Klopp ‘Very Concerned After ‘Worst’ Liverpool Game
“It was bad. Really bad.”
The visitors were outplayed from start to finish at Amex Stadium, producing an alarmingly disjointed, toothless and lop-sided display that leaves them way off the pace in the Premier League.
Brentford’s win at home to Bournemouth on Saturday evening saw the Reds drop to ninth in the table, 16 points behind league leaders Arsenal having played a game more.
Speaking to BBC Sport after the 3-0 loss on the south coast, Klopp said: “I can’t remember a worse game. I honestly can’t. “Brighton played very well. They deserved to win. It was a very organised team against a not very organised team.
“Of course we’re very concerned. How can you not be after a game like this?”After 18 league games, Liverpool have scored fewer goals, conceded more, won fewer points and have a worse goal difference than at this stage of any previous full top-flight campaign under Klopp, who was appointed manager in October 2015.
They have dropped 26 points in the league this season – four more than across the entire 2021-22 campaign. Klopp fielded a 4-3-1-2 formation on Saturday, with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain operating behind a front two of Mohamed Salah and Cody Gakpo, but there was an imbalance to their play which Brighton were only too keen to exploit.
Liverpool fans will argue, with some justification, that injuries to Virgil van Dijk, Luis Diaz, Diogo Jota and several others have had a major impact, but recent defensive frailties cannot be explained away.
Careless mistakes were to blame for the 3-1 defeat at Brentford two weeks ago, and the 2-2 draw at home to Wolves in the FA Cup third round last Saturday. Brighton’s opener in particular was entirely self-inflicted, Alexis Mac Allister intercepting Joel Matip’s loose pass in the build-up to Solly March’s 46th-minute effort.
Asked what went wrong, captain Jordan Henderson simply said: “Everything. “It hasn’t been right for a little while now. Everybody knows that. I’ll take responsibility and the lads will too. We have to try to put it right.
“We’re pretty low on confidence. The energy level is low. We have to keep fighting and hopefully we can change it sooner rather than later.”
