Jurgen Klopp defends self-destructing Reds mistakes in loss
Liverpool’s usually reliable stalwarts Virgil van Dijk and Alisson suffered the sort of defensive meltdown that would not have looked out of place in a pub match on Sunday, but manager Jurgen Klopp was not playing the blame game.
Van Dijk hesitated under pressure from Arsenal’s Gabriel Martinelli in the 67th minute, failing to deal with a long punt forward, then keeper Alisson rushed out and made no contact with the ball, leaving Martinelli a tap-in to make it 2-1.
It knocked the stuffing out of Klopp’s league leaders after earlier goals from Bukayo Saka and a Gabriel own goal, before Leandro Trossard’s stoppage time goal confirmed the Reds’ second league defeat (3-1) of the season.
But Klopp says: “We were growing more into the game, second half, we had our moments and then we concede that goal. That doesn’t help. It just shows the boys are human beings.
“We were really human.”
Van Dijk adds: “Obviously these things don’t happen too often in my career, but I will recover from this.
“It is a physical game and I am not looking for excuses. I should have made a better decision - it hurts for me.”
Meanwhile, former Manchester United midfielder-turned-pundit says of Liverpool in the match: “The intensity from the first whistle to the last from Liverpool, in possession and without, I can’t believe how bad they were.
“Credit to Arsenal, they turned up, and were at it. Liverpool defensively, the goals they gave away, they were like a pub team defending.”
dailyvoice@inl.co.za