinting at full speed, and when you get pushed at this point, you risk losing your balance and falling. Naturally, that’s not a serious foul or anything; it’s just a minor thing. However, Stuart Atwell viewed it differently. The VAR who checked it usually hides in these circumstances behind the remark that it is not plain and obvious. The second goal therefore determined the outcome of the game, the third goal shouldn’t have been allowed, and we ought to have played better.
Brentford always has the opportunity to stir up trouble through set pieces. They specialize in doing it, and they excel at it. Although it is excellent and well-organized and everything, we had a lot of chances in a game that wasn’t of the highest caliber. The second goal was a gift to Brentford, and that is the one that really irks me. We still had these chances, and we are aware of that, so we need to improve. One of the others ought to have been denied, and the other is unlucky. Yes, it’s uncomfortable. Your BBC colleague compared the two games, in which we tied 3-3 here, when he asked me how much worse off we are than we were last year. It was the same crazy and chaotic game as that one, but I think tonight we had more opportunities than we had in that game. They gave it their best, and while we put up a fight (not that we didn’t, at all), we are ultimately to blame for the loss.
On Liverpool’s defending…
When they were up 3-1 and making counterattacks while we threw everything forward, it looked like they could score the fourth goal. It’s clear how they play. And I wasn’t surprised by the defense around the second goal; it’s just not right. They just chipped the ball in behind us, and we could have stopped the cross. I think we had two players there doubling up, but we let him cross the ball anyway. We knew before the game that they would have two players in the far post area, so you need to know where they are coming from and be ready to stop them. We didn’t do that, which is why we should have defended this goal. But it has nothing to do with protecting people in general.
You can’t always stop long balls. They were very direct, which makes them limited in some ways, but for these kinds of games, it gives them the chance to create real chaos, which they do, and they do it very well, so that’s good. But you can’t always defend so easily. You have to fight, and you have to take advantage of your own chances, because their defense is no longer so good that the opponent has no chances. So I don’t think it would have been a surprise if the game was tied 2-2 after 55 minutes or whatever, and from there I would have loved to see the game. But it didn’t happen because of us, and when they scored the third goal, it was clear that the biggest belief wasn’t there anymore. We had played some very intense games, and this game was also very intense.
On the three substitutions at half-time…
Virgil felt the muscle a little bit and said, “He’s fine.” He’s a very good judge of this kind of thing. But I didn’t want to take any risks. When I told the physios that we don’t take risks, they seemed happy. But I don’t think he’s hurt; I think he just felt how hard it was. Yes, the other two things were about strategy. We had, of course, had the chances. We could bring in Naby and Robbo. I thought Naby played a great game, and Robbo’s first move after halftime was just what we needed. We needed that speed in the back, so these two changes were made.
On what he said to his team at half-time…
We also got off to a good start in the first half, didn’t we? So nothing too exciting. We just need to remind the boys of what we need to do to make things hard for Brentford. So, having a 2-0 lead is good, but it’s also very risky, and I think we showed that right away. When it was 2-1, we were much closer to scoring the equalizer than they were to scoring the third goal. But they kept throwing everything at each other, so it stayed a big fight. Obviously, they deserved to win, but, as I said, the game was decided by the second goal. Getting the equalizer right after halftime would have been much better than just scoring the first goal. All done.
On Liverpool’s position in the table…
So we can only change our position if we win football games, which we didn’t do tonight. Since we didn’t win, we didn’t get any points and can’t learn anything from it. I said that we need to win football games and that a lot of our players aren’t available right now. You can see that in the way we make changes. When we make changes, we can’t just throw in offensive players and other things to give someone a break or say, “Okay, that’s enough for today.” So pretty much everyone has to fight. There’s nothing else to say about it.