Jurgen Klopp Not Doubting His Liverpool Players After Watford loss

Klopp said he would be an “idiot” if he now began to doubt Liverpool’s character

Jurgen Klopp admits there was no point ranting
and raving at his Liverpool players just to make himself feel better
after they lost their unbeaten Premier League record at Watford.

The shock 3-0 reverse at Vicarage Road ended a 44-match
undefeated run in the top flight and also prevented the Reds setting a
new Premier League record of 19 successive victories.But, instead of
laying into his players after their poorest performance in over a year,
Klopp gave them a calculated assessment of where they had gone wrong
after re-watching the match on his return home on Saturday as he
appreciates what they have achieved this season.

Klopp said he would be an “idiot” if he now began to doubt their character and no longer trust them.

“It can happen that I get angry with the players, but I didn’t get angry with the players in this meeting,” he said.

“From
a common-sense point of view, if I go in that meeting and shout at them
like they have lost the last 10 games in a row because of a bad
attitude, that would be really strange.

“I am not interested that
after the meeting I feel better. I am interested in the boys getting the
right information and it can be more emotional – I would not say angry –
or less emotional.

“If you need to analyse, you analyse and
analysis is not really emotional. It is looking at the facts and we were
just not good enough. That is the easy answer.”

After two defeats
in three matches, having also lost in the Champions League to Atletico
Madrid, the FA Cup trip to Chelsea takes on extra significance for the
Reds in terms of regaining the momentum they had before the mid-season
break.

The message was not lost on the players and Klopp is
confident they are ready to, in one of his favourite phrases, “strike
back”.

“There was no applause. They don’t come to me and say, ‘That was a great meeting boss’,” he added.

“Of
course, they want to strike back. This is an exceptional group of
players. The situation we are in is special. Who can give us advice?