Rare errors riddled Liverpool’s defeat at Arsenal, and for Jurgen Klopp, it was a showing that proved his players, at the end of the day, are simply “human beings.”
It is not very often that Alisson and Virgil van Dijk are involved in a mix-up that costs Liverpool, with the two having been cornerstones of the Klopp era.
The captain was quick to take the blame and apologise for his role in the defeat – which is only the Reds’ second, if you count that one at Tottenham – saying he “should have done better.”
It was an uncharacteristic performance across the board from the Reds, and the manager was quick to accept that “we were not good enough today.”
“I would have loved to see the game longer at 1-1,” Klopp told the BBC post-match. “We found a way into the game. No shots on target but we scored a goal.
“Growing more into the game, second half, we had our moments and then we concede that goal. That doesn’t help. It just shows the boys are human beings. Today we were really human.”
Speaking later in his post-match press conference, Klopp emphasised the point once more, saying: “The story of the second half we will never know how it would’ve been if we don’t concede the goal, but our two main guns have a misunderstanding.
“That just shows, I’ve said it a couple of times, they’re human beings. That actually makes the things they usually do even more special.
“Sometimes you forget that they are humans as well. For today, they are not happy, we are not happy. But that’s it now, I don’t need to make more of an away game at Arsenal.”
The manager was honest throughout all his post-match assessments with the media and remained bullish about what his side have to do next.
He said: “With these boys, we can play much better football. That’s actually the one thing we take; we want to and have to play better football. And we will.”
