The pitch forks are really out for Fenway Sports Group today as Liverpool fell 3-0 to Wolverhampton Wanderers, a side that very much threatened with relegation.
Jurgen Klopp said he just cannot explain the horrible start that his team got off to at the Molineux on Saturday. He said there is no excuse for their disaster class either.
Last year Liverpool finished runners-up for the Premier League title, reached the Champions League final and won both the FA Cup and EFL Cup. This season they’re in danger of falling off the first half of the standings after getting housed by a drop zone fodder side.
“Obviously it was a horrible start,” Klopp told the Premier League’s in house media after the game.
“Two goals which cannot happen like that, but it happened and we were 2-0 down because of our own fault. We should have defended better. We were passive in that period. I cannot explain it. There is no excuse for it.
“You’re 2-0 down, the crowd is there but it opens up and we get some control. Then for about 45 minutes we play a good away game without scoring. That sums it up pretty much.
“Concentration for the first 15 minutes. Again, I cannot explain. But these 15 minutes cannot be allowed. It needs to change.”
#FSGOut and #FSGOutNow were top trending terms on Twitter, and it is easy to understand why. However, it is most likely not the board, or the executives who feel job insecurity due to this disaster. It is Klopp himself, and that is extremely unfair.
Jurgen Klopp went on to apologize for his team’s showing, as he did not hold back in detailing all that went wrong today.
“That’s the thing,” he continued.
“I stand here again and for the first 15 minutes I have no explanation, I’m sorry. In the end we lost 3-0 because the goal in the second half was perhaps the first time they crossed the halfway line.
“But it’s right because when you start like this you don’t deserve anything in a Premier League game.
“We have to change it immediately in the next game. Everton won today and they are in a good moment so we have to prove a point again. For the moment, I’m so disappointed and angry about the first 15 minutes, I can’t find the words for it.
Then we have chances we should score. It could have been 2-1 and that would have changed everything I’m sure. Wolves deserve the three points.
“Yes, definitely. That’s clear. We cannot go through that season that nobody did before but how long do we want to suffer? It is one explanation in general yes, but not for the first 15 minutes here today. What we make of it in this moment is absolutely not OK.”
There is a lot to like about Jurgen Klopp, and especially his tendency to make great copy by having a lot to say. FSG Chairman John W. Henry is the guy who should be on the hot seat, not him.
The Merseyside derby approaches a week from Monday, and like Jurgen Klopp said, it will be a challenge now that Everton is starting to experience a potential “new manager bounce” under Sean Dyche.
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He’s written for numerous publications, including the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. He regularly appears on NTD News and WGN News Now. Follow the website on Twitter and Instagram.