Jurgen Klopp said that the video of Liverpool’s 4-1 defeat to Napoli was a “real horror show” as he declared it was the worst performance in his seven-year reign at Anfield.
Klopp has watched the game back plenty of times and held meetings with his players as part of his inquest before he tries to get Liverpool back on track against Ajax on Tuesday night.
He concluded that eight of his team were poor in Italy and the other three were merely average as he said their defensive difficulties were at the root of their problems.
“I watched the game back plenty of times and it was a real horror show,” he said. “We showed the boys the situations. They knew but seeing it again made it really obvious.
“It was the worst game we played since I came here. In other games, [the 2020 7-2 defeat at] Villa away, there were always glimpses of us. In this particular game, nothing.
“Pretty much eight of the 11 were below their level and the other three were not top level, just their usual game. You saw all individual problems as a game. You have to follow a common idea again and everything we did since I was here is based on a really solid if not nearly perfect defending. That is where it all starts and that is what we have to work on. We all have to realise it starts with defending.”
Liverpool have lost one of their defence, with Andrew Robertson injured and out of both the Ajax game and Sunday’s clash at Chelsea, if it goes ahead. Midfielder Fabio Carvalho is available again after sitting out the trip to Naples, but Curtis Jones remains sidelined.
Ajax beat Rangers 4-0 on matchday one, before continuing their 100 per cent start to competitive action with a 5-0 weekend win in the Eredivisie.
