Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has apologized for his team’s performance and said he does not know if the Reds are still in the hunt for the Premier League title after Wednesday’s 2-0 loss to Everton, which put them three points behind league leaders Arsenal.
The Reds dominated the match but failed to capitalize on their opportunities but they were not defensively sturdy enough to keep Everton at bay as the Toffees picked up a big win in their battle to avoid relegation. Liverpool now stand a 13.2% chance of winning the title, per Opta, while Manchester City leads the race at 56% with two games in hand.
“I don’t know,” he told broadcasters after the game about Liverpool’s title chances. “I can only apologize for today, to the people, everybody who’s with us. I know how hard this is for us as well but for the people, it’s especially hard. We should have done better. We didn’t.”
Klopp admitted that Liverpool played right into Everton’s hands, as Sean Dyche’s team thrives on a lack of possession and capitalizes on set pieces. The outgoing Reds manager said the Toffees’ play on set pieces was disruptive but also admitted his team did not step up when it came to defending or taking advantage of their 21 shots. He pointed specifically to the second half when Dominic Calvert-Lewin made it 2-0 to the hosts.
“Second half [was] emotional, we were in a rush, not really clear and then we conceded in the second half with a routine they do the whole season. We knew exactly the ball would end up there, we just didn’t defend it,” Klopp said. “They had free kick after free kick. We had the ball, they earned the free kick. It’s an important start of the story.”
The manager was reluctant to say his team had run out of gas after a busy season in the Premier League, two domestic cup competitions and a run to the Europa League quarterfinals. He did little to defend the performance, though.
“We tried but at the end, it’s not good enough,” he said. “There’s nothing we can explain and if you win, you have 500 reasons and when you lose, it’s just not good enough.”
He also said the team intends to finish off the season — and his impressive tenure in charge — on a high, considering there are just four games remaining on the schedule.
“It’s not the greatest moment we are in and we still have to play football games so we have to try to get through,” he admitted. “We have to use these moments to build, to get the momentum back.”
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