Jurgen Klopp reveals what he told Bruno Fernandes during chat after Liverpool defeat
Liverpool head coach Jurgen Klopp has opened up about his conversation with Manchester United midfielder Bruno Fernandes after his team's 2-1 loss at Old Trafford on Monday, August 22.
Liverpool traveled to Manchester hoping to register their first win of the 2022-23 Premier League season. But the Red Devils produced a refreshing performance in front of the home crowd as goals from Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford in either half handed Erik ten Hag his first competitive win with the club.
Mohamed Salah halved the lead in the 81st minute but to no avail as the Reds slumped to 16th in the Premier League table. After the final whistle, Klopp was seen having a chat with Fernandes.
Speaking at his post-match press conference, the German cleared the air and claimed that the conversation pertained to Red Devils centre-back Lisandro Martinez's time-wasting tactics. He said (via Mirror):
"It was not animated. It was the most harmless conversation I ever had with a player, who is obviously as animated as me at times. It was about Martinez, who went down under a tackle that was obviously not that bad."
Jurgen Klopp can't hide his feelings towards Bruno Fernandes 😅 https://t.co/7Gdop1IeUM
Elaborating on Liverpool's first defeat of the season, he said:
"The start of the game was exactly what everyone excepted, what United fans expected, they were after us. They started slightly more aggressive than us, they could more play the game they wanted than we could play the game we wanted. They scored the goal, which we had to defend differently, but that is how it is with goals."
He continued:
"At half time we showed the boys a couple of situations we did really well and wanted to do that again but then we conceded the second goal. We scored a goal and we deserved in that period and then you have to force it, we tried, have to admit in the end not good enough and that is why we lost."
Liverpool will next host Bournemouth on August 27.
Manchester United are the first team to beat Liverpool in the Premier League in 2022, ending their 21-game unbeaten run.
Total Football. 😏 https://t.co/eBWNOsBqZ3
Liverpool plagued by injuries and poor midfield performance
The Reds went into their third Premier League fixture of the season with as many as nine absentees due to various injuries and a suspension. The club missed the likes of Thiago Alcantara, Joel Matip, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Curtis Jones, Diogo Jota, Ibrahima Konate, Caoimhin Kelleher, Calvin Ramsay and Darwin Nunez.
The Merseyside outfit have also come under fire for not dipping into the transfer market to strengthen their depleted squad, especially midfield. Jordan Henderson and James Milner are past their best, Naby Keita is injury-prone and Harvey Elliott is still finding his feet in the first-team.
Thiago and Fabinho are arguably the only two world-class midfielders at Klopp's disposal.