Jurgen Klopp has criticised his players for their lack of cutting edge in the final third after their shock 2-0 defeat to rivals Everton in the Merseyside derby.
The Reds conceded after only two minutes thanks to a Richarlison strike, and Gylfi Sigurdsson wrapped up a famous victory for the visitors with a late penalty.
Klopp was crestfallen at the final whistle, admitting the defeat was 'tough to take', while lamenting his players' inability to convert the good chances they created.
"It is [tough to take] but we conceded this early goal which was completely unnecessary and have to defend it better," Klopp complained.
"We had to chase the game and did it well creative wise, we created some in the first half and even more in the second half but we did not finish our situations off.
"We made one mistake in the first half and they used it. I don't like to talk today about the good stuff because we lose the game and we feel that deeply, I have to use it tomorrow and it is our lifeline to keep going. We have to improve on the finishing stuff and then we will win football games.
"Decisive margins, to score a goal you have to create a situation and finish it off. There is no alternative but to keep going. You concede which is not cool, lose Jordan Henderson which is not cool and I feel the boys dealt with it quite well, could they deal with it better? Maybe. We will keep going."
Klopp also provided an update on the fitness of Henderson, who had to be replaced in the first half after suffering a muscle injury. The German coach confirmed that the setback is 'in the region of his groin and abductor', and they'll have to wait until tomorrow to understand the severity of the knock.
“It’s in the region of his groin and abductor. It’s not good. It’s how it is. The rest we will know tomorrow," Klopp admitted.
The Liverpool boss also questioned the awarding of Everton's late penalty, wondering why the referee refused to take a longer look at the replays of Trent Alexander-Arnold's collision with Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
"I did not see it back but the kind of questions I get asked about it gives me a feeling it could have been decided differently. If the VAR calls the referee to the screen then maybe he saw it slightly wrong.
"He did not need a second, he looked and went. If you think it was not a penalty then you have to say that, we cannot change it anymore."
In the end, Klopp challenged his players to change the '10%' of their game which is costing Liverpool points, as the dreams of defending their title now lie in tatters.
“We could talk about this for an hour in detail and you would realise what you were talking about would be 90% positive but 10% was not and we have to change 10% because it makes the difference result wise."
Source: 90min
