Jurgen Klopp has again mentioned the FA Cup defeat to Man United as being a reason for his side’s continued lack of composure in front of goal.
To say the wheels have come off Liverpool’s season since that 4-3 defeat at Old Trafford would be an understatement; eight games, three defeats, out of the Europa League and now out of the title race.
Against Everton on Wednesday night, there were another three big chances missed, just as there were in recent defeats to Crystal Palace and Atalanta.
In each of those three losses the Reds failed to score, missing all 10 of their big chances.
“You can see we are in a rush in front of the goal, you can see that,” said Klopp post-match, having seen his side lose a Merseyside derby at Goodison Park for the first time in his tenure.
That lack of composure in front of goal has spread throughout the team and Klopp has again highlighted the Man United game as the turning point.
“It’s long ago but I blame a little bit the [Manchester] United game for it,” he admitted. “[Having] that many chances and you play really good but you don’t get anything for it. That’s really bad.
“Since then, we create but we don’t score often enough and that doesn’t help.
“It’s not like in a situation like that you don’t score and then just [think], ‘Ah, forget it, who cares?’
“You cannot act like you scored 15 goals in the last two games or whatever. You can see that and that’s a problem.”
Klopp insists it isn’t an attitude problem, saying: “It’s always like this: you have to fight through these periods, it was never different.
“People asked me already about mentality. The mentality has different aspects. It’s not a problem of attitude.
“The boys want; nobody is doing anything like that on purpose. It’s my job to bring them into a situation that they feel confident to do it.
“With that part, I’m responsible for everything that happened tonight, so it’s not that I feel great. But that’s the most tricky part of football obviously, and in the moment it didn’t work out and now we have to keep trying.”
Man United “catastrophe” impacted Liverpool
Speaking immediately after the FA Cup defeat against United, Klopp had said it was “the first time I really saw my team really struggling.”
And in the league game three weeks later, Klopp’s side had 28 shots in a 2-2 draw. The manager saying then of some chances: “The other ones we were in a bit of a rush. I would have loved us to take a second touch and shoot then.”
He added: “If we would have been a bit more clinical in some situations then, yes, of course, we can win here.”
After defeat to Crystal Palace, Klopp hinted at the psychological impact of the two United games, saying: “I’m not 100 percent sure that, in general, how we dealt with the United games particularly helped.
“I mean, we lost the game in the cup and it was like a catastrophe because we were that good and lost it anyway. Then we draw there, were really good for a long spell and just drew it.”
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