Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp: Nothing positive in Spurs thrashing

Published on: 22 October 2017

Jurgen Klopp speaks to the media following his side's woeful 4-1 loss against Tottenham. Liverpool gave a masterclass in poor defending as Tottenham took full advantage at Wembley stadium.

LONDON -- Jurgen Klopp said he could not say "anything positive" about his Liverpool side after they were thrashed 4-1 at Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.

Liverpool were comprehensively beaten at Wembley thanks to a brace from Harry Kane and strikes by Son Heung-Min and Dele Alli.

Klopp told his postmatch news conference the result was not down to a poor attitude from his players, saying: "Did the boys want it? I would say 100 percent yes. You could see it.

"Even when we were 4-1 down, I think we improved in a few situations.

"To be honest, I don't want to say anything positive about us. It's not attitude. It's not that the boys thought: 'Oh, seven at Maribor [in the Champions League] and it will carry on like this without doing anything.'

"I said it a few times, whatever you say about us in a negative way, you are right. We are wrong."

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Liverpool have conceded 15 goals away from home, the most in the Premier League this season and three more than bottom club Crystal Palace.

On his side's defensive display, Klopp added: "It's all our responsibility.

"In all decisive moments, we were not there. It's difficult to talk about about because I don't want to create headlines, which doesn't help us.

"It was just poor defending in all parts of decisive moments. Everything that happened today was so obvious.

"Even then we had chances -- that's just a result of the potential of the team. But you cannot get results with a performance like today against a team like Tottenham.

"They were completely spot on and obviously we weren't. And that's my responsibility."

Klopp said his players "have to prove that we are better defenders than we showed today" but stressed: "If they didn't have quality, they would not be involved in the squad.

"The only way to fix it is to stay strong and work on it. These goals today, I said it, the first goal would not happen if I am on the pitch. It would not happen [even] if I am in trainers.

"Everything is clear, each job is clear, but we didn't do it."

Dejan Lovren, caught out for both Spurs' two opening goals, was taken off after just 31 minutes and replaced by Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

But Klopp said: "I really don't want to blame players. Dejan, to be honest, was not worse than Joel [Matip].

"We had to change something and we had to try to make sure we were a little bit more stabilised.

"I could have taken another one off and it would not have been the biggest difference. We still conceded two more goals after Dejan left the pitch. Obviously, it wasn't the biggest influence.

"I think he feels not good. That's OK -- nobody should feel good in this moment."

Glenn is ESPN FC's Liverpool correspondent. You can follow him on Twitter: @GlennPrice94.

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Source: espn.co.uk

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