Jürgen Klopp cannot have seen this rut coming and his mood after Liverpool’s latest weary performance was bleak. There was no anger, only tired exasperation. He had already discharged his rage at half-time as his side toiled at Hull City and, although Liverpool improved after that impassioned team-talk, they could not halt their dreadful start to 2017. Afterwards Klopp suggested it was time for some home truths. From the team’s mentality to Simon Mignolet’s latest error, he was blunt – facing mistakes head-on would be a priority before Saturday’s game at home to Tottenham Hotspur.
“Again that’s another thing where we have to show a reaction,” said Klopp when asked about Mignolet’s confidence, the goalkeeper having flapped at the ball in the buildup to Alfred N’Diaye’s opening goal at the KCom Stadium. “That’s causing problems. That’s how it is. For sure he was not alone around the goal but of course he nearly had it in his hands. We cannot ignore this is true and we will not. We don’t lie to ourselves.
“I saw in the Hull set piece that our formation was not right, after one second of the set piece. It’s all about concentration. It’s all about being really in the game and finding the answer after a defeat that really hurts, not just myself but the players too. Putting ourselves under pressure is a hobby of ours and now we have to show a reaction.”
Liverpool have won one match in 10 this calendar year, across all competitions. That was a narrow victory over a side in League Two and the big games will come quickly over the next month and a half. Arsenal, Manchester City and Everton loom large on the fixture list after Tottenham.
Yet Liverpool have performed admirably against their direct rivals at the top end of the Premier League this season. It is the displays against lower-ranked opponents that have caused concern and the one at Hull was familiarly frustrating.
They put Marco Silva’s side under some pressure in the second half, yet the first goal was easily preventable and Liverpool’s defence – with Lucas Leiva and Joël Matip as centre-halves – appeared fragile throughout. Going forward the energy and zip of early season has faded, with opponents opting to sit back and attempt to play on the counterattack.
To rub salt into the wound it was Oumar Niasse, the forward on loan from Everton, who killed the game with a late second goal following a simple long ball over the top. Klopp, though, insisted there was a way back from the slump and that his self-belief had not wavered.
“You cannot believe how many questions I ask myself, even when we win five or six nil,” he said. “That’s not a problem. I don’t think I’m perfect. Things like this don’t change that. I feel 100% responsible for defeats, much more than I feel for wins. It has been like this my whole life. That doesn’t mean it’s for me not suffering or to be sorry for yourself, to have self-pity. I’m not like this.
“When I get up tomorrow I will only be solution-orientated. There are solutions, 100%. Now we have to change it – that’s a football thing. Even though at this moment it feels really bad, it’s not the biggest problem in the world. Many teams have already made mistakes and changed things. For this you have to do the right things and I’m quite confident we can do the right things.”
The goalkeeper dilemma has been a blight on Liverpool’s progress this season and Mignolet, who saved Diego Costa’s penalty against Chelsea last week, was once more a key influence on the result. However, the Belgian was left woefully exposed by a defence that did not react quickly to Harry Maguire’s header from a corner as N’Diaye scored from inside the six-yard box.
For Silva there was much encouragement from the performance of his winter signings, in particular N’Diaye and Andrea Ranocchia, who started in defence after a late injury to Michael Dawson. Liverpool’s quiet January has put the spotlight on their squad but Klopp was reluctant to point towards excuses for his team’s malaise.
Asked whether new signings would have prevented this run, he said: “First of all I think what is very important is to never blame anybody else for your own mistakes. We don’t look for excuses. It’s not that we are trying to blame somebody. We are responsible, the squad, myself especially. We have to work on a solution and we will.”
Hull, however, deserve much credit. Silva has provided them with genuine hope of avoiding relegation, weeks after joining. He said: “I am not a miracle worker but that is not important. I am a worker. I want to work and keep our goal in our minds always but my feet always stay on the ground. I want three points, nothing more. We need to take a lot more points to keep Hull City in the Premier League.”
