Klopp laments ‘passive’ Liverpool

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp berated his side’s “passive” defending after Saturday’s 3-2 home loss to Swansea dealt a major blow to the Reds’ Premier League title hopes.

Relegation-threatened Swansea became the first visiting team to win a league match at Anfield in more than a year as Fernando Llorente scored twice before Gylfi Sigurdsson struck the winner 16 minutes from time.

Once again Liverpool looked good on attack in a match where two goals from Roberto Firmino saw the Reds recover from a 2-0 deficit.

But Klopp was infuriated by the Merseysiders’ display at the other end of the pitch as they missed the chance to close to within four points of leader 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. 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 6-foot-4, 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 that goal. I think it started with a long ball that was not really a surprise. They played a few of those.

“We strolled back. We scored and we couldn’t switch to the defensive mode. That was the biggest mistake in this situation.

“We were passive. They took the opportunity. In the end, there was a Swansea player free in our box. That makes no sense.”