The German coach believes his side lost their way early on in a surprisingly big loss
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp declared his team “lost the plot” after conceding inside four minutes against Aston Villa in a 7-2 loss on Sunday in the Premier League.
The Reds conceded four first-half goals with Ollie Watkins netting a hat-trick inside 45 minutes as Villa strolled to a third straight league win.Â
Klopp’s side dominated possession but struggled to make the most of their chances and were made to pay in defence by a ruthless Villa, who scored seven times from just 11 efforts on target.
While a monumentally heavy defeat for the reigning Premier League champions, the Liverpool manager concedes he saw such a result coming after conceding so early and continuing to make so many mistakes.
Asked if he could believe result post-match, Klopp told BBC Sport: “Yes, I saw it. So it is easy to believe because I was here. First of all you have to say that Villa did very well. They were very physical, very smart and very direct, we were not.
“We had big chances which we did not use, but when you concede seven I’m not sure you can say it would have been 7-7. We made too many mistakes and massive ones obviously. It started with the first goal and around the goals we made massive mistakes.
“We lost balls in the wrong area and did not protect properly. It looked like we lost the plot after it went to 1-0. It is not an excuse. Normally you can be 1-0 down and do the stuff you want to do. We created but did not protect ourselves properly so each ball we lost was a massive counter attack.
“That is why we conceded and three goals were deflected. It’s unlucky but it is not a coincidence because it means it was not a proper block. There is nobody to blame apart from me and us.
“Aston Villa were so good. Watkins wow and of course when you give the ball to Jack [Grealish] in a one v one situation on the left he can go either way and create chances.
“Who wants to lose 7-2? Years ago we told ourselves we wanted to create history. That was history but obviously the wrong type.”
The shock result sees Liverpool slip to fifth in the Premier League, while Aston Villa are now second despite playing one game less than every other side currently in the top half of the table.
