Klopp says sorry for confronting fan
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has expressed regret over reacting angrily to a Swansea supporter during Liverpool’s shock 1-0 defeat at the Liberty Stadium.
Alfie Mawson swept home Swansea’s 40th-minute winner after a poorly headed clearance from Liverpool’s record signing Virgil van Dijk.
Liverpool almost rescued a point when Roberto Firmino’s header struck a post in stoppage time, but it was a miserable night for Klopp, who was involved in an angry exchange with a Swansea fan in the second half.
‘‘He was shouting at me all the time and I reacted once,’’ Klopp said.
‘‘I must remind myself I’m a human being and not just a professional manager who takes that all the time.
‘‘They can say whatever they want, at one point I turned to him and said, ‘Please!’
‘‘It was only one moment when I had enough ... I’m sure I am not the first manager who has had a problem with him there, he must be a season ticket holder.
‘‘It was my fault as well. I should not react, but I didn’t say anything bad.‘‘
Liverpool lost valuable ground on second-placed Manchester United and Chelsea in third with a first defeat in 15 league games.
They are now six points behind United and three adrift of Chelsea.
‘‘I’m more frustrated with the performance than the result and I’m angry because it was not a good game,’’ Klopp said. ‘‘We lost the game in the first half. We didn’t do what we wanted to do.
‘‘We had a chance right at the end, but if we had got a point it would still have been a bad game for us.
‘‘Swansea are fighting for their life and we’ve no problem with that. To win this game Swansea needed our help and they had it.’’
Swansea stay bottom but have suffered only one defeat in six games since Carlos Carvalhal took charge last month.