Jurgen Klopp mocked for his excuse after Liverpool’s League Cup semi-final defeat

"That was difficult for a football-playing side"

Nooruddean Choudry

Jurgen Klopp mocked for his excuse after Liverpool’s League Cup semi-final defeat

He probably knew this would attract ridicule.

Liverpool simply weren’t good enough against Southampton over two legs of the EFL Cup semi-final.

They dominated possession to a quite ridiculous degree, but failed to breach the Saints’ defence once over 180 minutes.

Their play was deliberate and controlled, but lacked the necessary dynamism and invention to break down a very organised and stubborn opposition. Without Sadio Mane in particular, their forward line lacked any cutting edge.

Whilst the excuse of missing the Senegalese forward to the African Cup of Nations would be understandable, Jurgen Klopp chose to instead focus on an act of God; he explained that the windy conditions at Anfield worked against his team.

Speaking after the game, Klopp argued:

“I’m disappointed, there’s big disappointment. It was difficult. The wind was really strange, it was difficult to handle.

“You saw one or two balls when the ball stopped in a moment when nobody knew about it. That was difficult for a football-playing side.

“I said a few times when I came here about the wind and everybody was laughing, but today was really difficult, really difficult to play football with this wind.”

Whether or not he had a point (and presumably Southampton had to contend with the very same conditions), fans everywhere revelled in the blustery explanation…