Klopp believes loss could prove positive
LONDON: Far from being deflated by his team’s first Premier League reverse of the season at Watford on Saturday, Liverpool’s ever-positive manager Juergen Klopp reckoned the shock 3-0 setback could prove liberating for his trebleseeking Reds.
Klopp’s champions-elect served up their worst performance of the year as they were outplayed by a Watford side who started the game one from the bottom of the table and 55 points adrift of his runaway leaders.
Yet while recognising his team’s 44-match unbeaten league streak had been bound to be dismantled some time, the German optimist also reflected that he was not really disappointed by the end of the pursuit of some potentially unreal records.
“I see it rather positive because from now on we can play free football again. We don’t have to defend or try to get a record, we can just try to win football games again and that is what we will do,” Klopp told reporters.
Asked if there was any disappointment, he added: “Not really, because I don’t think you can break records because you want to break records; you break records because you are 100 percent focused on each step. And for that you have to perform.
“The boys performed and that’s why we won the games, but tonight we were not good enough.
“It’s not now a plus for me that in history, when they look back in 500 years, they will say, ‘Liverpool nearly did it.’ You cannot change that and it was always clear, sometime we would lose a game.”
Klopp was keen to praise the quality of his conquerors, who had been inspired by the electric Ismaila Sarr, who scored twice after the break and made the third for Watford captain Troy Deeney.
“The most important thing is to congratulate Watford, well deserved. That is what should be the headline. We didn’t perform like we should have and Watford performed exactly how they wanted.
“That’s how football is. It has nothing to do with games you won before, it has nothing to do with the games you will win, it is just this one football game, unfortunately. For tonight, we have to admit Watford were the better team.”
Meanwhile Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk told Sky Sports the defeat was “unacceptable”, adding: “If you concede three goals, obviously we have to improve as a team. We will.”
The Reds remain 22 points clear of City, who have a game in hand.
The thoroughly deserved win saw Nigel Pearson’s side move out of the bottom three on goal difference into 17th place on 27 points, the same as 16th-placed West Ham and Bournemouth, who slipped into the drop zone after Chelsea’s late equaliser.
Earlier Chelsea earned a late draw 2-2 at Bournemouth with two goals from Marcos Alonso and West Ham moved out of the drop zone with a 3-1 win over Southampton after protests outside the London Stadium.
Chelsea’s hopes of being in Europe’s top tournament next season suffered another setback after Bournemouth responded to Alonso’s first-half goal with two in three second-half minutes from Jefferson Lerma and Josh King.
Yet Alonso, who also scored in the Blues’ big win over Tottenham Hotspur last weekend, struck to ensure fourth-placed Chelsea at least moved to 45 points, five behind third-placed Leicester City.
In London, West Ham’s fans marched before the game, protesting about the club’s owners, but their mood was lightened as Jarrod Bowen, the £22 million January signing, marked his full debut with a fine goal.
Michael Obafemi equalised but the Hammers prevailed with goals from Sebastien Haller and Michail Antonio.