Jurgen Klopp Praises LFC’s Passion, Laments Nervousness In Southampton Draw

Jurgen Klopp explained why Liverpool needs to maintain its belief when setbacks befall it after Southampton struck in the closing moments to deny the Reds in a 1-1 draw at Anfield.

Christian Benteke appeared to have secured all three points when he rose to meet a James Milner delivery with a thunderous header in front of the Kop with 13 minutes to go.

But when the Saints sent a free-kick into the area late on, and it was nodded back across the box, Sadio Mane squeezed in a finish to frustrate the hosts and rob Klopp of a first win.

In assessing the game, though, the boss insisted he saw enough from his team to be encouraged, and now the players themselves must have faith in recovering in-game from such situations.

“There were many things I saw tonight that were really fine,” Klopp said. “We had our moments and situations. We had everything you need in a close game to win. We made the goal and we wanted to win, of course.

“This free-kick — everybody knows you should avoid things like this against a team like Southampton with their spring in the air. We lost three one-on-ones in the air, bad luck, and it’s a draw.

“There was still 10 minutes to go. We didn’t give up physically, it’s not that we stopped our game physically, but we didn’t believe anymore that we could turn the game around. That’s a problem, that’s why we’re not calm enough in the moments when we have the chances, the last pass and so on.

“I don’t understand this pressure at the moment, but the guys feel it. You can see that. They work so hard, they are full of concentration, full of readiness, full of passion, everything is there.

“And we conceded one goal and it felt like the end of the world — and it’s not the end of the world. It’s only a goal, you can always come back and that’s what we have to understand. That’s what I saw tonight.”

“We can work with this result. We can work with this performance of the team. If I sit here and have to say ‘these guys are not ready for fighting’ or what not, then it would be bad news. But everybody saw how ready they are and that’s the most important thing.”

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Thumbnail photo via LiverpoolFC.com