Klopp plays down angry exchange with Benteke
LONDON (Reuters) - Liverpool boss Juergen Klopp played down his angry reaction to striker Christian Benteke after his side surrendered a two-goal lead to lose 3-2 at Southampton in the Premier League on Sunday.
The German appeared to offer some frank views to the Belgium international striker who missed a great chance to put Liverpool 3-1 ahead after coming off the bench to replace goalscorer Daniel Sturridge at St Mary's.
"Sometimes you have to talk to players, that's my job," Klopp told the BBC.
"They go off to the national teams after this. I don't want to make phone calls, so I had a few words, it's okay."
Had Benteke, who joined for 32.5 million pounds from Aston Villa last summer but has been disappointing in his first season, scored instead of shooting wide Liverpool may have held off a surging Southampton side.
However, Graziano Pelle equalised shortly afterwards before Sadio Mane's second goal of the game dealt a crushing blow to Liverpool's hopes of scrambling into the top four and playing in next season's Champions League.
It was the first time in the Premier League era that Liverpool had lost from a two-goal lead and they are ninth in the table, albeit with two games in hand on some of the teams also scrapping for European places.
Klopp described his side's first-half display as "brilliant" but was not so happy with what happened after the break.
"We lost formation in the second half and we couldn't avoid these long balls to Pelle any more, who is always fighting for second balls," he said.
"In the second half, Southampton for sure deserved it. But of course we were responsible for the first half and the second half, so we could have done better, but that's how it is in football. You have to use your chances."
Despite the setback, Klopp said Liverpool could still reach the top four but would have to embark on a long winning run.
"There are still 27 points for us to get from nine games? If we can get all of them, there's a chance, if not it's difficult," he said.
"If we play like we did in the second half, it’s a little bit more difficult."
(Reporting by Martyn Herman; editing by Clare Fallon)