Jurgen Klopp says Liverpool's players should have passed the ball to Takumi Minamino more often in their FA Cup fifth round defeat to Chelsea .
The Reds exited the competition in a 2-0 defeat to the Blues at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday night, with the hosts scoring through Willian and Ross Barkley in either half.
The loss marked a third defeat in the last four games for the Liverpool , with the defeats all coming in different competitions.
Minamino was making his sixth appearance for the Reds, and third start, since arriving from Red Bull Salzburg in January, and Klopp says he was impressed with the Japanese international at Stamford Bridge even though he should have been utilised more often by his teammates.
"Takumi had a really good game. We could have used him much more often," Klopp told his post-match press conference after the loss.
"If Neco (Williams) sees him once or twice he was completely free at the edge [of the box], he shot the cross more or less. If he’d seen him it would have helped."
Klopp added that he was disappointed with the loss, although not entirely surprised given the manner of the game.
"Losing 2-0 is not cool, but in this case it is relatively easy to explain – we made two massive mistakes around the goals," he added.
"Adrian made a super save a second or two seconds before and then this ball, a really good shot from Willian and he could not make that save.
"But before that we lost the ball and that’s a problem. It was not the biggest shock because it is football.
"I liked the reaction, liked the way we played, some good stuff, it was a super-intense game and both teams were really running like mad."
