Liverpool defender criticises his team

JURGEN Klopp would not allow controversial comments from defender Mamadou Sakho to take the gloss off a “brilliant” first-half performance from his Liverpool side as they beat Hull City 5-1 at Anfield.

Sakho said on social media on Saturday that suggestions he was not fit to play were a “lie”.

Sakho – sent home from Liverpool’s preseason tour of the US for disciplinary reasons – is yet to play for the Reds this season and rejected the chance to move on loan before the transfer window closed.

Liverpool manager Klopp said earlier this month that the France international didn’t need to regain his trust but that Sakho needed to build up his fitness after not playing since April following a suspension for a failed drug test – subsequently overturned by UEFA – and an injury sustained in pre-season.

But Sakho disputed those claims and said he had completed his rehabilitation work. “I accept my situation but I can’t accept the lie. The fans deserve to know the truth,” the former Paris Saint-Germain defender, 29, said on Snapchat.

“Now it’s three weeks since I’m fit to play games. I finished all my rehabilitation work.”

Klopp was asked about Sakho’s comments after Liverpool won a third successive Premier League game but said this was not the time to respond.

The German added: “On a match day I’m in completely the wrong mood to think about things like this.

“It’s not the right moment to speak about it. It makes sense to think about something and then you give the right answer. It’s not positive, I would say.”

Klopp had no other problems to contend with as he saw his side sweep aside a Hull side reduced to 10 men after 30 minutes when defender Ahmed Elmohamady was sent off for handling the ball on the line and conceding a penalty which gave Liverpool a 2-0 lead.

They were 3-0 up at the break and Klopp said: “The first half was brilliant. That was how football should be if you are able to do it. The second half was not as exciting, still good, but not at 100% of concentration.”

The result means Hull have now lost three of their last four league games, but acting manager Mike Phelan was not prepared to criticise his team in the middle of a testing run which continues with a home game against Chelsea next weekend.

“I’m not going to pick holes in the team or the players,” said Phelan. — AFP