Klopp: I didn’t need a reality check

Jurgen Klopp never said Liverpool were title contenders so why would he need a reality check? The man has a point.

The Reds boss watched his side lose 2-0 to Newcastle with an abject performance and was then irked by questions about the defeat being a blow to Liverpool’s title chances.

“Everybody on your side of the table maybe (said we were title contenders),” said Klopp. “I didn’t hear anybody on this side of the table talking about it.

“I have no problem with anything you might talk about, but please don’t ask me now about this – I didn’t say before we were title contenders, so why I should say now that we’re not.

“We played this game and at this moment I’m trying to understand why. Everything is usually okay, but this team with a big quality and we like to work together, but today we weren’t very good. We can’t ignore that.

“We can’t say no problem. If, in professional football you don’t feel defeats, you don’t feel a loss, then something is really wrong. We feel this defeat. We know for today it’s deserved, but it hurts, like it should do.

“I have no problems with reality, so I don’t know why it should be a check. Maybe that’s just my English. We’ve lost.

“On this side of the table it’s important to be in the middle and not going nuts when you win and going crazy when you lose. It’s not a reality check, it’s only our worse game, a bad game. I don’t like it but we have to go on.

“Our defending in the last line was good, but our midfield pressing was not good, and I couldn’t see offensive pressing,” said Klopp, who once again watched Christian Benteke struggle.