Klopp accepts blame for time Rashford destroyed TAA

Matt Stead
during the Premier League match between Manchester United and Liverpool at Old Trafford on March 10, 2018 in Manchester, England.

Jurgen Klopp says it was “my mistake” that Trent Alexander-Arnold struggled against Marcus Rashford in March 2018.

Rashford scored twice as United secured a 2-1 win over Liverpool at Old Trafford just over two years ago.

Alexander-Arnold notably struggled throughout, later naming it as “one of his most difficult days” and that he “underestimated” his compatriot.

Not even against Real Madrid, who “ganged up” on him in the Champions League final two months later, was Alexander-Arnold as exposed and fallible.

But Klopp believes he was to blame for the situation against United, having failed to remind a young Alexander-Arnold to “close the inside” against the dangerous Rashford.

“I know after the United game a lot of people said immediately, that’s how it always is in football, ‘they need a new right-back’ or whatever,” he told Guillem Balague on the Pure Football Podcast.

“If he makes mistakes like he made in that game that’s really my fault. Especially these mistakes were my fault.

“He doesn’t know to close the inside in these situations. It is of course my mistake. You can say he knows it but he has to use it as well.

“Especially against Rashford playing on the left wing, it is clear you have to do that but I didn’t tell him again before the game. So, I really feel responsible for that.”

 

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