Klopp slams his team’s defending
LLORENTE LEFT UNMARKED IN SIX-YARD AREA Result a massive boost for struggling Swansea City.
Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp berated his side’s “passive” defending after a 3-2 loss at home to Swansea dealt a major blow to their Premier League title hopes.
Relegation-threatened Swansea became the first away team to win a league fixture at Anfield for more than a year as Fernando Llorente scored twice on Saturday before Gylfi Sigurdsson struck the winner 16 minutes from time.
Once again Liverpool looked good going forward in a match where two Roberto Firmino goals saw the Reds recover from a 2-0 deficit.
But manager Klopp was infuriated by the display at the other end of the pitch as they missed the chance to close to within four points of leaders Chelsea.
“We showed again that when we are on track, we are a strong side and can really create chances and score goals,” he said.
“But the defending around all three goals today was not good enough – 100 percent. That’s a very important part of the game and it was very disappointing today.”
Klopp was particularly unhappy with the slack marking from a Sigurdsson corner that left Llorente, who stands at 1.93 metres, unattended to score Swansea’s opener.
“We lose the first challenge after the corner and I didn’t see how Llorente could be completely alone in the six-yard box and score the goal,” fumed Klopp. “It’s pretty difficult to overlook him, huh?” As for Swansea’s winner, Klopp added: “There was nearly everything wrong around this goal. I think it started with a long ball that was not really a surprise. They played a few of these.
“We strolled back. We scored and we couldn’t switch to defensive mode.”
Swansea’s first league victory at Anfield was a huge boost in their battle to beat the drop.
New manager Paul Clement said he hoped Llorente, who has been linked with a move to Chelsea, will stay at the Liberty Stadium after arriving from Sevilla in August.
“I thought his performance was very good,” said Clement, who was particularly impressed with the Spaniard’s hold-up play and ability to bring other Swansea players into the game. – AFP