Klopp strop inspires big Pool fightback
JURGEN KLOPP spoke about his anger at half-time after Liverpool fought back to pile the pressure on beleaguered Swansea manager Francesco Guidolin.
Liverpool – who lost Adam Lallana to a first-half groin injury which has ruled him out of England’s World Cup qualifiers against Malta and Slovenia – were below-par in south Wales as they trailed 1-0 at the break to an early Leroy Fer goal.
But Roberto Firmino and James Milner rewarded a much-improved second half performance to secure a 2-1 win and hand Liverpool a fourth straight Premier League victory.
“I was very angry. I have lost a lot of football games, but today makes no sense,” Liverpool manager Klopp said.
“We were not ready and it is my responsibility. It was not good.
“The build-up was too static, no movement.
“We were never compact enough and we lost a lot of balls.
“We got better in the second half and when we let the ball roll it became difficult for Swansea.
“The second half was better, but still not brilliant.”
Firmino levelled with his fourth goal of the season, a 54th-minute header, before Milner swept home his third penalty in two games six minutes from time.
Liverpool’s win took them to within two points of leaders Manchester City – who play at Tottenham today – and was their fifth consecutive victory in all competitions.
But Klopp said Liverpool needed to show greater discipline after the international programme, the Reds returning from the two-week break with a home game against Manchester United on October 17.
“It was not a day we should lose,” Klopp said.
“I didn’t think this would be a bad day, there was no sign in training.
“We lost patience and were moaning about decisions. We need to stop that.
“We were angry with ourselves, but we got cooler.
“In my job I can see that, but not change a lot until half-time.
“It’s important that when you are not brilliant, you are still able to win.”
Swansea have not won a league game since the opening day of the season and speculation looks set to swirl around Guidolin’s future.
Ryan Giggs and former United States manager Bob Bradley have been linked with taking over at the Liberty Stadium, and Guidolin accepted before the weekend that he could be out of a job if Swansea lost to Liverpool.
But the Italian insisted he was not bothered about speculation over his future.
He said: “This is not my problem. My job is to work with the players and prepare the team forgames.
“I am worried for the table, not my position. It is not good. We need more points.
“I am sure in the future this team can turn the situation around.
“The relationship between me and my players is perfect, they have good quality and characters.
“I don’t know what happens tomorrow, or next week.
‘‘But we are working hard to improve and we will continue to do so.”
Klopp had fielded questions on Liverpool’s vulnerability at set-pieces when appearing in the Sky television studio earlier in the week.
But it seemed his defenders had not been listening to him as Angel Rangel rose unopposed at the far post to meet Gylfi Sigurdsson’s corner.
The header was touched on by a combination of Mike van der Hoorn and Liverpool’s Dejan Lovren for Fer to tap home his fourth goal of the season from a yard out.
Liverpool levelled after the re-start when Jordan Henderson lifted a ball into the box after Philippe Coutinho’s free-kick had been blocked and Firmino nodded home his fourth goal of the season.
But the telling moment came when substitute Modou Barrow skied a clearance and Rangel barged over Firmino as the ball dropped, allowing Milner to dispatch his third penalty in two games.