The Sports Lowdown For All Your News and OpinionsJurgen Klopp drew his third consecutive game as Liverpool manager against Southampton on Sunday afternoon, but this one was most certainly the toughest to take. Christian Benteke came off the bench to give Liverpool the lead in the 77th minute but it was cancelled out just minutes later by the inform Southampton forward Sadio Mane.
It was yet again a struggle for Liverpool to play with the freedom and flair that Klopp firmly believes his new side are capable of. The new reds boss puts this down to a lack of belief amongst the players and feels this was most evident when his side conceded the equaliser.
When speaking to the media and LFC TV after the game Klopp said:
“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.”
Klopp has very little time yet again to work with the squad this week before they host Bournemouth at Anfield in the Capital One Cup on Wednesday evening, and then travel to champion’s Chelsea on Saturday for the lunchtime kick off.
