Liverpool legend Michael Owen took aim at Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate and Trent Alexander-Arnold for their roles in Bournemouth's winner on Saturday.
The Reds fell to a disappointing defeat to the struggling Cherries in a blow to their hopes of finishing in the top four of the Premier League. Dango Ouattara left Van Dijk flat-footed down the right, Konate unable to block his cross.
That left Phillip Billing to sweep the ball home, with the Bournemouth star having been left unmarked by Alexander-Arnold. Liverpool were unable to turn around that deficit to fall to their eighth defeat of the season, with Owen pointing the finger of blame at the Reds trio.
“Virgil van Dijk ends up going in where you think he shouldn’t, but then Konate can see the whole picture. Van Dijk has gone in with his man," Owen told Premier League Productions.
"I think it’s a 50-50, I think Konate tries to play offside when he can see everything in front of him and he needs to be sprinting back, as it is, Van Dijk gets back in, then Billing and Alexander-Arnold at the back post.
“Trent Alexander-Arnold ends up coming to the back post, totally losing his man, and then it’s a simple finish in the end. I think Konate can do better (preventing the cross). But Trent completely loses his man. It’s a rubbish goal to give away.”
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The Reds did have the chance to equalise from the penalty spot, but Mohamed Salah inexplicably blasted it wide. That left Klopp cutting a frustrated figure, with his side now sixth in the table, six points behind fourth-placed Tottenham.
Alexander-Arnold demanded an improvement in performances from his team-mates after their latest low point. And the right-back warned the Reds they would continue to face tough opposition as the season approaches the run-in.
"We created chances, we had our chances to score [and] we never, obviously we had the goal disallowed. But we started on a bright foot and I think they just sucked the life out of the game and it was difficult for us to build momentum," he said.
"They slowed the game down and executed their game plan and then go and score the goal. But it’s one of those – it was very avoidable, the goal, and it’s disappointing looking back on it.
"This is the time of the season when everyone knows what they are fighting for and obviously Bournemouth are in a relegation battle, so they are fighting for survival. But every team in the league is fighting for something.
"It means a lot to get the three points and I think looking back on it now, they probably wanted it more than us and that is something that is unacceptable and we need to make sure this kind of thing doesn’t happen again."
