Jurgen Klopp has responded after Liverpool suffered a humiliating 4-1 defeat against Manchester City at the Etihad.
The Reds took the lead after Mohamed Salah netted in Jota’s layoff perfectly past Ederson in the 17th minute.
However, Klopp’s side seemed to have no answer to the emphatic comeback marched on by the Sky Blues.
Goals from Julian Alvarez, Kevin De Bruyne, Ilkay Gundogan, and Jack Grealish ensured vital three points for Guardiola’s side.
Liverpool came into the game hoping to boost their chances of finishing in the Premier League’s top four.
Although, the Merseyside club took the lead they looked just miles off from the quality of The Citizens.
Jurgen Klopp blunt assessment of the shocking Liverpool performance against Manchester City
After the defeat, the German slammed his players as they face yet another setback in their chase for the top four.
“I think we saw what we expected in the first half, a dominant City side with us organized, had our moments,”
he told BT Sport.
“If we don’t defend the double six we have a real problem. If we don’t defend the double 10 – Gundogan and De Bruyne – then it is pretty much impossible because the pitch becomes too big.
We concede this first goal with I think an open ball in midfield where we don’t even have a challenge then we are too deep and the counter-attack happens, great play. 2-1.
3-1 we have a massive overload on one side, should win the ball but don’t even have a challenge.
These kind of things cannot happen. But they happened and after that… wow! We just had to follow as they did whatever they wanted. We were lucky they weren’t in a greedy mood.
About from that, there is nothing good to say about this game. This is a game we have to use unfortunately and make clear which things cannot happen.
We cannot not have challenges in key areas or be that open. Now I stand here and have to explain it but I cannot explain it.
I cannot change it now, here, I can just report what I saw and we will talk about it tomorrow. These things happened too often.”
Pep Guardiola delighted with a crucial victory for Manchester City
The Man City boss on the other hand seemed to be over the moon with his team’s sensational performance.
“Minute one to minute 93 was a perfect performance – even though we concede a goal we played really well,”
he said.
“They [Liverpool] always have threat on transition but we played really good. One of the best performances in my seven years.
The players knew we weren’t playing bad. One goal down and we continued to do it and had just a bit of chat at half time and were lucky to score the second goal. But then at 2-1 the game was stable.”
And, on Grealish, he continued:
“I think this season is the Jack we thought could help us. He saved us from conceding a second goal, the chance for Mo Salah and Jack helped us.
“Riyad [Mahrez] was exceptional too, I cannot name one player better than another they were all exceptional.”
He also hailed Alvarez, too, saying:
“Not just the goal, the assist in the second and third. He was so clever with the ball, he’s an exceptional player. The club made an exceptional signing with him – he’s a world champion alongside Lionel Messi because he has something.”
