Jurgen Klopp has apologized to Liverpool fans after their crushing derby defeat to Everton, admitting his side needed a “crisis” at Arsenal and Manchester City to have any hope of winning the title.
Liverpool were beaten at Goodison Park for the first time in almost 14 years as Jarrad Branthwaite and Dominic Calvert-Lewin punished some terrible defending.
That leaves Klopp’s side three points behind leaders Arsenal, who have a superior goal difference, with just four matches remaining. Third-placed City are one point behind Liverpool with two games in hand.
“I really empathize with people. I’m really sorry for that,” Klopp said.
“People have often told me what a great record we have in the derby. We’ve never lost here before and it’s really different. I really apologize for that. It was unnecessary but it happened.
“I don’t have any good thoughts at all. Very disappointed and frustrated. It wasn’t enough. We let the game play out the way Everton wanted. They scored two goals from set pieces.
“We defended the first three times but in the end we put him on a tackle, Branthwaite didn’t even kick the ball properly but he went over the line. After that we had our best period, in putting them under pressure, creating big chances, but we didn’t score.
“Every situation we missed gave Everton even more momentum. We never had it and it didn’t help. The second half wasn’t good enough without a real pressure phase like the one we experienced at the end of the first half.
“Then we conceded a second goal and I think everyone at Everton has seen that goal 20 times. Everyone knows their routine, they put the ball there, but it was totally free. I didn’t Haven’t seen it again but I’m pretty sure we could have defended it better. It wasn’t the most inspired performance ever.
Asked about the title race, Klopp added: “I understand, but you can all read the table. Should I say that now we are still fully involved?
“We need a crisis at City and Arsenal and we need to win football matches. If they start losing all their games and we do what we did tonight, nothing will change and we won’t be safe in the Champions League (places) either.
“We should just play better football. We see that we are in a hurry in front of the goal. You can’t act like you scored 15 goals in the last two games. You have to fight during these times.
“People ask me about mentality but it has different aspects. It’s not a problem of attitude or whether boys want it. No one does such a thing on purpose. It’s my job to get them into a situation where they feel confident to do so. This is the trickiest part of football. I am responsible. At the time, it didn’t work. We must keep trying.
Klopp must now get his Liverpool players back into action on Saturday in the midday kick-off at West Ham.
“We must recover because a rapid recovery awaits us,” he said.
“It will be a challenge both mentally and physically. West Ham are likely to be waiting and rubbing their hands hoping we get there on one leg, but I will do absolutely everything to make sure we get there much more ourselves.
“I would rather be sitting here winning 4-0 and flying. The job is to win football games and the more you win, the more successful you are and at the moment we haven’t won enough to get anything out of the season yet. We better start winning.
GO FURTHER
The Briefing: Everton 2 Liverpool 0 – Klopp’s first ever defeat to Goodison all but ends his title dream
(Photo by Peter Byrne/PA Images via Getty Images)