Jurgen Klopp has responded to questions about his team’s tendency to concede the first goal during matches this season.
Liverpool are seriously struggling for form this term and sit ninth in the Premier League table after winning just four of their first 12 games.
When Rodrigo put Leeds 1-0 up at Anfield on Saturday night, that was the tenth time the FA Cup champions had conceded first this season and the German tactician has tried to explain the worrying statistic.
“I understand that you ask the question all the time, but all the goals were completely different,” explained the German tactician (quoted by Liverpoolfc.com). “The last goal we conceded now couldn’t be more different to all the other goals we conceded. It wasn’t a phase where we were down, where Leeds played around us, through us, over us, under us, everything. We set the target for them, so you can’t compare it.
“But yes, of course it is worrying. But is not [that] we go [into] every game saying let’s make sure we don’t concede a first goal; that’s clear anyway, [it’s] Of course in football. So, it’s kind of clear. It is not [a] self-fulfilling prophecy or whatever you talk about it and it happens, or you don’t talk about it and it happens.
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“We had other games where it didn’t happen, that’s obviously very helpful, we all know that. But I understand the question arises, my answer can’t really change to that. Beyond all the problems we had this season, this is one of them, of course, and perhaps the [which] leads to many others. In this specific game against Leeds, now it wasn’t the main problem because we drew level pretty quickly after that. So from there we could have won the match, but we didn’t.”
We used to be a team that started games fast and sometimes won the game in the first half, but that’s something you can’t say this season.
When you consider that we have looked fragile throughout the pitch and that key players like Diogo Jota and Luis Diaz are sidelined with injuries, falling behind is certainly not ideal.
Previously, you were hopeful that with the amount of quality we possess at the top end of the field, falling behind really wouldn’t matter, but this season feels different.
Although we have struggled defensively, Klopp’s side have kept six clean sheets this term (in all competitions), but we welcome high-flying Napoli to Anfield tomorrow night in the Champions League, a team that defeated us 4-1 in the reverse encounter last month. .
The Italian team hasn’t lost a game since April and keeping Luciano Spalletti’s men out won’t be easy.
We need a big performance with just four games remaining before domestic football is interrupted by the World Cup in Qatar next month.
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