Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has criticised the club’s fans for their premature departure during the Reds’ bout with Crystal Palace.
The Merseyside giants have been going strong under the German coach and remained unbeaten heading into Sunday’s match. However, despite cancelling out Yannick Bolasie’s opener through a fine Philippe Coutinho effort, the Anfield heavyweights fell to defeat after Scott Dann’s second-half effort.
Liverpool lacked cohesion, but were rocked by an injury to Mamadou Sakho, who was replaced on 40 minutes.
Worryingly for Klopp, the home fans were quick to show their discontent with his side’s poor performance and began funnelling out of Anfield long before the end of the match.
It’s an act that has not gone down well with the new man, who replaced Brendan Rodgers a month ago.
“After the goal on 82 minutes, with 12 minutes to go, I saw many people leaving the stadium,” he began, as per The Guardian. “I felt pretty alone at this moment. We decide when it is over. Between 82 and 94 [minutes] you can make eight goals if you like.
“Big decisions are made in moments when you are tired. Tonight it feels so bad because it was absolutely not necessary.”
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“It is not a problem to lose a game. It happens in football but we have to learn,” said Klopp. “If we learn, we decide how strong we are, how good we are, how awake we are and how tired we are. Nobody else. We played on Thursday [at Rubin Kazan in the Europa League] but I decide if I am tired, nobody else. Today we needed a few minutes to come into the game. It was not enough. If everyone thinks we gave everything, then it is wrong.”
The defeat leaves Liverpool a lowly tenth in the Premier League standing after 12 matches. While Klopp’s side are not enduring a misery half as biting as that of long-term rivals Chelsea, their struggles have left them nine points off top spot.
They remain seven points behind Manchester United, who currently occupy the fourth Champions League spot.