Jurgen Klopp labelled Liverpool’s January performance at Brighton as the ‘low point’ of his managerial career and said he could not remember any of his teams playing so badly. Ten months on the German insists they cannot afford to be ‘silly’ again when they return on Sunday.
The Reds lost twice at the Amex Stadium in a fortnight to start the year – a 3-0 humiliation in the Premier League and 2-1 in the FA Cup two weeks later – which summed up the hectic nature of a much under-par season for Klopp’s men.
Liverpool return to the south coast on Sunday in good form despite their controversial loss at Tottenham last Saturday, but Klopp knows his team must improve drastically and learn from their previous defeats to Roberto De Zerbi’s men if they are to win.
‘I am really looking forward to the game because we have to put a few things right,’ said Klopp after Liverpool beat Union Saint-Gilloise on Thursday in the Europa League, the Belgian league leaders who have benefitted from investment from Seagulls supremo Tony Bloom.
‘You can look silly once but you should not look silly a second time. That can happen because they are really good but we have to do better. If we play like we played last year we will get a massive knock again. We should play better and I think we can play better and we have to.’
Jurgen Klopp called the 3-0 defeat to Brighton in January as the ‘low point of his career’ and after that match he was seen apologising to the travelling Liverpool supporters
Liverpool lost twice to Brighton in a fortnight with Alexis Mac Allister then playing for the Seagulls
Klopp has urged his side not to be ‘silly’ when they return to the Amex Stadium this weekend
Aside from the controversial defeat to Tottenham, Klopp has had a lot more to smile about this season
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Albion have won just one of their last five matches after triumphing in four of the first five to start this season. They were thrashed 6-1 at Aston Villa last Saturday but showed good fighting spirit to come back from two goals down to draw 2-2 at Marseille in the Europa League on Thursday.
‘Brighton had now a few results which did not go exactly in their way but that is a completely normal situation in their development,’ added Klopp. ‘They made a lot of changes (this summer), lost top players, one of them we got (Alexis Mac Allister) and still played incredible football.
‘We expect a really tough game against (one of) the best sides in the league, the best coached team in the league, I would say because of where they are coming from. Yes, Graham (Potter) did already a lot of good stuff and that is a really smart move from Potter to De Zerbi.
‘They made really big steps, super consistent, different formations, different players, line ups and you always see Brighton football and I couldn’t respect that more.’
The match will see the return of Mac Allister to Brighton after his £35m move this summer, with the World Cup winner singled out for praise by Klopp after settling in smoothly on Merseyside. Mac Allister has played in a deep-lying role for Liverpool.
And Klopp said: ‘We didn’t even look for his best position yet. We just use him. He is a fantastic player, I love everything about him, super smart tactically and off the pitch as well, so that is really nice to work with.
‘If we as a team defend well, he can definitely play the No 6. Did I know that before? I had a guess but I was not sure because I did not know exactly how all the other boys would do defending and because we defend more compact and better than in our bad phases last year.
‘We have a really good footballer and it is really cool but best position, he is too young for me to know it. But he is a midfielder, I can tell you that! He is a midfielder and I am happy about having him.’
Brighton go into the match against Liverpool with just one win from their last five games
Wataru Endo is in line to start at the Amex Stadium with Curtis Jones serving the first game of his three-match ban for a straight red card at Tottenham – which Liverpool failed to get overturned on appeal.
Thiago Alcantara and Stefan Bajcetic have suffered minor setbacks in their recovery from long-term lay-offs, while Cody Gakpo and Caiomhin Kelleher will miss the trip to Brighton with knee injuries.
On Thiago, Klopp added: ‘It’s just, for him (Thiago) especially, it’s annoying. Now two setbacks in the rehab. Not massive but enough to take him off the pitch again. Obviously not the same injury, not at all, but a bit similar. And as annoying as it is for Stefan Bajcetic.
‘He was there, played a few minutes, and then felt something else. That’s how it is after long-term injuries from time-to-time. I don’t know, I will not pressure them (when they can return). If they will be back after the international break, we will see.
‘Cody has a good chance that he will be back (after the break). Already out of the (knee) brace, walks normally around here. So from all the very, very bad opportunities and possibilities injury-wise, we nearly got the best, but he is still injured.
‘And Conor (Bradley) is on the way back. He is running. In that age group and with these kinds of injuries, you tend to give them three weeks more than not enough because it has to be better.’
